Literacy

Literacy is another topic that students find hard to concentrate on. We must give students some time to read in order for them to calm their minds and engage in books. But many students struggle with reading skills. This makes it hard for a student to sit and read a book without getting distracted. Writing is also a struggle for some students. As we become more dependent on technology, writing becomes something of the past. Even oral communication is something students struggle with. We need to get these students wanted to do these things in order for them to survive the future careers they want to lead.

Example One:

With technology being so prevalent in our classrooms its easy to see that we can integrate it in new ways. Some students have a really hard time concentrating on a physical book. If it has no pictures, sometimes its hard to read, etc. But with the news apps coming out we can integrate an app for reading. Epic is a really cool app that has thousands of books on it. You can have them categorized by age, genre, and type (picture, chapter, biography) which makes it easier for you as the reader to find a book you would want to read. It gives options for listening to the book, in case there are students who struggle with reading and need that little extra help to learn new words. There are also educational videos and quizzes that kids can take about the books. This app is designed for children 12 and under so it wont be useful for older students but these are the students who probably need the most help with reading. It does have a fee after the first 30 days but schools may have this as an app in their system that you can use and have students sign up for.

Example Two:

Writing is another object that students tend to struggle with. They don't like to write because they either don't know what to write about or they need guidance on how to write. Technology has taken over areas such as spellcheck which makes it harder and harder for students to write effectively and clearly when they don't have that spell check in front of them. For things such as creative writing we need to give students something to write about in order for them to figure out how to bring our their creativity. I had come across this funny picture writing prompt idea over pinterest and thought hey this could really get the kids involved in the writing process so much easier. After reading the article from this teacher you could see that the students loved this project and you could always add in an option to share the stories. Students can bring about confidence in their writing when they get a laugh out of each others work for something that was truly funny not from embarrassment. By giving students the guidance to say hey pick a funny picture from a list below or a folder you give them the opportunity to work independently and work on their creative juices but you also get them engaged in their writing process and understanding what makes a good short story. You are giving them freedom to choose without overwhelming them with too many options.

Example 3:

Students also sometimes become very shy and don't like to talk in the classroom. In order to build their confidence up and get them involved in the classroom you can bring out the toss and talk ball (which I grabbed from pinterest). You can make your own questions based on what you want to talk about that day. Whether it is the beginning of the year and you want to learn something about your students or if its a review for a test or its a dialogue to see where students are at in their understanding of a topic you can get all students to use this to get them all to speak at some point on the classroom time. This builds their confidence because these are questions that they would already know the answer to but sometimes do not want to answer in fear of embarrassment or just fear of putting up their hand. Some students just need an extra boost and this creates a safe environment for everyone to talk and share with each other.