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Using Picture Passwords on Boom Learning
Picture Passwords are a game-changer for primary students. If you have spent any time in the younger grades you know that getting your students logged in is the hardest part of using Chromebooks and iPads in kindergarten. Well, not anymore. Boom Learning has announced picture logins. Using images instead of letters, numbers, or words will help your students get started working much faster, and with more independence. There is now an easy way for our youngest students to access Boom Learning. Boom Learning has introduced Picture Passwords. They. Are. Amazing! It is so easy for my kindergarten students to log in independently. Your students just need to choose 2 creatures they want in their password. Make sure you have them choose 2. They can change their password as many times as they want. It’s so much easier for them to remember the bat and the frog than a string of letters and numbers. Watch my video on how you to use picture log in cards. Using picture passwords takes the pain out of logging in. If you would like a free picture password card just click here. Make sure you scroll down to the supporting document. Just download and print. Make...
read moreUsing Boom Cards in The Primary Classroom
Using Boom Cards in The Primary Classroom Boom Cards provide the digital resources you need to bring digital learning into your primary classroom. Boom Cards are self-checking digital task cards that provide immediate feedback to students. Teachers have access to the data through Boom’s reports feature. Giving teachers a powerful tool to make decisions about instruction. You can find the support you need to get started with Boom Cards here Top Tips for using Boom Cards in your Early Childhood Classroom So what’s the best way to use digital task cards in your kindergarten class? Here are some strategies for incorporating digital learning with our young learners. #1 Morning Work In my classroom, my students trickle in and I need some quality activities for my students to complete while they wait for all the students to arrive and get settled. I put out a few Chromebooks and iPads in a work center. My kids can easily sign-in and complete a deck independently before we start our day. #2 An Extension of Reading Groups One of the most challenging tasks for me when I started teaching was trying to figure out what the rest of my class should be doing...
read moreWhy learning the alphabet is so important.
Knowing the alphabet is the best predictor of reading success. I have been teaching in the primary grades for over 30 years. In that time I have seen expectations change for kindergarten students. What started out as social-emotional growth, learning to play with friends, fine motor skills, and alphabet skills has somehow morphed into first-grade work where are kids are expected to read, comprehend, AND answer text-dependent questions. Teachers know that our kids are more than their test scores I believe the policy-makers want the best for our kindergarten students. I just think they are a little confused about what is best for our kids. Teachers know that our kids are more than their test scores. We know that how our students treat each other is as important (if not more) than what reading level they score. We all want the achievement gap to shrink. However, just pushing our kids harder they will not magically shrink the achievement gap. Having high expectations does not mean that every child will keep up. In every kindergarten class there are students who come in not only ready to read, but kids who are already reading, but there are other kids who are already...
read moreTips for Logging Kindergarten Students onto a Chromebook
The hardest part about using digital resources in the primary grades is getting your kids logged in. You don’t need to be an early childhood expert to quickly figure out that getting to log into Google Classroom is the biggest challenge. If you have spent any time with young children and Chromebooks you know they can maneuver around Google Classroom pretty easily. That is IF they can get logged in. Google Classroom is a powerful tool that teachers have for differentiating instruction and engaging students. However, the first step is the most difficult – getting them on. Spoiler alert – it’s going to take them a minute. I have some tips and strategies to help you help them get onto their Chromebooks. Spoiler alert – it’s going to take them a minute. Just like everything with young children it takes repeated practice. But like everything else, kindergarten students need to know about school the time you put in upfront pays dividend later on. Here’s my first tip. Look at the keyboard. What do you notice about a Chromebook keyboard? It’s all lowercase! Now look at your keyboard – it’s all capitals! If your kids have been using a keyboard at...
read moreWhat is everyone else doing during reading groups???
What is the rest of the class doing during reading groups? When I started teaching I had a pretty good idea how to run a reading group. It was clear to me what my students needed. Whether they were in my low group and just learning to identify and match uppercase and lowercase letter, my middle group starting to blend and read CVC words, or my highest group working on reading for comprehension. Having a reading group wasn’t a problem. The problem for me was figuring out what the rest of my class should be doing while I was running uninterrupted (hopefully) reading groups. This is the unspoken secret of kindergarten. It’s really hard to take a small group of kids for a reading group and hope that the other 18 kids in your class will remain engaged and quiet, and doing something meaningful. Some teachers may be lucky and have an assistant or a parent volunteer, but I’m afraid the vast majority of us are on our own. I’ve seen lots and lots of strategies for managing the whole class during groups. These tips (turning on a light to let kids know not to interrupt, wearing a...
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