Let's have a look at some ICT activities that help with communication, language and literacy skills.
* Children should never use ICT in isolation. Used in the right way, ICT can be a great tool for developing speaking and listening skills. This could be children in pairs working on a computer, or involving ICT equipment in their role play. Take a look at www.hitchams.
suffolk.sch.uk/foundation/roleplay
* Develop reading and writing skills in role-play areas:
* Use ICT to make signs, charts, diaries and more. These could be printed for the children to write on, or on the computer for them to type/write into, such as creating a table in Word for the children to type into (see example).
* Make mock communication machines, or use old models, such as telephones, mobiles, keyboards and fax machines.
* Use nursery rhyme CDs in a 'babies room', design computer grids for stock taking in a shop, or make instruction manuals for washing machines.
* For more role play and literacy ideas look at: www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/ foundation/literacy/reading_roleplay.htm and www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/ foundation/literacy/writing_roleplay.htm
* Endless things can be done with a digital camera to support early literacy:
* photographs of the day's activities or of your current topic to sequence, talk about, write about, make a book about (both electronic in PowerPoint or Clicker or paper based in Word)
* photograph role play or small-world play and get children to retell it (tape them speaking), write about it or sequence it
* use speech bubbles in Word on top of photos to create a cartoon strip
* use the internet as a great source of photos too.
* There are lots of great CD/website story and information books. Dorling Kindersley's series of non-fiction books, including My First Dictionary, World Explorer, My Human Body Explorer, are all quite cheap now. For stories, try Just Grandma and Me or Little Monster At School by Mercer Mayer in the Living Books CD-ROM series. The BBC children's website also has many stories containing favourite characters. Many of these flash up a word as it is read, emphasising the left to right, and top to bottom skills of reading.
For more information see www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk/foundation/literacy or The Little Book of ICT from Featherstone Publications.
By Andrew Trythall, ICT co-ordinator and Year One teacher at Sir Robert Hitcham's CEVAP School, Suffolk (www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk)
