Friday, September 7, 2012

Read Aloud with Document Camera

The other day, I was in a classroom where the teacher had left instructions to read aloud from any book I chose for 30 minutes (I am a substitute teacher). I usually carry with me a couple of books that I think might interest the age level that I am teaching for the day. I have found that Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka is generally a hit with 4th through 6th graders, so I read the first few chapters of that.

The teacher had a document camera right next to the place from which I was reading the book, so, rather than show the pictures around, where the students would see them for a very short time and not very well, I put the pictures under the document camera. That was nicer than I expected. Since this was a 6th grade class, and 6th graders hate to sit on the floor for read aloud, they were all at desks or tables and from wherever they were, they could just look up and see the pictures.

In the past, I have not been very fond of document cameras. They have been awkward replacements for white boards, but this was a better interaction with them for me. Next time I read a book with significant illustrations, I will look for a document camera.

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