e-learningforkids

[] -kendra This web 2.0 tool is a fun way for students from K-6 to learn more about subjects such as math, science, reading, and more. It has fun interactive games to play and would be a great way to introduce or use as a culminating activity for many topics. I didn’t find any tutorials or videos that would assist in using the tool, but it is very user friendly, so one can navigate through this site pretty easy. (even for children) **Challenges**: As with all internet activities, the biggest challenge would be limited access online or slow connections. You would also need to make sure your system could support this site, but it didn’t seem too involved that it would need a really up to date computer. Most directions are in auditory format, so unless children have any hearing issues or auditory processing problems, children should be able to manipulate the games with relative ease. **Objectives and curriculum areas**: This tool has activities that can be used in the following areas: math, language arts, science, computer skills, environmental skills, health, life skills and English language. Each activity is also given an age range so that it makes it easier for the teacher, parent or child to decide whether it is a game they would like to explore. The objectives would vary in the subject areas, but mostly I would use this for culminating activities when we are winding down learning a particular topic in the aforementioned subjects. The students should be able to apply skills taught within that subject and demonstrate knowledge when playing the games. **The ISTE standards would be as follows**: __ Critical thinking, problems solving and decision making 4b, 4d __ __ Digital citizenship 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d __ __ Technology Operations and concepts 6a, 6b, 6d __ **Lesson**: Using the smart board, I would have my Kindergarten or first grade kids sit on the floor in the computer lab and we would play as a whole group. What I usually do is demonstrate on the smart board with the children and they help me by tapping on the items and then they see how to play the games. We will navigate through some different types of games that they can choose from and then I have them go back to their seats and play on their computers by themselves. Since I am the computer teacher and don’t teach a specific subject, I try to integrate according to what the children are learning in their regular classrooms. My main goal is to expose the children to the technology and learn skills like mouse control and how to use the keyboard, close or open programs, etc. Since we don’t give grades to children until 4th -8th grade, there would be no formal assessment .I do talk to the classroom teachers about if they have trouble following directions, recognizing letters, numbers etc. so they can talk to parents if need be to help their children.