I’m always on the lookout for ways to use technology in education, especially teacher strategy stories. This great vocabulary strategy comes straight from Dr. Madie Orange of Liberty County High School, GA!
For her 9th grade non-readers, she uses iPads and Dictionary.com for reading (and hearing) vocabulary words. Then, she has them use speech-to-text when writing sentences and paragraphs.
Students are given a list of 10 vocabulary words from an article or text that they are about to read. They use Dictionary.com to look up the words. Then they click on the icon beside the word to hear the correct pronunciation of the word, its spelling and meaning. Later, they use speech-to-text to write their sentences and paragraphs on the reading, using the vocabulary words.
Dr. Orange said, “I found this to be very useful for my non-readers and non-writers. With speech-to-text, they get to speak into the microphone and see what they are actually saying. They get to see what they have created in text. It makes them feel better about themselves.
This activity usually takes about 15-20 minutes. It may easily be used in any rotation. I use it mostly for tutoring. I use 20 minutes for instructional software, 20 minutes for reading, and the last 20 minutes for review/tests. I love it and my non-readers love it.”
What strategies do you use in your classroom to enhance learning with technology? Let us know in the comments section, below.
Learn More About Using Technology in Your Classroom!
For more information about using technology to strengthen instruction, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Using iPads and Other Cutting Edge Technology to Strengthen Your Instruction.
Available in both print and electronic versions!