Physical+Development

= = =1. Independent computer use=

Areas of learning
• Creative development • Knowledge and understanding of the world • Physical development • Communication, language and literacy • Personal, social and emotional development

Learning intentions
• To know that technology is part of the world around them • To know that technology can support and enrich their learning • To know that technology can help them learn independently • To know that learning through technology can be an enjoyable interactive experience • To handle tools safely and with increasing control • To explore a text and enter into the pleasure of a story • To learn that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom • To use their imagination in art and design • To express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using suitable tools • To continue to be interested, excited and motivated to learn • To select and use activities and resources • To negotiate actions and take turns

Individual targets this activity could meet
• To maintain attention and concentrate independently • To use language to negotiate when playing with a friend • To use a mouse and access a program independently

Prior learning/ICT skills
• To point and click with a mouse, touchpad and stylus • To draw by clicking and holding down • To explore software, using buttons and icons to change screens and choose options

Resources
• desktop, laptop and tablet PCs • creative and literacy software (in this Example, //Leaps and Bounds 3//; //2Paint//; //Living Books:// //Just Grandma and Me//) For appropriate health and safety information in using this resource go to [|www.becta.org.uk]

Learning context ||

Adult input
Get the children to use different types of computers and access devices: desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs, and mouse, touchpad, and stylus. They can interact with creative software and with literacy software including ‘Living books’.

Questions for assessment
• Have you had a go on the computer? What did you do? • What happened in the story? • Did you print your picture? Can I see? • Did you save your picture? Can I see? • What else do you use a computer for?

Observation
• Are the children able to access the devices and handle them with care? • Are they able to navigate a program? • Do they know what the buttons and icons do? Are they able to find out? • Do they listen to and explore the story? • Do they use the paint packages for their own purposes?

Opportunities for extension and spontaneous learning
Show children the book’s options page to select their favourite pages so they can revisit them without starting the whole story again. This will support their literacy further as they play with the characters and events and learn songs and texts by heart. Children developing a picture to a high degree could be introduced to an art package with more tools and options, allowing them to develop their art further. The computers can support all areas of learning, depending on the software chosen. Mobile computers can be used in the role-play area to reflect the world as it is today. When children visit doctors or vets, computers are often on the reception desks and are one of the first things children see. Software such as At the Vets can support the setting up of real-world areas, enhance children’s play and engage them in further literacy and numeracy activities in a meaningful context.

**Commentary** The children featured in the video were able to access all the devices, handle them with care and use the programs purposefully. They showed enjoyment and concentration in their play. They were able to negotiate their activities when others joined in. The children understood that the computers could support their activities. They were able to use the computers and programs independently. They were able to immerse themselves in text and enjoy a story independently. They were able to use an art package to represent their own ideas. They were able to use colouring to negotiate additions and changes and to personalise their creation.

=2. Using a digital camera=

Areas of learning
• Knowledge and understanding of the world • Personal, social and emotional development • Physical development

Learning intentions
• To find out about and identify the uses of everyday technology • To have a sense of belonging • To handle tools with increasing control

Individual targets this activity could meet
• To recognise oneself as part of a group • To develop a sense of belonging • To build self-esteem by being valued for who they are • To engage in language within a shared context

Prior learning/ICT skills
• To use an on/off switch • To point and click with the camera • To use a button to change from camera to play mode and back again

Resources
• digital camera For appropriate health and safety information in using this resource go to [|www.becta.org.uk]

Learning context ||

Adult input
Get the children to use cameras outside to record their favourite place. This is an open activity and a chance to explore with the camera. The children may notice greater detail as they use the camera display to look again at their environment. Assure safety, support the children in their use of ICT skills and encourage interactions and to follow the children’s interests.

Vocabulary
click, point, button, camera, play, display

Questions for assessment
• Have you taken the picture? • Can I see it? • What did you take a photograph of? • What does that button do? • What do you see through the camera? • Who else takes pictures?

Observation
• Do the children manage to hold the camera safely and appropriately? • Do they point and click with a purpose? • Are they interested in what they see through the camera? Does it increase their observation/investigation of the world around them? • Are they curious about or pleased with what they capture? • Do they talk readily about the images they’ve taken?

