Curriculum
Ideas when using An AlphaSmart
Compiled
by Ashley Evans
and Mary Beth Turanchik
Integrated Technology Services
Fairfax County Public Schools
Writing Ideas:
- Writing Roulette
- This is a writing activity in which the students write sentences to
compose a story and pass the AlphaSmarts at a determined time by the
teacher to complete a round robin story. You can give them a prompt
to start with such as "If only . . ." When writing, the students
are encouraged to focus on their thoughts only. Later, the teacher can
share the stories and have them work on editing skills and the sequencing
of the stories.
- AlphaSmart News
- The round robin stories or a class newsletter can be downloaded into
a newsletter template in ClarisWorks or Word and then published as your
class newsletter.
- Penpals
- find penpals for your students on the Internet and have the students
write their email off-line, connect and then send.
Editing Written Work:
- Have students type
their work in a designated file. Copy and paste their work into another
file to edit. The second file will be edited by their peers. Have 3
- 5 students in one group, set your timer and allow the students to
edit for complete sentences including a capital letter and a period.
Pass the AlphaSmart after the timer goes off. Have the next student
check for complete sentences. When this has been shown to the entire
group, work on the next editing skill (i.e. spelling, capitalization
of proper nouns, etc.)
Writing Games:
- Twenty Questions
- A twist on the old game where each group formulates questions on the
AlphaSmart and imports the questions to the leader's computer who then
responds back on the screen as the questions are asked.
- Guess What?
- Another twist to Twenty Questions in which the teacher hides an object
in his/her pocket. The goal is for the students to guess the object
by typing in questions on the AlphaSmart and then downloading it to
the teacher's computer. The teacher then writes a complete sentence
answer back to the student. This process continues to generate clues
for the student. The students are only allowed to ask 3 questions that
actually guess what the object is so they really need to use their clues.
This works on complete sentence development, deductive reasoning and
understanding inferences.
Keyboarding Activities:
- Diana King
- A keyboarding activity that is used with the AlphaSmart. It involves
the use of a poem to introduce and practice the keys learning the Qwerty
keyboard format. Click
here for a copy of the poem in pdf format.
- Type to Learn
Templates - Templates have been developed for specific lessons to
supplement the software program, Type to Learn. Using Get Utility, you
can upload these templates to your AlphaSmart. Click
here for a web page where you can download templates for the AlphaSmarts.
Using Get Utility
Program with:
- Prewriting Activity
- Download a teacher writing template to the AlphaSmart.
- Internet Activity
- Download information from the web to the AlphaSmart to reduce
time spent on the computer.
Organizational Tips
- Assignment Book
- Monthly dates are downloaded into File 8 and become the student's
assignment notebook.
- Research - Label
each file as a research area such as "Habitats," "Food,"
"Birth, Characteristics," etc. and then as students do the
research, they organize their notes into the various categories.
- Organization within
a file - Organize information such as phone numbers, e-mail addresses,
contact list, index of what is in the other files or reminders to yourself.
Before each heading in the file, type "**". By pressing the
FIND button on the top row of the AlphaSmart, you can find the next
** in that file. Scroll through that file using command-G until you
find the topic you desire.
Notetaking:
- Use the AlphaSmart
to take notes during class discussions
- Let students take
notes on a field trip using the AlphaSmart. Papers will not be blown
away and they will not need to sharpen pencils.
- During the beginning
of the year, have students interview a peer about hobbies, likes and/or
opinions about topics.
Administrative Ideas
for using AlphaSmarts
- Script TPEP observation
notes on the fly - eight files for eight Standards
- Develop and organize
presentations
- Write your email
off-line, connect and send
- Take meeting notes
- Take notes at a
conference
- Make word processing
templates
- Use to collect
data
Tips and Tricks
- Recovering your
files - Recover your files by pressing Command - Option - R
- Typing timer -
Time your typing by pressing Command - Find
- Download into anything
that has a cursor - often we only think of a word processor. Try Hyperstudio,
Imagination Express, Inspiration, AOL, Outlook, anything with a blinking
cursor.
- AlphaSmarts are
pretty sturdy. If a key pops off, simply click it back on.
- If the keys are
sticking, usually it is due to a small item lodged under the key. Pop
the key off, wipe it down with a dry cloth or piece of cloth, then click
the piece back on.
- To support students'
use, train the entire class, not just special education students.
- Have parents sign
a consent form and allow the students to start or finish projects at
home with an AlphaSmart.
- Don't hesitate
to call 888-274-2720 or e-mail the AlphaSmart technical help at support@alphasmart.com
- Remember to register
at the Community Center within the AlphaSmart website at http://www.alphasmart.com/
to discover more ideas.
Back
to Top
|
