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Goal

The goal of Alexa in the classroom is to incorporate modern day “ask and response” technologies and to help students become responsible digital device users. I plan to use Alexa in my classroom to help students expand their vocabulary and spelling skills.

(LAFS.2.L.3.4 Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases)
(LAFS.2.L.1.2Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.)
(LAFS.2.RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.)

I will use Elementary Dictionaries to help students make connections between definitions given by Alexa, our digital resources, and traditional dictionary resources. These devices and resources will stay in the classroom to benefit students in the entire grade level (approx. 70) and for future students in years to come.  

What will be done with my students

Alexa in the classroom will enrich students’ vocabulary as students will be able to ask “Alexa, what is a synonym for the word 'big'?” “Alexa, what is an antonym for the word 'together'.” I hope to also enrich students vocabulary by allowing them to ask Alexa the meaning of unknown words. The more common these complex words become to them, the more they will use them in their daily vocabulary. To enrich students dictionary skills, I plan to implement center activities where students find the meaning of unknown words in the dictionary and check their findings using Alexa, our digital resource.

Further, I would like to have a second, 'Alexa' to use during small group meetings. Again, these digital resources will be used to enrich students vocabulary by finding antonyms and synonyms to words. This will strength students' writing responses and expand their vocabulary.

Using tradition dictionary resources will allow students to self monitor their findings with 'Alexa' our digital resource. In todays modern technological world, I feel it is important to teach students that digital resources might not always have the correct answer. Using traditional dictionaries allows me to elaborate on words that might have multiple meanings. We can use that as a learning opportunity to discuss if 'Alexa' gave us the correct meaning of a multiple meaning word used in a text or story.

These resources will reach the 16 students I have in my home room as well as 6 students in my enrichment small group for the 2017-2018 school year. These resources will stay in my classroom to reach my future students in years to come making the number of student impacted by this project unlimited!  

Benefits to my students

I hope by incorporating these resources in my classroom, students will expand their vocabulary and spelling skills. The main standard I plan to measure is: LAFS.2.RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area. Growth in vocabulary skills will result in students' comprehension of books and texts to increase. I plan to measure this goal with the STAR test administered to elementary students at the beginning of each quarter. For the beginning of the year STAR assessment, 8 out of 16 students scored below mastery on the standard 2Rl.2.4. By implementing these resources, I hope to increase the end of the year result to 16 out of 16 students within, or above mastery of this standard.  

Budget Narrative

Amazon Echo - 2nd generation - $99.99 (This is the main Amazon Echo, "Alexa" that will be use for the whole classroom).
2 year protection plan plus accident protection for Echo - $12.99 (Protection plan, because accidents happen with 2nd graders!)
Echo Dot - 2nd generation - $44.99 (This smaller Echo Dot will be used for small group instruction while students meet with me at the teacher table. This will allow for great discussion opportunities on how to appropriately use and site digital resources).
2 year protection plan plus accident protection for Echo Dot - $8.99
Merriam-Webster's Elementary Dictionary, Edition 2014. (quantity: 20 so that every student is able to use a dictionary for whole group discussions). $339.80

Total grant request amount: $506.76

 

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