During my first student teaching placement at G. J. Mann Elementary School in Niagara Falls, NY, I created a common core lesson that supports the development of technology skills that was aligned with ISTE standards. The lesson utilized the classroom SMARTboard, SMARTboard pens / eraser, and a Chit Chat PDF with fill-in-the-blank words.
My lesson utilized the classroom SMARTboard as a main technology resource. The SMARTboard allowed me to work with more than one student at a time and it gave everyone a turn at pressing the buttons, following directions, developing fine-motor skills, and of course it was a way to keep building upon knowledge of letters in the alphabet. I used a Chit Chat PDF to write on and be able to save the students’ work as documentation. The digital pens were not the easiest instruments for pre-K students to write with as they don’t operate like a normal marker. Regardless, they were new, fun, and challenging for them. To break up the lesson, I linked to a Starfall activity to engage the students — allowing them to take turns being the teacher by advancing the slides, pressing buttons, making choices, and even doing a three-question quiz to check for understanding.
Overall, the lesson gave the students some exposure to technology and even some of its quirks! While doing so, it helped the students learn their letter(s) and letter sounds, develop fine-motor skills, interact with peers and adults, and learn how to navigate and follow directions and prompts.