Pre-K+Technology

Pre-K technology activities are based on the Pre-K Curriculum guidelines http://www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/early/prekguide.html#10 These PreK guidelines are really awesome. Teachers can follow all the skills and knowledge that Pre-K students are required to know. Considering that technology can be combined in any subject is really important since these kids need to be familiar with computer issues, and they really enjoy it!

//I printed this last year. I based my curriculum on this guide. I do think that it is too easy. So, I add other activities and skills to this, based on Kindergarten TEKS.// //Try to use more technology in the classroom. Maybe when doing research about nonfiction texts or just presenting powerpoints using the television.// //I think it would be a great idea to print the curriculum and provide it to parents at the beginning of the school year.//

Here are some hints for starting the year from some of the other Pre-K teachers.

//Using the projector or television in the lab to help with step by step visual cues allows the students to work on all the PK technology guidelines. If you work slowly, the majority of students will be able to log on, pick their program, and log off with minimal assistance.// //I introduce the computer by using my overhead projector and allowing the students to take turns each day helping me play the games and do the activities.//

Tabletop Jr.- This piece of software is great for establishing a foundation for technology that transfers to all applications. I suggest that you begin by having students open new Party hats, click on the dice a number of times, and sort the hats.(by color, shape, # of dots, etc.) I would follow that up by letting them make their own hats. Then have them open new Snoods, then show them the new menu and have them open pizzas. After that I would show them how to change the way Tabletop Jr. sorts the data. This will prepare students for a number of things. Students will begin to develop mouse skills and hand-eye coordination. They will begin to develop vocabulary for technology such as //click//, //drag//, //drop//, //open//, //close//, “//Go to,//” //mouse//. Tabletop requires users to use the File menu to open new tabletops. This will establish a concept of the file menu as a method of opening, closing, and saving documents. It will begin to establish a concept of storing and sorting information like databases and spreadsheets do. Tabletop can support skills taught and practiced in the classroom such as sorting, classification, reading charts, and reading and creating graphs.

//Tabletop Jr. would be a great application to use in teaching Pre K math and science curriculum.// //Table Top Junior is very open-ended, can challenge students no matter what their level of understanding is.// //Table Top Junior is an open ended activity. It offers students practice in technology at any level and allows students to pace themselves.// //Tabletop Jr. can be used to teach many math skills such as sorting colors, shapes and different attributes. It also can be used to teach graphing skills. It is something that I think the kids would really enjoy.// //It could be used for sorting, shapes and colors.// //I enjoyed Table Top Jr. and will use it--my favorite with the little ones will be the Party Hats to reinforce sorting and patterning.// //I would begin with attribute blocks and allow the students to sort by colors as a group and then allow one at a time to do so.// //Table Top is an excellent resourse for PreK. Teachers can reinforce math activities such as colors, shapes, sorting, graphing, etc. However, some of the games as for example clock and letters is a little difficult to work with at the beginning of the year. But by the end, they could be included.//

Next move on to Kid Pix 3. Have the kids use stamps to decorate a scene. Show them how to put clip art in a scene. Next, show them how to draw lines and shapes. Have them fill the shapes with colors and patterns.

After the kids have had some time to explore the drawing and clip art functions, have the kids open a color me and color it with different colors and patterns. You will feel more successful and your computer time will be a lot less stressful, if you focus on one aspect of the software at a time. Try to have a valid, classroom-related purpose for the kids to focus on while they are practicing that part of the software. For example: you are studying oceans have the kids open the color me that is an ocean scene. Be prepared to show some or all of them how to add stamps or animals to the scene if they finish coloring and are ready to move on to that.

