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Singular and Plural Nouns Kaycee Bastian, 3rd Grade, Townley The teacher makes the document on a computer with a numbered list. Next to each number, there is a singular noun (choose a variety of types...add an s, change the y to i and add es, etc.). That document is sent to the Alphasmarts. Students open up their file, type in their name, and fill in the plural noun next to each singular noun. The also write a sentence with a specified plural noun. They then download the file to a computer and print the document. The original teacher document is attached. |
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Word Clues Practice with Spelling Words Jan Mills, Alphasmart The teacher will use the spelling words displayed on the wall or board. Clues are given about the specific word..."I spy a word that rhymes with hat." The student enters the spelling word on the Alphasmart that is the answer to the clue, then presses enter. The teacher gives a new clue..."I spy a word or words that have to do with eating." Continue with all the spelling words. |
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Grow Your Sentence Jan Mills, Alphasmart This will help students practice writing descriptive sentences. Model the process on the board or the overhead first. Write the sentence skeleton...Mom made muffins. Descriptive words starting with the same letter must be added. Mom made me muffins. My mom made me muffins. My mom made me marvelous muffins. Monday morning, my mom made me marvelous muffins. Monday morning, my mom, Martha, made me marvelous muffins. Now give students a sentence to complete on their own...Sam sang songs. They will type the sentence and then move their arrow keys to insert new words. Before beginning, the teacher may want to elicit "s" words and write those on the board for students to use. |
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Rotation Story Jan Mills, Alphasmart Students write the first sentence of the story, given to them by the teacher...Two friends ________ (they complete). They pass their Alphasmart to the next person. On the new Alphasmart, they read the previous sentence written by their classmate. The teacher gives the directions for the second sentence...add a sentence with an animal. The student then starts after the first sentence and adds his new sentence. Keep passing the Alphasmarts, reading the previous sentences and adding the new sentence with the teacher's guidelines. 3rd sentence...add a sentence with a number; 4th sentence...add a sentence that is four words long. |
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Mystery Student Jan Mills, Alphasmart The teacher models the process by writing two word descriptions of herself (each one a different line)....love reading, hate spinach, have dog, two daughters, one husband, taught school, travel often, love Alphasmarts. Now students must enter at least 6 two word descriptions of themselves...press enter after each one (keep it a secret). The teacher collects all of the Alphasmarts. The teacher reads the hints and students raise their hands to guess the mystery student. If they are correct with their guess, that students gets the Alphasmart and returns it to the cart in the correct slot. |
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Editing and Proofreading Tonya Laliberte, 4th Grade Townley TEKS addressed: 4.17 (A-D); 4.18 (B,C,D,E,F,G,H); 4.19 (A-I) The students at the fourth grade level are responsible for producing well written work of good sound quality. Through this activity, the students were able to monitor their own mistakes while writing a personal narrative. The students first created their work using pencil and paper. Upon completion of the story, they then typed the information into their AlphaSmart and utilized the spell check option in order to edit their paper specifically for spelling. When this was completed, they would then go to the student desktop computer and upload their files to the desktop to double check their spelling. At this time, they were also expected to run a grammar check looking for grammatical mistakes. This process allowed for discussion of the piece of work, how the students could make it better, and what mistakes were occurring continuously. Through this process, the students were able to receive immediate feedback and I was allowed to have a personalized discussion based upon the spelling and grammatical errors and allowed opportunities for the students to check their work before submitting the final draft. |
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Short Vowel Words Ms. Meza, Keyes TEKS addressed: 4.5, 4.6, 4.6, 4.8, 4.9, 4.17 We had a number of short vowel words that we used and learned to spell correctly. We used these words in sentences and stories to learn their meanings. We searched newspapers and magazines for words that were similar to our short vowel words list. We cut and pasted words with short vowel words and then transferred this proof read list to our AlphaSmarts while working on correct spelling. |
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Novel Alpha Boxes Jennifer Towery, Townsell TEKS addressed: Reading 3.11h Students read assigned novel with the purpose of analyzing a character. Using the main character, students look for adjectives or descriptive phrases of their chosen character. Using an alpha box format, students will take their notes over their character in the Alpha Smart. They are to find a characteristic to go with every letter of the alphabet. After completion of the novel, alpha boxes should be complete. The teacher will download the file with the character alpha boxes and students will create a published ABC book over their novel?s main character. Students highly enjoyed this project! The used of technology excited them! |
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A Day Outdoors Jennifer Towery, Townsell TEKS addressed: Writing 3.14a, 3.18b, c Select a day to venture outdoors and spend some time in silent observation. Days in the fall and spring are perfect for this assignment! Take students to a place where they can spread out and observe nature. (I took students to a nearby pond.) Using their Alpha Smarts, instruct students to record any thoughts that come into their minds. These thoughts may deal with what they see, hear, smell, touch, or it could be how the ?special spot? makes them feel. Give students 30-60 minutes to observe and write (type). After allowing students to make observations, download the Alpha Smart files and have students take their observations, now in hard copy, and create a descriptive piece of writing. Students and teacher will then work together in a one-on-one session to revise drafts and complete a published writing. Students enjoyed this activity because of its freedom and individuality. They loved taking the Alpha Smarts outside and creating a piece of work. After publication, students created a piece of artwork to go along with their descriptive writing. |
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Build a Story Jason Barnett, Keyes TEKS addressed: R5.15 d, g; 5.15 a, b, d; 5.19 h; 5.22 a Students are divided into groups. They are given a one line prompt start for a narrative. Using an Alphasmart after the beginning promt is typed into the Alphasmart the next student will add one line to the story then pass the Alphsmart to the next student who will add the next line to the story and so on for 20-30 minutes. Then have the groups share their narratives. |