This week in our lesson plans we decided to try to incorporate more technology in our classrooms. How many times has a child asked a parent, or basically anyone with a camera if they could take a picture? Well, we are providing our students that opportunity this week. Our standards state that children need to be able to identify and name basic shapes. So, we decided to draw shape names out of a hat. The teacher that drew circles took her class out today to take pictures of all the circles that they could find around the school building. She said that they had a "blast". They found circles that she had never noticed before. Not only did she help them learn about circles, but she connected them to "real life" by showing how shapes make up the world we live in.
This is true learning. All too often teachers tend to have children, even very young ones, regurgitate facts for us. This type of activity is so much fun, so simple, but so relevant to what they need to know. I remember doing something very similar with my third graders back when I was in the classroom. After I finished having them identify their 3-D shapes around the building, we created models of them and then they turned them into characters for a story. I had Pyramid Man, Sphere Girl, Cuboid. I will never forget that time with those little people. It was great.
ReplyDeleteI've seen our kindergarteners walking around the school identifying things - sometimes shapes, sometimes words - but never thought of having them take pictures. I bet the kids really loved it and learned more than they would have simply identifying them. I don't typically do much with kindergarten except storytime and checkout, but perhaps I should consider doing more. This is a good example - thanks for sharing!
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