Below are the responses to my query about Smart Board use in an early
childhood setting. Thank you to all the people who responded.
Here is my Original query:
"How do you use your Smart Board with grades PreK - 3? One is going to
be installed in my school's library in the near future. I will go for
training at some point. In the meantime, I would like to hear from
anyone using the Smart Board with the little ones. Any thoughts,
suggestions, lesson ideas welcome. To give a little background, I am
on a fixed schedule in a new school that is not yet filled to
capacity (this year we are only serving PreK-1st grade). Therefore, I
see 6 classes 2 times per week and 1 class 3 times per week."
Best,
Randi
Randi Levy
Librarian
Learners and Leaders / PS 305Q
378 Seneca Avenue
Ridgewood, NY 11385
****
First of all there is a here is a site to which schools have
submitted lessons. I admit, however, that I rarely look at it
because I never seemed to find anything that I particularly liked. I
am, however, very fussy.
http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-us/
I often try to incorporate activities that are not necessarily
library lessons, but that fit the needs of the kids and the
teachers. If that fits your situation as well, you can look for
some online games in alphabet recognition or phonics. (I believe I
used www.pbskids.org ). Also, the SmartBoard is great for using
images and short texts with little guys. You can show them how to
copy and paste, move them around, enlarge and shrink. In discussion,
you can mark up the image/text, make notes etc.
My problem with the SmartBoard is that I have a choice of either
letting a few kids have a turn per week, which they don't like, or
else keeping everyone on the floor for too long, which makes for too
much wiggling. Ideally, this technology should be used to provide
instruction before the kids go off to individual computers.
The Board is moveable. I don't have to wall space to mount it. If
this will be your case as well, try to get the kind that has the
projector mounted on top. If the kids bump into/lean on the table
with the projector or the feet on the SmartBoard, it ruins the
calibration. With some classes last year, I had to recalibrate over
and over.
I put it in the meeting area. Since the older kids sometimes work
off of it for the whole period, I will give them the option of
sitting at tables or on the rug with a clipboard. With some of my
small groups of little special ed. kids, I actually place chairs on
the meeting rug when we are using the Board. It seems to help them wait.
Also--I have my meeting area very well defined. I bought some rubber
skid guard for the rugs and placed them so that I have a big open
space in front of the Board and a cleared pathway to get to it. Kids
have to stay on the rug.
****
I teach Pre-K to grades 3 and I can assure you that if you have
internet access hooked up to the SMART Board there are many things
you can do. The Pre-K kids love www.starfall.com, if you click on
number one they learn letters, which is very much in line with their
curriculum. What I usually do is I find out the letter of the week
from the teacher and I focus on it. You can then use the SMART Board
gallery essentials pull up primary paper and have the students come
up and practice writing the letter. They love doing this. I teach
phonics and writing in the library and I use my SMART Board for
almost all my guided practice and mini-lessons first.
www.PBSKIDS.org is another website that is good for pre-k and here
you can go to sesame street or Super Why, which is all baout
reading. There are so many lesson plans you can get and use also
from http://www.education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/
this is the maker of the board and they have much information from
teachers who have already successfully used the it for all grades.
Mine is moveable. What I have done is put it in the front of the room
and then I arrange the small chairs so the children sit in a semi-
circle around the board, in rows with a center aisle to walk down. I
find sitting on the floor to be way to disruptive even for the little
ones unless I am reading a book to them. I have been asking for
years to have a rug for an area where the kids can sit and get read
too, that has not happened yet but I am hopeful. They do love the
smart board though and all the lessons I do, even using graphic
organizers after reading a story. The SMART Borad is an awesome tool.
***
I have a small movable and a large permanently installed Smartboard.
I use the movable in my carpeted teaching area. The one that is
permanently installed is on a wall in an area with 15 computers
around a very large table. The children can sit at the computers and
look at the Smartboard. So far I have used them only for PowerPoint
presentations. I am looking for ideas and trying to get up to speed
with different ways to use them. So far I found been collecting
websites for activities.
http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/2007/09/smartboard-and-.html
http://itmc.cesa5.k12.wi.us/digitaltools/Digtal%20Tools%20II/
SB_Lesson_Plans.htm
http://eduscapes.com/sessions/smartboard/
http://technology.usd259.org/resources/whiteboards/smartlessons.htm
***
Our SmartBoard is mobile and can move where we need it to be, but
usually it just stays in our "classroom" area. I use it with all
grades. I teach students how to use our library catalog and our
databases. I also use many of the wonderful early learning
interactive websites out there for my primary classes.
www.lookybook.com is the newest terrific website that I've found. I
use this with all levels in my building. One of the best things
about this setting for use comes when other teachers want to try out
the board. We have ongoing training with this equipment because I am
often available as back up to help a teacher over that learning
curve. I hope you enjoy your smart board.
***
I use one in my middle school all the time, so I can't help you much
with lessons, but they do have tons of resources and even some basic
lesson plans available to download. All of the ones at my school are
permanently installed, and in my experience this is the way to go.
They have moveable ones at my wife's school and almost no one uses
them b/c set-up is such a pain, the distance from the projector has
to be right, then you're typically hooked up with a slower laptop
than if you had a desktop with a permanent mount. My advice would be
to find the best place for you, have it permanently mounted there,
and hook it up to our best, newest, fastest desktop computer...
