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Building Community and Competency
Online Learning in Grade 1
It is time for printing practice in Grade 1, but this year it’s taking on a new format. The Grade 1 teacher is using a document reader, a device that projects an image of a page both on the class’s whiteboard and onto the students’ devices. Students who are in the physical classroom, or students who are learning at home, can all clearly see the teacher’s demonstration. This visual supports the students in the perceptual learning of where letters and spaces go.
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The Grade 1 class has four students who have opted to learn online this year, and it has been a big priority for the teacher to ensure that they are fully connected members of the Grade 1 community. These four learners are projected on the smart board and interact with their classmates in groups and class discussions. The teacher often takes the online learners for a walk around the class on an iPad, where the other students can chat with them and work with them on projects. Birthdays, always important at this age, are celebrated together through messages, pictures and class activities.
When it is their turn to be ‘star of the day,’ they share special items from home with their classmates over the screen. In fact, the students learning in person also share videos from home when it is their turn to be the star.
New applications and software have benefited all the class members. Reading apps allow the students to access leveled readers and the teacher to assess reading levels. This year, students are not allowed to sing ‘O Canada’ during in-person learning (music is considered to be one of the higher risk activities in a COVID-19 environment for virus transmission) so they have taken this as an opportunity to learn to sign!
Having this technology in place has allowed the students to continue learning despite disruptions: whether they have chosen to work fully at home, are recovering from a minor illness or are at home for a snow day, meaningful learning continues. We are very proud of how responsible and engaged our young students are at PC.
