WHY? When we introduce iPad use explicitly, it allows us to set specific parameters, expectations and purpose for usage. As a result, students know what is expected of them and also how iPads are useful for learning. Additionally, it allows us to ensure that everyone has the same basic understandings of the parts of an iPad and how they work.
HOW? I always start by telling students why we will be using iPads.
Today we will learn to use iPads to listen to story. You may use iPads, tablets, or phones at home for playing games or watching videos, but at school, we will be using iPads to listen to story.
Why are we using iPads? Students respond: To listen to a story!
If students do not respond, give them the answer and ask the question again. In fact, do this every time you use the iPads to listen to a story for the first little while! Students must know the purpose. Also, don’t be afraid to explain why listening to a story will help them become a better reader:
Listening to a good reader read a story, helps you become a better reader too. It helps you learn more about the English language and vocabulary. As well, listening to a story lets you to hear how smooth reading sounds
and the expression you can use in your voice.
As you practice reading, you will become better readers and you will sound this way too!
1. To start your iPad introduction, put your students into ‘Tech Partners’. This simply means that you will pair students who have experience with iPads (or their parent’s iPhone) with students who have had less experience with technology or perhaps none at all. This allows the more experienced student to help the one who has less experience during the lesson.
2. Have partners sit side by side on the carpet. You can do this at desks as well, but it is easier at the carpet.
3. Give each student a number ‘1’ or number ‘2’ and have them hold it on their fingers. I have tried many other partner designations (colours, fun objects, etc.) however, ‘1’ or ‘2’ is easy for students to remember and they can hold it on their fingers so they don’t forget. In fact, I ask students to hold out either ‘1’ or ‘2’ on their fingers when I number them.
4. Next, I’ll ask the ‘1s’ to hold up their hand. Then I say, “Partner 1, please ask your partner, ‘What is your favourite colour?'” Allow a minute or so for students to ask the question and then ring a bell to bring their attention back. Keep a perky pace!
5. “Partner 2 , please ask your partner, ‘What is your favourite food?'”
These simple questions help establish different roles for Partner 1 and Partner 2 and set the stage for following explicit directions for the iPad intro.
6. Now we are ready to learn the parts of the iPad.
“I will now put an iPad in front of Partner 1. Please do not touch it until I ask you to pick it up. Your hands should stay in your lap.” Place an iPad in front of each student who is Partner 1.
If you find yourself needing to remind a student more than a couple of times to keep their hands in their lap and not touch the iPad when you are giving instruction, then simply put the iPad beside you and tell the student: “I’ll give the iPad to you when you need it. Right now I want you to see what I will show you next.”
At this point you will show students the different parts of the iPad, repeating the following steps for each feature:
- Teacher shows iPad feature (like home button)
- Teacher asks Partner 1 to pick up the ipad, find the home button, try pressing it, and then hand it to Partner 2 to do the same.
- When task is completed, Partner 2 puts the iPad on the ground in front of them and places hands in lap.
“Putting the iPad down on the ground and your hands in your lap, shows me you are ready for the next step.
It is like a secret message you are sending me!”
Continue introducing all the parts of the iPad, repeating the steps above for each new feature. If some students say “I already know this!”, simply tell them, “You may know this, but not everyone in our class does, so we are going to go through all the parts of an iPad together to make sure that everyone knows how to use it.”
I’ve developed the one-pager below to guide teachers through the process of introducing the basic parts of an iPad to their students (home button, power button, volume, speakers, headphone jack). You can also include additional parts such as camera and charging port if you anticipate having students use these functions in the near future.
Since I am usually introducing iPads in order to have students use them to listen to a story, I generally follow up the iPad Intro Lesson with a quick introduction to Tumblebooks. Our district has a site license, so our district iPads have the app installed. I find Tumblebooks to be a great start point to listening to books on an iPad because it is very straightforward and simple to use. Everyone in the class can use the app without having a personal profile or a unique login/password.
After a few months, I usually introduce EPIC which is free during school hours and provides more options for listening to a story. With EPIC, each student has their own profile and can ‘favourite’ books. As well, teachers can create text sets on various topics that the class is learning about! EPIC has many great features, but as it is a bit more complex, I recommend Tumblebooks as a starting point (especially for K and grade 1).
Please see my iPad Intro Lesson (above) for many more tips on using iPads in your classroom, including clean up routines! Next week I’ll be writing about how to organize apps / iPads for easy use.
