Electronic Books for Beginners


By
Jessica N. Rivera


Background
Standards
Sample Books
Lesson One
Lesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Assessment
 Homework Ideas
Extensions
Resources
E-Mail

Background
Electronic Books For Beginners is a great way to introduce children to reading and writing e-books on and off line.

This unit can be adapted for any grade level. At the time I developed this unit I was teaching kindergarten therefore it is geared to the younger student. I am assuming for these lessons that my students have no computer skills.

This unit requires a great deal of one-on-one instruction. The way I have organized my class to fit this in is by having three independent center rotations (20 minutes each), placing one group near the computer and me, and drawing from this group one at a time to achieve the task and allow for individualized instruction.
 

Sample Books
 

Colors
Alphabet
Numbers

Lesson One
What Are (On-line) Electronic Books?
 

Page from THE CLEVER STICK from FableVision.com

Materials:
Any simple story book (preferably one that you have already read to the class before).
Computer with Internet connection.
List of preselected sites and/or software with electronic books.
(Optional) A video converter or LCD projector can be helpful for better viewing.

Objectives:
The students will become familiar with what electronic books are.
The students will compare and contrast a hardback/paperback storybook with an electronic storybook.

Estimated Time:
Two or three fifteen minute sessions.

Vocabulary:
Computer, Internet, software, electronic book, site, click, mouse, scroll down.

Procedure:

Whole Class.

            COLOR FISH   http://kinderkorner.com/under/colorfish/sld001.htm
            WHO LIVES IN THE SEA  http://kinderkorner.com/under/inthesea/sld001.htm You might want to divide up the procedure into different sessions depending on your students' attention span. You could read the storybook in one session, show the e-book at anther and/or repeat the lesson if needed in a third session.

Assessment:
The student has achieved the objective if he/she can say that electronic books can be seen/read on the computer, and if he/she can name one similarity and one deference between classroom books and electronic books.

For older students:

Rubric

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

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Lesson Two
Organizing, Photographing and Preparing Material

Part A Photography Using a Digital Camera
 

Illustration of work in progress for a small group book about numbers
Child taking a photograph and screenshot of Power Point slide
with the photograph taken by the child




Materials:
Digital Camera

For the COLORS Book: colored construction paper and objects from around the classroom.

Objectives:
The students will take photographs to use for creating class, small group and individual electronic books using a digital camera.

Estimated Time:
One or two half hour sessions for the lesson and so that all students have a chance of taking at least one photograph.
More sessions where the children can take the photographs they need for their creations. This can be done with "Big Buddies". I have fifth graders helping my class.

Vocabulary:
Camera, digital camera, photograph, picture,

Procedure:
(There is a more advanced and detailed lesson geared towards third graders at the following:
   http://smbsd.k12.ca.us/garden/lesson1.html  It can also be adapted for kindergartners)

Whole class.

On following photo sessions more steps and more vocabulary can be added such as: turning the camera on and off, using the telephoto and wide angle, playing back the picture, etc..

For the first class electronic book I chose the topic of COLORS. Following is the procedure for organizing and preparing the material for this book (Colors by Mrs. Rivera's Kindergartners):

Whole Class.

Assessment:
The student has achieved the objective if he/she can take a focused, well-centered photograph by him/herself with a digital camera that is turned on.

For older students:

Rubric

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate
 

Illustration of work in progress for a small group book about numbers
Child taking a photograph and screenshot of Power Point slide
with the photograph taken by the child





Part B Creating Graphics Using The Paint Program
Materials:
Computer, "Paint" program and a storage device.

Objectives:
The students will create an illustration for a story using the Paint program.
The students will become familiar with a few of the drawing tools in the paint program.
The students will gain some control over the mouse for drawing purposes as well as a basic computer skill.

Estimated Time:
Since this lesson is presented to the students one-on-one, the time spent on this lesson varies due to the students individual skills. It took me a week of one hour a day the first time my students used the paint program. I presented this lesson during center time. I have three center rotations of twenty minutes each. I have from five to seven children in each rotation group. All centers are independent work so that I can call students one at a time from the group closest to me. I repeat the lesson for other projects. It goes faster on the consecutive sessions. Each time I reteach the lesson I add more tools or features.

