Emergent Readers as Young Authors

I am fortunate to have the opportunity to teach a group of 1st graders for 20 minutes on most days at my school. These are students who have passed out of their phonics program and I get to work with them to use tech as a tool to build literacy skills.




It takes a while to get these little learners equipped and ready with the skills they need to tackle any technology that calls for productivity. They need to learn how to independently accomplish simple tasks such as logging in, sitting down, and refraining from immediately asking every question out loud the second it pops into their heads. Teaching them to think for themselves, make decisions and tackle problem-solving always takes some troubleshooting, but I've learned that it can be a lot of fun getting to know each student when helping them develop these important life skills. My motto when working with this group is consistently "Slow and steady wins the race." 

Recently our group of little learners has been authoring a collaborative ThingLink interactive image book about Sea Creatures. The most remarkable and useful teaching piece here involves the use of immediate feedback, a powerful way to leverage the power of technology for teaching and learning.  It is particularly exciting to be able to communicate and work with these young emergent readers in a virtual environment to personalize their learning.

Sea Creatures 

Please explore and enjoy our interactive image book in progress and consider the possibilities for learning that exist for student authors of any age with ThingLink interactive image books.