The "I Learn Everyday book" is a non-fiction book created for a kindergarten general education class. Before creating the book, the ELA teacher and I had a discussion about what types of books she needed her students to take interest in. Teacher stated within the common core standards for reading and writing there is a big emphasis on reading informational text. The teacher needed to expose her students to more non-fictional informational text. This discussion inspired my book idea. “I Learn Everyday” would be an informational text with real world experiences. Students would be able to read book, look at illustrations and relate it to their everyday lives. After publishing book I emailed link to ELA teacher. The ELA teacher loved book and had many questions on how it was created. I introduced teacher to book builder site and showed her how she could use book builder features. The ELA was excited and immediately thought of ways she could incorporate it into her lessons. The ELA teacher stated that she could use “I Learn Everyday” with all her readers. She stated the book is a great way to expose her young students to informational text. She also indicated that the pictures were so realistic and that students would definitely be able to relate to them. The ELA teacher stated she loved the audio features embedded in book builder. The audio would be great for younger students who sometimes have trouble decoding words and for others that may read below grade level. The ELA teacher raved about the response feature because she loves to have students interact with text.
Book Builder is truly a great web 2.0 tool where teachers and students can read, but also create and publish their work. The books can then be read and shared with students all over the world. Comments and edits can be made to build skills in communication and writing. Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, offers students many different routes to take in order to find their best learning style, and to experiment with different formats of learning and presenting to find greater success. Open ended projects can be created and expanded upon. This idea offers students a chance to think outside the box. The ELA teacher and I were in agreement about taking a UDL approach to textbook usage, any text book could be reworked to drive home key points to students in a manner of different ways using Book Builder.
I like the book. It's a great way for students to think about the way they learn especially the younger ones. Kids tend to think they only learn at school but do not realize everything they do can become a learning experience. Great concept.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Everything is a learning experience. The simplest concept can open a door. I often try to explain that to my parents. Not all learning comes from books, cooking, shopping for grocery, and house chores can become a learning experience for young minds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the audio feature gives added benefit. I've seen that kindergarten students cannot read that well yet, so the audio feature would assist their reading as well as listening. I am also glad you are able to share the tool and the knowledge with the ELA teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! And I love how you worked with the ELA to brainstorm ideas to use it in the classroom. It'd be perfect to address the "informational" literacy from early on since young children are exposed to a variety of technologies in their daily lives. This would be so cool to get them interested. Try explore recording your own narratives and use the vocabulary box. This could be tremendously help for ELLs. :D
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