Vocabulary:
Paint, draw, tool, tool bar, pencil, paintbrush, erase, eraser, fill, color, file, new, thicker, thinner, shapes, circle, oval, square, rectangle...

Procedure:

This is all I cover in the first sitting, but I keep on adding steps, tools and functions each time the child comes to the computer to draw. The students don't usually finish their picture on the first sitting so I have our peer tutors, "Big Buddies" (fifth graders), help them finish it later. Parent volunteers and other community volunteers come in handy for tutoring the students on this task.
 
Cosmos
by Macayla
Pumpkin
by Eliezer
Radish
by Carlos
Sunflower
by Esaí
Sweet Peas
by Selene
Drawings by kindergartners using the Paint program

Assessment:
The student has achieved the objective if he/she can create a graphic that is identifiable and is of more than one color.

For older students:

Rubric:

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

Part C Creating Graphics Using Kid Pix
Materials:
Computer, Kid Pix program, and a storage device.

Objectives:
The students will create a page for an electronic book with an illustration and some text using the Kid Pix program.

More objectives come about depending on the topic of the book you are working on. We made a book on numbers so some of our other objectives were to count the appropriate number of objects, and write the number, etc..

Estimated Time:
Since this lesson is presented to the students one-on-one, the time spent on this lesson varies due to the students individual skills.  I presented this lesson during center time. I have three center rotations of twenty minutes each. I have from five to seven children in each rotation group. All centers are independent work so that I can call students one at a time from the group closest to me. I repeat the lesson for other projects. It goes faster on the consecutive sessions. Each time I reteach the lesson I add more tools or features.

*For teaching my students how to use the Kid Pix program I did the following: as the students caught on to how it worked they became experts/teachers themselves. I actually taught only about six of my students this lesson and the rest of my class learned from their peers. I then helped my students fine tune their pages.

Vocabulary:
Paint, draw, tool, tool bar, pencil, paintbrush, erase, eraser, fill, color, stamp, texture, design, file, new, Goodies, thicker, thinner, shapes, type, typewriter, paint bucket, bigger, larger, medium...

Procedure:
(Making a page for a number book)

**You can create slide shows using Kid Pix, and these are like e-books so there is no need to import the pages made in Kid Pix into Power Point (but you can if you want to).
After all students have created a page we put together the slide show as a class. Each child gets to select the transition and music for their page.

Enjoy the show!!!!
 

Assessment:
The student has reached the goal if he/she produces a graphic that can be used as a page in an electronic book.

For older students:

Rubric

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

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Lesson Three
Creating The Book

Part A Inserting The Graphic

Materials:
Computer, Power Point program and the students' saved graphics.

Objectives:
With help from the teacher:
   Students will insert a photograph that they have taken with a digital camera into a slide in Power Point.
   Students will resize the photograph to fit the slide.

Estimated Time:
Since this lesson is presented to the students one-on-one, the time spent on this lesson varies due to the students individual skills. It took me two days of one hour a day. I presented this lesson during center time. I have three center rotations of twenty minutes each. I have from five to seven children in each rotation group. All centers are independent work so that I can call students one at a time from the group closest to me. Each time I repeat this lesson I expect the students to have more control over the mouse, and to remember some of the steps and do it by themselves.

Vocabulary:
Resize, insert, arrows, double arrows, stretch, file, picture, from file, select, click, slide, page, cursor, square, mouse, corner, releasing (let go).

Procedure:
I call the students up to the computer one at a time and for this lesson I sometimes guide their hand at the beginning if they cannot follow my oral directions. I also point a lot to the items I am asking the students to select as I name the item. In other words I walk my students through the process of inserting a photograph into a Power Point slide.


Part B Typing
 

Students typing using a text box and/or headline

Materials:
Computer, Power Point program and the saved student slides/pages.

Objectives:
Students will type a caption or sentence to go with their photograph (can be copied, sounded out with help [letter sounds] or dictated letter by letter [letter recognition], etc.).
Students will type their name.
Students will use a capital letter at the beginning of their caption.
Students will use appropriate capitalization while typing their name.

