Gan

Kindergartners are introduced to the iMac G5 computer and the iPad as tools for learning. By the end of the first semester they are able locate and use many keys on the keyboard, and able to use the mouse.

They created books in English, "Chanukah", "My Tree", "I like..." and "Penguin Alphabet Book". They also create books in Hebrew, "Sometimes I'm Happy and Sometimes I'm Sad", and "Days of the Week". They first wrote a sentence for each book and illustrated each one with their classroom teachers, then typed their sentences using Microsoft Office and Text Editor in the lab. While creating their pages they became very skilled at locating the return/enter key, space key, shift key, and delete key. They also became very skilled at putting capital letters at the beginning of sentences, adding ending marks at the end of sentences, and putting spaces between words. After typing their pages they printed them and added illustrations.

They enjoy stories being read by members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation on storylineonline.net/. After listening to stories they identified, wrote, and illustrated the characters, setting, and beginning of the story. Students also enjoy reading Clifford and learning about left and right. They wrote about each story to show their comprehension skills. While listening to stories online they learned to use the back command on the browser, how to move the window, and how to adjust the volume. Kindergarteners have used Garage Band, which is a software application that is used to create music and podcasts. They enjoyed recieving help from fifth graders during their first lesson. By the end of the second lesson they were able to select instruments and create musical patterns (ABC, ABAB, ABCC).