Junior Writing using Clicker
Purpose
- To encourage and improve students early literacy skills through using Clicker – a writing support and multimedia tool.
- For students to explore the scientific concept of warmth by identifying and writing about ways in which we keep ourselves warm
Level
Lower primary
Essential learning areas
Language and languages – English, science, the arts – visual art
Essential skills
Communication, information, problem-solving
Strands
English
Written language: Expressive Writing, Thinking Critically, level 1
Speaking: Using Texts, level 1
Science
Making Sense of the Physical World, level 1
Visual art
Developing Ideas in the Visual Arts (DI), level 1
Participants
Year 0–1 students
Description
During this learning experience a junior class explored the topic of warmth. Students shared ideas and wrote stories about keeping warm. They used Microsoft Paint and Clicker software to write their stories and create illustrations. The stories were put together to create a digital reading resource that the class could use and share with others.
Introduction
During a class discussion about warmth the teacher encouraged students to share ideas on how they keep themselves warm. Connections were made between their own experiences and the concept of warmth. The students were asked to select one of their 'keeping warm' ideas to write about.
The teacher showed the class how to write stories using Clicker software. Through using this writing tool, the teacher hoped to provide students with:
- the opportunity to experience a new method of publishing to motivate and enhance literacy skills
- appropriate scaffolding to support their literacy skills through using the Clicker grid
- their own digital book, to use as a reading resource.
Note: A grid is a feature of Clicker software, similar to a template. Grids can be set up to include various words, which can be selected to build simple sentences. When a word in the grid is clicked on it is automatically entered into the writing screen (without having to use the keyboard).
Creating illustrations
Several sessions were spent in the computer suite. During this time each student created an illustration of their 'keeping warm' idea using Microsoft Paint. They used tools from the drawing tool box to create a picture. The palette and fill tool were used to add colour to their illustrations. Each student saved their picture and named the file.
Using Clicker
With the teacher's support, each student imported their picture into a separate page in Clicker. They then wrote their story in the writing area underneath their picture. The students could either use the keyboard to type their story or use a Clicker grid that the teacher had created. The grid included a list of high-frequency and topic related words selected by the teacher prior to the session. The students could use their mouse to locate and select words from their grid to write their story. Prior to this stage, each student had talked with the teacher about what they wanted to write.
The teacher encouraged the students to use their letter-sound relationship knowledge when attempting to spell words or to help them locate words on the grid. Several students at the early stages of writing worked alongside a parent helper dictating their story and receiving support with writing it.
With help from the teacher or a parent helper, students read, discussed, and edited their stories.
All the stories were then linked together by the teacher to create a class digital book (for example, forward and back buttons were inserted on each page allowing the reader to navigate from one story to the next). A title page was also created.
The class explored their new resource, and each student had the opportunity to read their story aloud.
Presenting
Once the students were familiar with operating their digital book, they presented it to another class using the data projector. They described the process they had carried out to create the resource, and read aloud their stories.
Evaluation
This learning experience provided students with the opportunity to communicate their understandings of warmth and to develop their literacy skills. Students were able to explore a new method of writing and illustrating stories, which proved to be both engaging and motivating.
Using Clicker software gave the students scaffolding to assist with their writing. The grid supported those at the early stages of writing, helping them to achieve success. They did not need to focus on the keyboard to locate each letter, but were able to select words from the grid simply, by using the mouse. They were encouraged to use their knowledge of letter-sound relationships and high-frequency vocabulary to locate words. Students who typed their stories into the writing area without using the grid also used this knowledge to assist them with their own spelling approximations. This allowed them to focus on the content and spelling of their stories without having to worry about the mechanics of handwriting.
Students also developed and strengthened their ICT skills, including simple mouse and keyboard skills.
As a result the students produced a digital book that was meaningful to them and could be repeatedly used throughout the year. It also provided the class with an authentic learning resource to encourage reading skills.
Additional comments
Ideas for using Clicker to support reading and writing can be found on the
Crick software website at http://www.cricksoft.com/uk/ideas/using_clicker/index.htm
Resources
Computers
Data projector
Microsoft Paint
Clicker
Authors
Mary Dean mdean@castlecliff.school.nz
Cluster
Castlecliff
School
Published
October 2004