Attend
Exhibit
Seven Ways to Enhance Literacy and STEAM With Digital Tools |
Participate and share : Interactive session
Jessie Erickson
Come explore new and unexpected ways to enhance literacy and STEAM with digital tools in your classroom. You will leave with ready-to-use templates and turn-key to engage learners, embrace creativity, student voice, choice and make learning more dynamic. Bring your imagination and get ready to create!
| Audience: | Coaches, Library media specialists, Teachers |
| Skill level: | Beginner |
| Attendee devices: | Devices required |
| Attendee device specification: | Laptop: Chromebook, Mac, PC Tablet: Windows, Android, iOS |
| Participant accounts, software and other materials: | Attendees would benefit by having a Google Apps for Education account or personal Google account, and a Windows laptop, Mac laptop, or Chromebook, to fully participate in the session. |
| Topic: | Creativity & curation tools |
| Grade level: | PK-12 |
| Subject area: | Language arts, STEM/STEAM |
| ISTE Standards: | For Students: Creative Communicator
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The purpose of this session is to show how Google Suite can be used in language arts for creative student learning activities. Each activity uses tools already included in the Google Suite (Slides, Draw, Inserting Shapes, Exporting, ect). The activities focus on ways to help students improve their reading comprehension, summarization skills, writing skills, creativity, and expression beyond just text. This session will be entirely hands-on as participants engage with each other as well as their devices for each of the Google Suite activities.
The activities explored will include the following:
Introduction and Welcome - 3 minutes
1) Comic Strips and Timelines - 5 minutes
2) Poetry - Making Verse Visual - 10 minutes
3) Emoji Stories - 5 minutes
4) Reading Goes Social with "Snaps" and More - 10 minutes
5) Interactive Newsletter and Mystery Revealer - 10 minutes
6) Bitmoji Classroom - 10 minutes
7) Choose Your Own Adventure Story - 5 minutes
7) Work Time, Closing and Questions - 32 minutes
The benefits of using technology to engage students in literacy activities are well supported by research. The website Reading Rockets includes an article (at http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-instruction-digital-and-media-technologies) addressing many of these benefits with cited research and practical examples. Example effects include improvements in comprehension, motivation, writing competency, and critical thinking.
Next, there have been many scholarly research articles published that support digital tools as a way to support literacy instruction. Here are links to some supporting articles:
https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/trtr.1225
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00474.x
Additionally, the website TeachThought includes an article (at https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/use-text-reduction-strategy-improve-reading-comprehension/) that explores the benefits of text-reduction strategy to improve reading comprehension and summarization skills. This article has provided inspiration for my magnetic poetry, comic strips, timelines and more.
Finally, the benefits of using technology for STEAM, is highlighted in the Department of Education's summary of research findings: Nine Dimensions for Supporting Powerful STEM Learning with Technology at https://tech.ed.gov/files/2019/10/stem-innovation-spotlights-research-synthesis.pdf
Jessie Erickson is the District Assessment Coordinator for Grand Forks Public Schools. Jessie holds Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a Specialist Diploma in Educational Leadership. She has had the opportunity to work with the students and staff as a teacher, Building Resource Coordinator, Instructional Coach and Curriculum Technology Partner within the Grand Forks Public Schools and Grand Forks Air Force Base School Districts. She loves facilitating opportunities that ignite all learners to become passionate about leading and learning.
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