***
I have a classroom beside my library that I use to teach classes. I
have a SMART Board permanently installed in that room. I put a rug
in front of the board for the younger students and tables and chairs
behind the rug for the older students. I have PreK-6th grade and use
the board every day. With the younger students I use the website
www.starfall.com a lot and we work on letter games. I have also
created some Notebook lessons that go along with different stories
that I read. The board is also great for showing unitedstreaming
videos. Just yesterday I had a Kindergarten class and we were
discussing how we should not write in our books. I read "Harold and
the Purple Crayon". We watched the video of the book from
unitedstreaming. I think today I'm going to let the kids take turns
drawing something on the board in purple just like Harold did. The
possibilities with the SMART Board are truly endless.
***
They have just installed a Smart Board in the front of my room facing
the
area of tables but with floor space in front of it. Last year I had a
movable one. I would strongly recommend making it permanent if
possible.
When it is moveable, the slightest tap by a child will make it
necessary to
recalibrate it, even in the middle of a lesson. As to use, I am just
now
trying to think of the best ways to use it in a library setting. I
plan on
trying to do some venn diagrams and compare /contrast charts, but am not
sure exactly how. Please share anything you hear. I also am in a
primary
aged building.
***
what types of lessons/activities do you do? Any that you can come up
with, steal, borrow, there are plenty out there, sign up for the
newsletters which supply lots of hands on training and ideas. Some of
the sites I have collected are:
http://www.abcya.com/index.htm
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/bingo/
http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/technology/integration/prometheanboards.asp
http://www.educatingwithtechnology.com/
http://filext.com/file-extension/XBK
http://www.juliethompson.com/SMART.html
http://10.10.2.50/ContentFiltering/Blocked.aspx?id=8828922287473505618
access is denied at our district by our filter now, but Heather has some
great insight, she is a former teacher, librarian and works for SMART.
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx?cat=46
http://www.kaminarieducation.com/
http://10.10.2.50/ContentFiltering/Blocked.aspx?id=8828922284097472662
also being filtered at school, but great source, try from home.
http://homepage.mac.com/marciwalk/FileSharing1.html
http://homepage.mac.com/hlamb/FileSharing1.html another of Heather's
pages, not being filtered at this time.
http://www.rce.k12tn.net/SMARTBoard/SMART%20board%20tools.htm
http://www.d131.kane.k12.il.us/Bardwell/smartboard.html didn't display
this time, but could be a filter problem.
Also, where do you use it? Is it in your meeting area, where kids sit
on the floor? Or, is it oriented towards the library tables? Right now
it is in one of the worst places, but it is the only place in my library
that has a usable wall. I want it over by the tables, with enough room
to have a carpet on the floor for kids to sit and learn as well at
adults at tables to learn.
Is your Smart Board movable, or permanently installed? It is best
mounted on the wall, also cheaper and if your data projector is also
mounted, you are set and won't have to keep aligning your board,
sometimes multiple times during a lesson, if cart is moved for either
tech component. Mounting only takes a few minutes. My husband came in
on a Friday afternoon and mounted it on a cinder-block wall using the
correct tools, drill bit, and screws. We also had to avoid an
electrical conduit that sits on the block wall, so we used a 1x4 cut in
two and went from there.
***
I just completed 22 years as a library media specialist, the last two
teaching both tech and library info. skills. Our Smart Board was in
the tech lab adjoining the LMC and was attached to the wall. I found
that having the board there, rather than mobile, was a benefit in my
situation but it really depends on your individual needs. If it is
mobile you have more flexibility of use, but then it usually has to
reset/reoriented each time you set up for a class and little folks
often will inadvertently kick a projector cart and jostle it out of
position.You also want to make sure the board is place low enough for
younger students to be able to reach all areas of the board. A sturdy
stepstool may also help.
I found great success in using my SmartBoard in conjunction with
Kidspiration software where you can create graphic organizers with
your students and use the program's picture dictionary to help non-
readers. For example, we created organizers to show picture of items
that would be found in non-fiction books (animals, plants, people,
etc.) in one box versus items, such as wizards, monsters that were
dragged to the E/fiction box. Also, when Kdg. was studying letter V,
we discussed the ingredients that would be found in vegetable soup,
made a circular "soup pot" graphic and dragged pictures of vegetables
from the picture dictionary into the pot. There are a ton of other
applications with this program and they just came out with a new
version.
***
I am in a PreK - 1 school and have classes with K & 1. My SMART
Board is permanent and was installed at the end of last year. So far
this year, I have used it for some draw & tell stories, sorting
activities related to books shared during library class and put
together a powerpoint activity that we used to begin book selection
discussion with first grade students. I have a lot to learn but am
thrilled with impact on classes so far!
Have fun with it,
***
This is my second year with PreK-3rd. I inherited a Promethian
board. Mine was set up to use with tables, but I found the younger
students, especially, had touble staying seated. I was able to move
the tables back and put a carpet close to the board where they could
sit on the floor. This has worked out much better. This also still
allows me to use the board at staff meetings for presentations, as
the teachers can sit at the tables.
My board is movable but I never move it. The projector is mounted to
the ceiling.
As far as using the board with my students- I am still learning to
make flip charts, but have found many "ready made" at
prometheanworld.com. I am sure Smartboard has resources similar to
this. I have used lessons for teaching the Dewey decimal system,
using call numbers, alphabetizing books on the shelves, etc. I also
use lessons that supplement the objectives being taught in the
regular classroom. This year, because we have gone to a flexible
schedule, I am encouraging teachers to bring classes in for lessons
that I find on what they are doing. I also use the board for playing
games on various websites such as PBSKids.com or presenting
streamline videos.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/
* LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
* LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LM_NET
Mailing List Home