Assignment #2

Students

Creativity and Innovation

The Sound Buttons game allows students to demonstrate their creativity by being able to create words through the computer and apply what they know to their work. Students can also work together in small groups to create words. For instance, the first student may select the beginning phoneme, the second student can select the medial phoneme, and the last student might choose the ending phoneme. It will require communication and cooperation between students to create a word that makes sense.

Communication and Collaboration

Students can work together to make words and change parts of words to make new words. Working together on this game will require students to communicate and interact with one another and students will have to contribute ideas in order for the group effort to truly be accomplished. This idea is strongly connected to the first standard because the students who work in groups will need to work creatively and cooperatively.

Technology Operations and Concepts

By interacting with this online computer game, students will be able to demonstrate their basic understanding of computers and can apply their previous knowledge of how computer games typically work. A working knowledge of how the SMART board functions and how the pen and shape tools work will also need to be learned if not already known.



Teachers

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers can use this activity to engage students in their learning of phonemes and their location, and encourage students to actively think about elements such as isolation and substitution of the different phonemes that make up a word. By introducing this activity into their class lesson, teachers push students to learn through creating and changing words independently and collaboratively with their classmates.

Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

By using this activity on a SMART board or Activboard, teachers are not only incorporating the interactive board as a technological tool in the classroom, but also utilizing internet resources. This activity can also be customized to be challenging for all students depending on their level of need. Students who need more of a challenge could be asked to circle the medial vowel phoneme, whereas those who are having a more difficult time might be asked to only circle the beginning phoneme, which is more prominent and easier to recognize.

Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

During this activity, teachers will need to have a working knowledge of how to use the pen and shape tools on the SMART board. They will also have to be able to easily move objects around on the screen, and model and teach this skill to students unfamiliar with the SMART board. The way in which they communicate how the game functions and the content of the lesson will also need to be very clear and depends in part on the teacher's interaction with the SMART board and their presentation.

Activity: Sound Buttons Game Students are asked to create their own words independently and then collaboratively in groups of 3-4. Each student will take turns circling the beginning or ending phoneme and create a box around the medial vowel or consonant phoneme. The teacher can prompt students where they might need support and suggest words that would be more challenging for them.



The SMART board brings so many exciting possibilities to the classroom setting. It provides opportunities for students to be actively engaged in their learning. Students can physically interact with the board, solving problems or creating examples, all while demonstrating what they have learned. Teachers can easily model an activity for their class or bring up video or sound clips to integrate into their lessons. Teachers can create their own games or pull up any number of activities that are readily available on the World Wide Web. The SMART board also enhances students’ presentations making them more exciting for the rest of the class and more likely that the students will remain tuned in to the content that is being presented. The SMART board utilizes many tools and delves into the various visual, auditory, and kinesthetic areas making it the ideal teaching tool to make for an effective learning experience for students of all learning styles. I enthusiastically anticipate the opportunity to use the SMART board in my own classroom and explore the many ways that it can best enhance my students’ learning!