Integrating Technology Into Your Immersion Classroom
The ACIE Newsletter, December 1999, Vol.3, No. 1
by Terri Geffert, Second Grade Teacher, and Laura McManus, First Grade Teacher, Bridgewater Elementary School, Northfield, Minnesotat
Compañeros, the Spanish partial immersion program of the Northfield Public Schools, is housed grades one through five at Bridgewater Elementary School. This year at Bridgewater, eleven classrooms—three of them Spanish immersion classrooms—are designated “integrated technology classrooms.” This designation means that these classrooms are equipped with four computers, a digital camera, a video camera, and a portable TV/VCR unit. Teachers in these classrooms incorporate a station model in their instruction to best utilize the technology and maximize student learning. The school district is monitoring the progress of the children in these classrooms in hope that the classrooms will become models for future expansion of technology use in the district.
The philosophy behind these classrooms originated with Joan
Riedl’s book, The Integrated Technology Classroom. Riedl’s
teaching utilizes learning stations— “areas of
the classroom in which four to six students work together
to accomplish a specific learning task” (Reidl, 1995,
p. 18). It incorporates “in varying degrees teacher
guidance; instructional technology applications; small group,
teacher-facilitated discussions; and parent assistance”
(p. 18). Below, we describe our initial year of using the
“integrated technology” model in our first- and
second-grade immersion classrooms.
Some of the technology materials are not available in Spanish.
In cases where the software, internet sites, or videos are
in English, we still explain the station in Spanish and design
any accom-panying worksheets in Spanish. All the stations
that don’t involve English software are done in Spanish.
First Grade
In my first grade partial Spanish immersion classroom, I (Laura
McManus) have two classes of 27 students, one in the morning,
and one in the afternoon. I have approximately two hours with
each class to teach math, science, and social studies. Monday
and Tuesday are whole group instruction days. I spend an hour
on math and an hour on social studies or science. Children
basically do the same activities at the same time. On Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday, I spend half an hour on whole-group
math, and the rest of the day in stations. Up to seven children
at a time may work at a given station.
Below is an example of an outline of six stations that the
children rotate through over the course of the three days.
Station 1: Computers
Students use the program KidPix to make different combinations
of green and red apples that add up to ten.
Station 2: Seat work
Students work independently on some apple addition and subtraction
worksheets (possibly assisted by a parent or college student
volunteer).
Station 3: Teacher Station
Students get a lesson on centimeters and inches, practice
measuring around apples, placing them in order, and are actively
practicing the language involved in completing these tasks.
Station 4: Pan Balance
Students work together using a pan balance to arrange a basket
of apples from lightest to heaviest (possibly assisted by
a parent or college student volunteer).
Station 5: Games
Students play with apple cut-out cards which are numbered
1-20. The children each lay down a card, and the person with
the highest card takes all.
Station 6: Listening
Students listen to my tape recorded voice giving instructions
about how many apples to color red, green, or yellow on a
numbered paper.
My first graders soon become quite independent, and I enjoy
the time working and conversing with one small group at a
time. I feel it gives me the chance to focus in better on
individual children’s language and academic skills.
The kids love it!
Second Grade
In the second grade, I (Terri Geffert) also use stations for
math, science, social studies, and health to work with my
two classes. In math, I have four stations each week. Students
complete one station each day during a twenty-minute period
with Friday being a “catch-up” day. I divide the
class into four groups (six to seven students each), and the
groups rotate through the stations, using a rotating wheel
on the white-board as a guide to where their group needs to
be. Station time is usually followed by a forty-minute whole-group
lesson. Using the computer to write and illustrate a math
problem, create a computer slide show, or work with math software
is always one of the four math stations. Other stations for
math might include playing a math game, collecting data for
a class graph, completing a math-related art activity, or
working in a small group with the teacher.
I follow a similar four-group rotation for science, social
studies, and health stations. However, I do not use these
stations daily as I do with math. I place stations into my
lesson plans when the content seems most appropriate for a
station model. Here is an example of a station lesson plan
for a part of a weather unit:
Station 1: Computers
Students use KidPix to draw and label a model of the water
cycle.
Station 2: Video
Students watch a short video of me teaching a lesson about
cloud types (the VCR is a great way for you to be in two places
at once!) They then work as a group using the video and a
cloud poster to identify various clouds on a worksheet.
Station 3: Temperature Game
Students play a temperature “match mine” game
(High, 1993, p. 42). Each partner has a file folder with seven
pockets for each day of the week and seven cards with thermometers
showing various temperatures. One partner says the day of
the week and chooses a card for that day’s temperature,
placing the card in the appropriate pocket. The other partner
must listen to his/her partner and try to place his/her temperature
cards in the correct pockets.
Station 4: Teacher Station
Students use thermometers and containers of ice water, hot
water, and warm water. They make predictions about what the
water temperatures will be in Fahrenheit and Celsius and then
check their predictions.
I find that stations are a great way to make the best use
of materials that are in short supply, such as games, manipulatives,
and science equipment. I also find that changing to a station
model does not require entirely rewriting the curriculum I
have previously used. Often my students complete activities
similar to those done in previous years, but they complete
them using technology as a tool or in a small group rather
than as an entire class.
We are excited that this year the third-grade immersion teacher
has an integrated technology classroom for the first time.
We are looking forward to sharing ideas and building on our
first year’s experience with this model.
References
Riedl, Joan. (1995). The Integrated Technology Classroom:
Building Self-Reliant Learners. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn
& Bacon.
High, Julie. (1993). Second Language Learning Through Cooperative
Learning. Capistrano, CA: Kagan Cooperative Learning.
