Research suggests that learning happens when children can use multiple senses, such as sight, sound, and touch. This type of learning is effective for teaching early literacy and can be the perfect tool for boosting early literacy skills.
With technology, parents, caregivers, and educators can nurture reading skills in new, exciting ways. Digital resources like apps, online games, and eBooks help promote literacy for children with different learning styles and abilities.
Options to Consider
Below are a few suggestions for technology incorporated activities and apps to promote literacy skills with our youngest learners:
- The iTrace app allows children to practice printing their names, common words, and letters.
- The TeeRead app is used to assess a student’s reading comprehension and recommend a personalized library.
- Use an iPad to go on a photo scavenger hunt.
- Produce a video with kids performing in a reader’s theater to exhibit their literacy skills and have some fun.
Questions to Ask
According to an article written on play and technology in the Young Children NAEYC magazine in May 2018, to evaluate an app, teachers can ask themselves the following questions:
- Creation: Can children make something new? Instead of just putting together a puzzle or coloring, does the app allow children agencies to use their ideas and create them? Given the need to engage children in a variety of activities (with and without apps), we find the most value in apps that enable children to innovate in ways that are not possible without technology.
- Collaboration: Can children work together? Plan together? Take different roles? We often choose apps that would allow both to work individually and with others.
- Communication: Can children share their work easily? Can they start online conversations with students outside the classroom? Of course, safeguarding the children's privacy was our foremost consideration, and we looked for apps that allowed sharing or communication with specific people, such as family members-never sharing publicly.
It is important, however, to be aware of children’s screen time. These strategies are to be used in moderation and do not replace the physical/direct activities of reading a physical book and writing letters or your name on paper.
