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Suggestions for Using KIDWARE to Extend
Children's Learning
What
Are We Learning about our Children from our Anecdotal Records?
Here are some ideas that may be helpful in using
the computer to support and extend children's learning. These suggestions are based on anecdotal
notes that were submitted by teachers (at the beginning of the school year); however, you, as the teacher, are in the
best position to make accommodations and refinements to these suggestions
because you have ongoing experience and knowledge of each child and you know
the curriculum activities and framework for organizing your content.
Child
1: How do you spell “snow?” Types words himself. Wrote names of brothers.
Looked at the class list.
Use Mural
Maker to print pictures and word labels, especially words and pictures that
are meaningful to the child. The
pictures and words on the wall could reflect content of a thematic unit, or
characters in a read-aloud story.
Child
2: There’s my name. “There’s
Carmen’s name”….pointing to icons.
 Use Mural Maker to print large versions of your
class' icons. Let children match the
icons with their name labels. Have a
partner check their work.
Child
3:
“I want to type my name.” Typed “DAN LEA.” “I
want to type Ashley’s name.” Copied and
typed Ashley’s name. Used backspace key
to correct errors. “I want to write Stefany.”
Use KIDWARE Writer to let Dan Lea
copy and type the names of more children.
Let her print her list. She might
be able to make the name labels for the activity above. It might be interesting to change the font to
a larger type size for her. (Use Alt F1
to make this change.)
Child
4: “That’s the ocean. Don’t Drink
it. It’s yucky. I need to type my name or find it on the
list.” Typed his name
and names of siblings.
Customize Fun with Letters and Words
for this child, so when he presses the F key his family will be displayed. Each graphic for each sibling and the name
will appear when the child presses the initial letter of the sibling's
name. Print these names and pictures;
Make personal family books.
Child
5: “I want to write my name…ASHLEY.”
Typed name as teacher provided the letters. Types
other letters.
 Use KIDWARE Writer and have Ashley copy her name
from a model. Let her use the recording
feature (in KIDWARE Writer) to say her name with the printed label.
Child 6: “A Car” – named circle, square, triangle. Said “K” for rectangle when
prompted. Added purple, green, orange.
Child 7: “Created this:
 Child 6 and Child 7 have used Electronic Builder
in classic ways. Child 6 would be
classified as a "dramatist" according to Gardner, and Child 7 as a
"patterner". Gardner describes these two types of creations in terms of
mathematical approaches to learning. The
"patterner" is considered more analytic in
approaches to learning tasks. See is you
can make these distinctions as these children become engaged in other learning
activities.
Child 8: Working in island neighborhood, he gave each child
a pail, then gave each child a shovel.
Use the PgDn
key to offer her additional mathematical challenges in any of the Neighborhoods
programs. You can add your own
challenges, too.
Child
9: “Look at that chick. He has no
head. I know what happened…he was behind
the other one!”
 To extend
opportunities to respond to situations that include spatial awareness, partner
this child with another at the computer.
Have the partner describe a simple pattern to be created on the computer
screen using Electronic Builder. The
partner describes the pattern, identifying the shape, color and its position on
the screen and in relation to other shapes as they are placed, from a model
that has been printed from Electronic Builder.
Electronic Builder includes a number of simple to complex models. You may preview these challenges by using the
PgDn key when you are in the Electronic Builder
software. Evaluation: the child at the computer prints her result
and compares that with the model the partner was describing.
Child 10: Describing/matching child to his/her symbol.
Print large size icons. Develop a lotto game that lets the child
categorize icons according to different characteristics. This activity helps develop higher order
thinking skills. Children must think
about "things that go together" in different ways. There are many "right"
answers.
Child
11: Wanted to put a fence around the pig.
Was successful with some help from the teacher.
 Encourage the child to describe how s/he moved
the fence to position it into place to complete the enclosure. Helping a child reflect on the procedures
s/he used stimulates cognitive processing.
Use KIDWARE Writer to record as the child dictates the process she used
to get the fence into place. This could
help another child who may be having trouble.
Child 12: “The horse is in the water.”
Use KIDWARE Writer to add a speech
file (in the child's own voice) to this story.
Child 13: Put cows
everywhere… on top of trees, in the sky, and started laughing.
 Now, estimate
how many cows are in this Farm scene.
Print the picture. Have others
estimate how many and write their guesses next to their names. Then, actually count all the cows. Who is the closest? Are there some read aloud books with humorous
stories that would continue to tickle your class? Read a couple of these.
Child 14: Standing
waiting, recognized names of friends, spelled names along with computer.
 Extend practice in letter recognition and
letter identification. When you line up
or choose centers, spell the names of children instead of calling their names.
See how many letters you need to say before a child or his/her peers recognize
the name. After they are successful with
this, say the beginning sound of names.
Help children focus on beginning sounds with words that are meaningful
to them--certainly their names and those of their friends.
Child 15: Clicked
on the Neighborhood program. As she was
lining up the vehicles she said, “The ice cream truck is behind the bus. The police car is behind the ice cream
truck.”
Print her picture. See if she can describe the picture to a
friend at the computer who replicates her creation. The partner at the computer must follow the
auditory directions of the child who is describing the picture. The child at the computer should not see the
picture being described. Try more
difficult challenges using other Neighborhoods programs or Electronic Builder.
Child 16: Clicked
on FUN WITH ANIMALS and made a picture.
Clicked on write and typed letters.
 Now have the child record what s/he thinks her
writing means. Make the record option
available in KIDWARE Writer. (Use Alt F1
and enable the recording feature.)
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