This
month, the Education World Tech Team members answered the question Do
you think K-3 students should use computers in school? with a resounding
yes! Our experts also shared a plethora of activities and programs they
use with primary students. Included: Web sites and software programs to use with your young students!
This month, we asked Education World Tech Team members to tell us whether they thought students in the primary grades should use computers. We expected a vigorous debate. What we got was a unanimous yes! What the team lacked in controversy, however, they more than made up for with recommendations on which computer programs to use with primary students -- and suggestions on how to use it!
Be sure to check out the previous Tech Team article, Should Kids in Primary Grades Use Computers?HOW DO THEY DO IT?
"At our school, students in grades one through three have formal computer classes once a week; kindergarten children use the computer lab for less formal projects," said Pamela Livingston, director of information technology at Chestnut Hill Academy, in Philadelphia. "All our projects, however, relate to what's happening in the classroom.
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"The third grade studies geography, Asia, and Africa -- all topics that provide opportunities for computer-savvy teachers to use software, Internet projects, and Internet research. We also participated in a great author chat with Mary Pope Osborne about her Magic Tree House series," Livingston concluded.
WHAT DO THEY USE?
"It is our school policy that K-2 students use the computer lab for skill reinforcement only," said Jennifer Wagner, technology coordinator at Crossroads Christian School, in Corona, California. "At that level, we use the Reader Rabbit series, Math Blaster, Teacher Created Materials, and various templates I create myself. We also do a bit of word processing, but that is minimal.
"Our third graders jump into computers with both feet," Wagner told Education World. "We begin the year with Kid Pix. By November, the kids have pretty much mastered the tools, and we do a ten-week salute to different artists and create our versions of their artwork. Favorites are Starry Night, by Van Gogh, and pictures by Mondrian, Seurat, and O'Keeffe. Kids remember this project and talk about it each year. Our third graders also use Math Blaster and Reading Blaster, and they begin word processing with Creative Writer 2.
"If you're teaching K-3 computer skills, you need a good program, such as Kid Pix, Wagner noted. "The program gives every student an understanding of mouse skills, graphic design, presentation design, graphic manipulation, and more, but it is so much fun they don't even know they're working with graphics. They think they're just coloring.
Creative Writer 2, by Microsoft, can't be beat for a word processing program for kids," Wagner continued. "Almost everything is done graphically. When they click File, for example, the icon looks like a file. Creative Writer 2 is also fun and very easy to use. We use it for keyboarding nine weeks a year, and no one ever complains. The program also includes a paint program that allows students to make posters, cards, banners, certificates, and more. It's a bit advanced for K-1, but kids in grades two or three can pick it up with a bit of guidance.
"The Reader Rabbit series can't be beat for teaching cognitive skills, such as math and phonics, and Math Blaster 4-6 is also a favorite," Wagner said. "If you are going to get only one program, however, make it Kid Pix. You can't go wrong."
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