Differentiation With Technology

Technology in the classroom helps to engage students in the material that is being delivered, enabling them to become active, rather than passive learners (Concordia University Texas, 2021). In my three-day phonemic awareness unit plan designed to focus on phoneme segmentation, I embedded multiple opportunities for technology use. Aside from finishing each lesson with a formative assessment within a pre-assigned Boom Card deck, there were also Google Slide Deck’s created as a lesson guide. Each day, students are asked to participate in an educator-led Google Slide Deck that allows students to quickly review words by identifying simple 2-4 phoneme pictures of words and segmenting their sounds. Day one focused on last sound identification and day 2 and 3 focused on phoneme segmentation. Students were highly engaged through age-appropriate visuals and choral responses. To incorporate diverse cultural perspectives, some of the visuals were of different types of food items that may be prominently served, depending on their culture, inside of the students’ homes; This gives students a chance to ignite conversations wrapped around different types of foods we eat in our homes. When creating lessons for kindergarten students, it important to remember that they are curious learners. They will begin to recognize similarities and differences among their peers’ abilities, cultures, languages and backgrounds- it is our job as educators to model acceptance of diversity (Brookes Blog, 2017). At the end of each lesson, students are asked to complete the Boom Cards assigned to them via Boom Learning. Using Boom is great for young learners because it offers both visual and auditory features that help students to create important connections (Miss Humblebee’s Academy, 2020).

References:

Brookes Blog. (2017). 8 ways to show young children that diversity is a strength. https://blog.brookespublishing.com/8-ways-to-show-young-children-that-diversity-is-a-strength/

Concordia University Texas. (2021). 3 reasons why classroom teachers need to use technology in the classroom. https://www.concordia.edu/blog/3-reasons-why-teachers-need-technology-in-the-classroom.html#:~:text=Technology%20in%20the%20classroom%20helps,performance%20by%20up%20to%2089%25.

Miss Humblebee’s Academy. (2020). The benefits of technology in the kindergarten classroom. https://www.misshumblebee.com/blog/index.php/how-effectively-integrate-technology-classroom-pre/#:~:text=Kids%20must%20become%20more%20adept,introduction%20to%20these%20new%20skills.