Estimated Time:
The estimated time was included in the time calculated for part A. Some children do part A and part B in the same sitting.

Vocabulary:
Type, write, key, keyboard, capital, upper case, lower case, shift, hold down, space bar, backspace (erase).

Procedure:


Assessment:
The student has achieved the objective if he/she creates with help a Power Point slide with and image and a sentence that can be used as a page in an e-book.

Depending on the topic you can assess other objectives such as letter recognition (see objectives above).

For older students:

Rubric

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

Lesson Four
Reading The Electronic Book

Student reading an e-book to the class






Materials:
Computer, Power Point program, a class e-book and if available a video converter and TV monitor or LCD projector.

Special Note:
Have the student created e-books saved on the desktop for easy access for kindergartners.

Objectives:
Students will present a class e-book to an audience using Power Point.

Estimated Time:
Twenty minutes initially for the students all to have a chance to flip a few pages, and more time during free choice or center for the students to practice.

Vocabulary:
Show, slide, flip, turn, click, start, view show.

Procedure:
Whole class.

Assessment:
The student has met the objective if he/she can click on the mouse to "turn pages" at a speed that is appropriate for viewing and reading a page.

At this point you can assess if the student knows that we read from left to right, top to bottom by having then read the page tracking with the mouse (cursor/arrow).

For older students:

Rubric

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

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Assessment

For each lesson I have included an assessment for kindergarten and a different assessment in the form of a rubric for older students. They are found at the end of each lesson or section in the lesson, e.g. at the end of Part A, Part B and Part C of lesson 2.

Homework Ideas
 

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Extensions and Variations

Extensions:

  • Add sound and/or narration to the e-book
  • Make presentations to other children, classes, or at assemblies, etc.
  • Print the presentations as a handout with six slides to a page and make little

  •   books for each child to take home and read (see illustrations below)
     

     

    Variations and Themes:


     
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    Resources

    Internet:

    View Stories Online (free):
    Kinder Korner ( http://kinderkorner.com/ )   COLOR FISH   http://kinderkorner.com/under/colorfish/sld001.htm
                                     WHO LIVES IN THE SEA  http://kinderkorner.com/under/inthesea/sld001.htm
    Fable Vision        http://fablevision.com/index.htm
    The Story Place (English and Spanish)    http://storyplace.org/
    MamaMedia       http://mamamedia.com/    Go to Story of the Week
    Online Children's Stories   http://ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/stories.html
    E-Books    http://candlelightstories.com/ebooksMem100.asp
    Children's Storybooks Online   http://magickeys.com/books/
    Bedtime Stories    http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/
    Babbooks   http://amtexpo.com/babbooks/
    For older students...IKA's Stories  http://ika.com/stories/
    Panda Bear's Play House    http://pandabearsplayhouse.com/bookshelflibrary.htm
    Whootsie Stories   http://raspberry.forest.net/FMPro?-db=whootie.fp5&-lay=weblay&-format=/whootie/choose.htm&-SortField=b_pizzazz&-view

    Story Maker:
    Seussville has a story maker game in the playground area @ http://seussville.com/seussville/

    Places to Submit Stories To (not many graphics):
    Children's Stories  http://childrenstory.com/
    Kid Pub        http://kidpub.com/kidpub/

    Retail:
    Retail Electronic Books  http://dorrancepublishing.com/
     

    Software:

    For Creating Books:
    Flip Album by Flip Album (E-Book Systems) http://flipalbum.com/
    Imagination Express series by Edmark (Pyramid, Castle, Rain Forest, etc.) http://synapseadaptive.com/edmark/edmark_software_products.htm
    Hyper Studio by Knowledge Adventure http://hyperstudio.com/
    Kid Pix by Broderbund http://kidpix.com/

    For Reading Books:
    Living Books Series By Broderbund http://ibiblio.org/GameBytes/issue21/greviews/livebook.html
     
     

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    Background
    Standards
    Sample Books
    Lesson One
    Lesson Two
    Lesson Three
    Lesson Four
    Assessment
    Homework Ideas
    Extensions
    Resources
    E-mail