Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting -Edmund Burke
I am on spring break this week. It has been such a luxury to linger over coffee and the newspaper in the mornings. That has been about all of the luxury I’ve been able to enjoy because even though I’m on spring break from my job, I am not on spring break from doctoral classes. I have been immersed in scholarly articles on early literacy. So, while this is all fresh on my mind, I am going to share a few work samples from some of our recent literacy activities on iPads.
We have been using the Feltboard App for word work quite a bit lately. Here are a few samples:
While we don’t usually work with /ow/ and /ou/ in kindergarten, it was a conversation in one of my reading groups and one of my students created this:
My kids love speech bubbles! This was in response to a class read aloud.
This is a 4 square writing organizer on Feltboard App. Students can transfer ideas from this to an organized short paragraphs.
Using the app to recreate scenes from a story can help students have deeper conversations about a read aloud activity.
This was created in Drawing Pad app during our insect unit.
Literacy extension activities are important in building emergent literacy skills. When we read a book together, we often do some kind of literacy response. The iPad is perfectly suited for these extension activities with creation apps that allow students to show what they know by making their thinking visible, extend their thinking and reflect on learning. We read for a variety of purposes. Sometimes I read to my class simply for pleasure, other times, after I read, we focus on building decontextualized language skills. We move beyond the concrete and talk about intangible aspects of the text. This allows me to help take their language skills to the next level. When we use the iPads to enhance literacy skills, we are synthesizing both tangible and intangible language. It encourages children to use more complex language forms. Simple activities such as rhyming words scaffold learning for more advanced literacy skills.
Immersing young children in literacy activities all throughout the day builds a strong foundation upon which future skills are built. These activities, along with reflection, help students “digest” what they read and makes them better readers.
Today we will do exciting new things. Lets get to it!
I cannot find the felt board app you were talking about in this post. What should I search for in the App Store?
Seyward
It is listed as Feltboard. http://www.softwaresmoothie.com/app/felt-board/
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Wow! I am always so impressed with how amazing these student’s work is that you share. I have 5 ipads daily and can get access to an additional 15 when I want to do a whole group lesson but how nice it would be to have 1-1 all the time! I envy you and your students every time I read your posts!! Thanks for sharing!
Christin
Shifting Teacher K-2
Thanks Christin! I appreciate your nice words!
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Kristi I am constantly sharing ways we can use iPads for literacy. Thanks for adding more ideas for me to share with others.
Karen
Thanks for the comment! Love the iPad for its versatility!
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I still cannot find the app? I clicked on the link you provided but still showed no results for Felt Board?
Shawn,
this is the link I just copied from iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/felt-board/id492342753?mt=8
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