Blog Post # 2 Using Technology in Kindergarten

Kindergarten life, Capturing A Unique Insect With An iPhone

View Full Post: http://kindergartenlife.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/capturing-an-unique-insect-with-an-iphone/#comment-127

This is the end of school and my students have only a day left of Kindergarten. I share the photograph of the Luna Moth on my SMART board with my students. I pose a question, “What do you notice?’ We take some private think time to think about our observations and then we turn and talk to a friend about what we notice. These are some of the comments that the children shared; “it looks furry, I think it is symmetrical because what is on the left side is the same as the right side, it has 2 sets of wings, the antennae look like small feathers like a bird, it has green, black and yellow, the body is hiding under the wings, I think it is an insect because it has 3 body parts.” Wow! Through this brief encounter with this photograph you can see how much information the children not only have from prior learning experiences, but how they are able to connect and use their prior knowledge to make observations about something they have never seen before.

My Response:
Sometimes when making up lessons I forget that a simple picture can spark such an interest and passion for learning. What a wonderful way to activate prior knowledge, create new knowledge, do research, collaborate, communicate, incorporate language arts and science, and so on. I love the fact that technology can be so easily integrated into the classroom! One of my favorite things to do as a teacher is to use science as a stepping stone into other content areas. This is a perfect example of how students can be motivated by and invested in their learning. Technology offers a whole new component to education and I am excited to read ideas like this that help me to have a better understanding of how I can use technology with my kindergarten students in a developmentally appropriate way. Thank you for sharing!
Cindy