Help my students close the achievement gap through technology! Did you know that most students living in impoverished communities begin pre-k and kindergarten with a two year learning deficit? According to researcher Betty Hart, children in low socioeconomic communities hear on average 616 words an hour compared to 2153 words an hour heard by children in high socioeconomic communities. This impacts their vocabulary development and later interferes with reading skills. These deficits become clear when students are tested at the beginning of the school year. My goal as a pre-k teacher is to close that gap, ensuring my students are on or above grade level when entering kindergarten. One sure way to do this is through technology. By incorporating tablets during small group instruction students can receive guided instruction through vocabulary games, sight word practice, letter sound practice, read alouds, and much more! During small group literacy lessons in my classroom each student participates in 4 rotations. During one rotation they receive 15 minutes of differentiated instruction with the teacher. In order to maximize learning time during the remaining 3 rotations I wish to use 1 rotation as “tablet time.” During tablet time, students will use the tablet to continue differentiated learning, focusing on the literacy skills they need the most. This will be accomplished using programs such as ABC Mouse, that test students and give them activities to complete based on their performance. Besides adding extra practice time, tablets also provide students with more exposure to technology, which will be useful in acquiring the skills needed for learning, testing, and every day life!
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Help my students close the achievement gap through technology! Did you know that most students living in impoverished communities begin pre-k and kindergarten with a two year learning deficit? According to researcher Betty Hart, children in low socioeconomic communities hear on average 616 words an hour compared to 2153 words an hour heard by children in high socioeconomic communities. This impacts their vocabulary development and later interferes with reading skills. These deficits become clear when students are tested at the beginning of the school year. My goal as a pre-k teacher is to close that gap, ensuring my students are on or above grade level when entering kindergarten. One sure way to do this is through technology. By incorporating tablets during small group instruction students can receive guided instruction through vocabulary games, sight word practice, letter sound practice, read alouds, and much more! During small group literacy lessons in my classroom each student participates in 4 rotations. During one rotation they receive 15 minutes of differentiated instruction with the teacher. In order to maximize learning time during the remaining 3 rotations I wish to use 1 rotation as “tablet time.” During tablet time, students will use the tablet to continue differentiated learning, focusing on the literacy skills they need the most. This will be accomplished using programs such as ABC Mouse, that test students and give them activities to complete based on their performance. Besides adding extra practice time, tablets also provide students with more exposure to technology, which will be useful in acquiring the skills needed for learning, testing, and every day life!
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