Monday, May 9, 2011
5/9/11 Reflection
Today was our introduction to the class where we introduced ourselves and got familiar with what would be happening throughout the two week class. We discussed how to incorporate Bailey's House and Comic Life into a literacy program. With Bailey's House, I would use it to focus on closed sentences with the story making section, and I would also use Bailey's House with letter recognition and sound. I think Bailey's House would best benefit the primary grades. With Comic Life, I would use it for sequencing, especially with books that focus on repitition. Comic Life would be good for the older grades because it involves more creativity with designing your own page. Comic Life would be good for teaching students to sequence because they would be able to put pictures or events in order based on the template that they choose to use. Both of these programs would work well with a literacy program and would enhance and engage the students' learning.
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I agree with your thoughts! Bailey's is definitely for lower elementary as it is very close ended without a lot of room for creativity. It's one of those programs that is a great entry level in learning to navigate through a computer program as well as something as basic as clicking a mouse. When you really think and break down the steps to learning technology, it really is a very in depth process. I've had to teach students how to correctly hold a mouse because they simply did not the correct way to hold it. I love Comic Life and it would be great for older students. I also feel that there is a place for it in lower elementary and even in a preschool setting, however it would involved very detailed and specific instructions to assist students in navigating through the program. I also think, especially for preschoolers, it would have to be an individual 1:1 activity with the teacher or associate and a student.
ReplyDeleteDiscussing how to integrate “Bailey’s Bookhouse” and “Comic Life” software programs with picture books to teach specific literacy skills was inspiring. Many of our classmates shared quality ideas that I would not have thought of on my own. “Bailey’s Bookhouse” is heavily structured which is nice for younger students but limiting in the classroom. This program might be more beneficial for students to take home and practice skills with older siblings or parents. “Comic Life” is more flexible but could still be scaffolded by the teacher for students in need of structure. Unfortunately, both of those programs cost money. With interactive websites and Web 2.0 tools available that perform similar tasks, I am not sure if I would want to spend funding on these softwares.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what has been said already. Comic life is not something that I've used personally, but in all honesty I think that some of the web tools we have discussed that are similar to it seem easier to use. I like how some of the web versions seem to make the animation part of it a little easier, which would make that software slightly more appropriate for a slightly lower grade level than Comic Life, but this could just be my lack of experience with it as well. As we have said in class I agree with your statement of how Bailey's could be a good tool in lower elementary grades, but only if used appropriately. I know that I have personally seen it used more as an extra work for when students are finished with something else. As a time filler I do not like its use, but your examples of ways to use it could be very beneficial, especially for foundational learners.
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