Technology for Individual Intervention

(photo source)

I have "my standard" technology integration that I use each day but my integration definitely gets more fun as the year goes on and we have more to work on and the apps can lend themselves to being a bit more self directed practice with the whole group. This class has made me think about what else I could do or what I could do differently. We're still highly focusing on letter identification and sounds so I decided that I'll look for something to enhance my instruction in that area.

My first stop was on ipadapps4school.com. I searched for "beginning sounds" and a list popped up. The graphics on Teach Your Monster To Read on the iPad caught my eye. They are cute monsters which I can see appealing to both boys and girls. I watched the promo video and it looks like exactly what I need. I then searched graphite.org to see what they had to say about it. Graphite gave it 4/5 stars. I paid my $5 and got it downloaded it. I played with it a little bit at home and was happy with what I was seeing so I downloaded it on my kid iPads and introduced it in class. The kids got to see me play it a little and then I let them take a couple of turns. At literacy work stations the children were using the app which I was pleased to see. I also used it during choice time to support one little girl who needed extra help and practice. She is usually a pretty serious little girl but I saw her smiling and happy while using this app to practice her letter S and the sound. I love play based intervention becuase children don't feel like I'm drilling and killing them. They're happy to practice and I don't feel like I'm taking away all of their play time. I'm just giving them a more structured play under my supervision and with my feedback. We all win!