Opportunities for extension and spontaneous learning
Show children how to take their photographs off the camera and import them onto a computer to see a slide show of what they have captured. Ask children to take photographs for a specific purpose, e.g. of flowers they can find outdoors to put with a display of flowers (this will support their observational skills), or to take photographs on a walk to sequence later, to recall events and make them into books. Get children to show each other how to use the digital camera. Ask children to take photographs of common objects seen from unusual angles. Other children play detective and try to guess what the objects are. Show the children the zoom or macro button and encourage them to take close-up photographs of, for example, grass, leaves, hair or wool. Can others guess what it is? Show children how to make jigsaws out of their photographs. Ask children to take photographs of their friends or favourite things to do to take home to their families. This will support their language as they discuss their setting with their families and will encourage sharing between home and the setting. Ask children to take photographs to support personal books, e.g. something they have made, some cooking they have done, their friends, or things they like. Add defunct cameras to the role-play area. Provide defunct cameras for taking apart and investigating (with due attention to health and safety). Make play cameras with used materials.

Commentary
Given an open situation to take photographs in, the children featured in the video mostly chose to take them of each other. They were finding out about the uses of an everyday technology and put it to the purpose that we most often see cameras used for, to take snaps of each other. Taking photographs helped the children’s sense of belonging: one child jumped up and down with pleasure to see herself on the camera, as did her friend at his achievement of taking the photograph. The children handled the equipment with care and increasing control. They developed their ICT skills as they listened carefully to instructions about the buttons, observed and then had a go. The children were highly motivated to listen and observe well as they wanted to take part in what is usually seen as an adult’s activity.

=3.Using a tape recorder=

Areas of learning
• Communication, language and literacy • Knowledge and understanding of the world • Physical development

Learning intentions
• To enjoy an increasing range of books • To follow a narrative in the correct sequence, paying attention to the main elements of the story such as the characters and events • To find out about a use of an everyday technology, a tape recorder and story tape • To insert a tape independently and to press the Play button • To use a range of small equipment • To handle tools with increasing control

Individual targets this activity could meet
• To listen attentively • To engage in a story and be able to discuss characters and events • To gain confidence and independence in managing equipment safely and carefully

Prior learning/ICT skills
• To recognise Play and Eject buttons on the tape recorder

Resources
• tape recorder • book and story tape (in this Example, //Peace at Last//) For appropriate health and safety information in using this resource go to [|www.becta.org.uk]

Learning context ||

Adult input
Get the children to load the tape into the recorder, press Play to hear the story and press Eject to retrieve the tape. Support them in the retelling of a narrative in the correct sequence, drawing on the language patterns of the story. Discuss the characters and events of the story, picking up on the children’s interests and highlighting key events. Support them in learning to use the tape recorder to play a story independently.

Vocabulary
insert, play, this side, eject

Questions for assessment
• What happened in the story? • Questions about the story, e.g. What happened then? Why couldn’t she get to sleep? • Where did you put the tape in? • How did you make the tape work?

Observation
• Can they handle the tape recorder with care? • Are they able to insert a tape and press the Play and Eject buttons? • Do they listen attentively to the story? • Do they engage with the story through comments or actions?

Opportunities for extension and spontaneous learning
Add stickers to the buttons to help move the children towards managing the recorder independently. Use paper tape recorder buttons in games to develop children’s recognition and vocabulary. For example, play games of matching or pairs using the correct vocabulary and discussing what the symbols mean. Once the children can use the tape recorder with increasing independence, put it in the story corner with a collection of taped stories and story books to for the children to ‘read’ along with. Make tapes with familiar adult voices and perhaps children saying their favourite parts. Make tapes with stories told in the children’s own languages. Add a microphone so children can tape their own retelling of stories to play back to an adult or each other in a small group. Support retelling a story with magnetic tape on the back of cut-out characters and objects from the story book. Add cut-out photographs of the children so that they can include themselves and each other in their retellings of familiar stories, e.g. adding themselves and each other to Mr Gumpy’s boat. This will help them engage further with the story, make it their own, play with patterns of language and identify with characters. Use a webcam so children can see themselves retelling a story. They can play at being on television, telling a story as a presenter and gaining mastery over the language of books. Add a play recorder to the role-play area. Use a story book on the computer.

Commentary
The children featured in the video found it hard to insert the tape correctly and press Play and Eject, but managed it. They enjoyed the story and asked for it again. They would be helped to become increasingly independent if the buttons were marked with stickers, e.g. green for Play, or a larger coloured arrow. They could insert the tape independently the right way around if the tape had a clear sticker on each side marking its sides 1 and 2. This would also help their recognition of numerals in a meaningful way. They liked taking care of and operating the tape recorder, offering to close the compartment when it was left open: ‘Can I shut it?’ They really enjoyed ‘reading’ the book as they listened to the story. A bonus was being able to discuss the story and interact with it while listening, helping to engage the children further.