Yippee! It Worked!

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about using the iPad and the Livescribe Pen together. I was excited to give this a try, but as with anything new, I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. I’m excited to say that it was even better than expected!

The students have loved using the Livescribe Pen to record their stories based on the pictures in Rory’s Story Cubes. They have also developed some wonderful stories, and some have even extended the activity, by writing part of their story and recording the rest. Here’s an example of what one group of Grade 2 students did together:

Turtle And Bee Story

When they ran into difficulty stopping the recording, this group even managed to independently problem-solve and extend their story. They were thinking, creating, and having so much fun too!

Then there was today when I had ten visitors in the classroom during literacy centres: a combination of teachers, administrators, consultants, and ECE’s all looking to see how technology can be used in an Early Years classroom. The students at this centre today were not only completing the storytelling activity, but also showing the visitors how to work the technology. Despite their numerous jobs, they managed to record a number of great stories, one of which is included below:

I love hearing the students collaborate, and seeing that they are getting real meaning from the pictures that they see. I always think back to the phrase that “reading is meaning,” and taking real meaning from picture cues such as the ones in Rory’s Story Cubes, will help the students as they continue to develop their reading skills too.

Now the only question that remains is, what can we try next?

Aviva