Video http://www.unitedstreaming.com/

//United Streaming is an excellent resource for teaching Pre K themed units. I especially liked the first farm animals series and think that the kids would really enjoy it!// //I think the United Streaming website would be great for research topics and to find out about facts.// //I love United Streaming! I use it to introduce each new letter of the alphabet. It is a short 2 min. video. It also has seasons info and holiday videos.// //Considering United Streaming I haven't had the chance to select my own videos. This year I already know that I have a bunch of videos that can be added to my class. I'm already familiar with School Bus videos and they are good to be used for science purposes. My kids really enjoyed them and I'm sure they will continue enjoying them.//

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

//Virtual Manipulatives, Starfall, Fisher-price, Noggin are good websites for the youngsters. Teachers can choose the best activity according to student's needs. Games, puzzles, coloring pages, all are excellent for practicing the skills that are being taught.// //Since I teach bilingual kids, it would be great to include more Spanish web sites.// //If you have a spanish web site e-mail Jamie. We can help each other by adding to this as the year goes on.//

Some bilingual resources PreK:
 * Math: [] Magnolia ISD is listed as one of the subscribers, yet as a teacher I am not aware of a current service. Our password is supposed to be "success".
 * Math: For an introduction to number knowledge, numerical order, counting, matching, quick number identification, etc check []
 * Math: My favorite (it is in English, but it does not have audible sound, only right/wrong sound after completion) for higher level thinking, graphs, patterns, sequencing, etc. [|National Library of Virtual Manipulatives]
 * Math: []
 * Math: []
 * L.A.: Excellent, with sound! Alphabetic knowledge, letter-sound correspondence, uppercase-lowercase correspondence, alphabetic order/numberline, more: []
 * L.A: Rhyme, alliteration, poems, and traditional songs for students to read, find rhyme, listen, sing along, by Texas State Library and Archives Commission (.rm/ .wmv) __[| http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/ninos/songsrhymes.html#pollitos]__
 * L.A.: Online books with audio, in Spanish and English Version:__[| __http://www.childrenslibrary.org/__]__[]
 * Science: []

Online Games http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2601&e=gamesByAge&mcat=game_preschool&site=us

//I really liked the fisher price website for the beginning of the year. It has a lot of basic skills like coloring and also has a lot of games that are familiar to children.// //I really liked the fisher price website for games like coloring, puzzles and connect the dot activities.//

http://games.funschool.com/games.php?level=1

//I did not like the fun school website. It seemed a little too difficult for PreK kids.//

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/?scrollerId=games

//I love Sesame street workshop! I use the "story" section with VGA and let the class interact. The kids love it!!!! The sounds and music are very motivating. I also use it for alphabet/ phonic reinforcement.// //For the middle of the year, I really liked the sesame street website to support the letter and number recognition that we will be working on at that time.// //The sesame street website has interactive games for the kids. It is really neat.//

http://www.nickjr.com/playtime/index.jhtml http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ http://www.noggin.com/games/index.php http://www.poissonrouge.com/ http://www.dole5aday.com/ http://www.meddybemps.com/preschool.html http://www.starfall.com/

//Starfall is a great site for doing daily calendar. I also use the alphabet to introduce the beginning letter of each students' name. For example, as I show a letter everyone whose name begins with that letter stands up. The children enjoy the recognition and soon know who belongs to each letter.// //Lastly, I love the starfall website. It could be used in the middle and the end of the year for phonemic awareness and pre-reading skills.// //The starfall website would be good for learning the alphabet and prereading skills.// //Starfall.com is one of the best ABC websites I've found. There are some games, but we mostly use the ABC section. It has repetative visual and sound cues. It's fun and has some games that also help visual discrimination between capital and lowercase letters. It also gives the students freedom to explore letters and sounds.// //I think I will use the starfall website-when I taught kindergarten, I used their workbooks which were excellent and I think it will be easy to use.//

Build a neighborhood http://pbskids.org/rogers/R_house/build.htm

Alphabet http://www.learningplanet.com/act/fl/aact/index.asp

Stories http://www.magickeys.com/books/ http://www.storyplace.org/storyplace.asp

Coloring games

Puzzles

Memory games