I’ve Got Mail!

By Kathy Jackson

T410 Literacy and Technology

The following summarizes a project in which first graders were introduced to the technology of sending e-mails.

Rationale:

Due to my own interest in writing and the writing process, I am always looking for ways to make my writing lessons more productive and enjoyable. I set a goal for myself to have somewhat of a “writing theme” for the semester. After learning that we would be reading several articles throughout this class, I decided I would read as many articles as possible written on the subject of writing and technology.

My interest in the e-mailing project was peaked by two articles. The first, was an article entitled, “Electronic Expressions Using E-Mail to Support Emergent Writers.” This article, written by Nancy Yost, gave me the basis for my project. The author explains that allowing young students to e-mail family members provides a writing lesson that is “truly meaningful and authentic” (Yost, 2000).

The second article, entitled “The Effects of Social Relationships, Writing, Media, and Microgenetic Development on First-Grade Students’ Written Narratives” was written by Ithel Jones and A.D. Pellegrini. This article explains that students write more using computers because they do not fear mistakes or corrections. They realize that corrections can be easily made. This encourages them to make their writing pieces longer. The article also explains that students are more likely to discuss writing projects and help each other. This fits perfectly with my own class philosophy of having a community of learners.

This article highlights the fact that “computer writing tools facilitate cognitive processing that enables students to focus on the content and form of their writing” (Jones, Pellegrini, 1996). This encourages me to encourage my students to use computers as a tool for enhancing their writing skills.

Process:

The first step in getting this project underway was to write a letter to the parents of my students explaining the project and my intentions. I also requested e-mail addresses from them along with their permission to allow their child to participate in the e-mailing project. The response was positive and 95% of my students returned their forms with several e-mail addresses.

The second step was to set up address books for my students. This was somewhat time consuming. However, I wanted to make it as easily as possible for my students to get on the school web page and start e-mailing. My students already had user identification and passwords for our school wide system. So, that was no problem. This step was not a difficult one. Again, it was just time consuming.

Next, I had to teach my students how to go through the processing of e-mailing. As I expected, my students caught on to the steps quickly and few students had difficulties. I am constantly amazed by the fact that young children are so “technology wise.” Show them once…and they’ve got it.

Difficulties:

This project did have some difficulties. At one point, the “hook-up” to my classroom was disconnected by accident. I reported that we were having difficulties to our “tech people” and they figured out that someone had disconnected a cable in one part of the building. This cable, of course, connected my classroom, which is in a trailer outside of the building, to the server. We lost one day of e-mailing in my classroom. However, we used the computer labs on a daily basis, so we still got to e-mail.

Also, we discovered that if it took my students too long to e-mail, the system would “time-out” and they would lose their e-mail. So, I taught them to copy their e-mails just in case and paste them if necessary.

We also had to edit some of the addresses we received. It was a little bit like playing the “gossip game.” The addresses started with one person and by the time I got them, they were a little different. But, again, this was not difficult to fix, just time consuming.

Schedule:

I took my class to the lap-top lab for third minutes first thing in the morning each morning. I did not insist that they e-mail. I gave them other opportunities such as math links and word processing. The Yost article explained that when she pushed e-mailing it lost its effect. Students did not want to do it as much. So, I took her advise and I did not push. I allowed those interested to pursue e-mailing and I let others pursue other interests.

During the normal school day, I allowed my students to e-mail on our classroom computers during available times. If they finished independent work, during centers, during circle time and during transitional times they could e-mail. Of course, this meant that I had to be available for questions and to assist. So, this became somewhat time consuming for me. It did get better as the students learned more and became more independent.

Sharing with others:

As I have mentioned, I teach in a trailer outside of the main building. I share the trailer with another first grade teacher. We do everything together. Our lesson plans are identical and our Principal has mentioned that when she walks through that we are doing the same things at the same time. So, of course, I had to share my e-mailing project with her. She was very excited about the project due to the fact that her main interest lies in technology. It is ironic that she had 100% of her parents respond to her initial letter regarding the project.

Enrichment:

Because the students did so well learning the process of e-mailing, I took this project one step further than I had planned. I taught the students how to add names to their address books. I then allowed them to add their classmates. This allowed three things to happen. The students were given an opportunity to e-mail friends. Again, “truly meaningful and authentic.” It also relieved some parents and grandparents from receiving tons of e-mails in some cases. And the third and I think most important thing is that these students could tell each other how they felt about each other. It is hard to walk up to someone and explain how nice you think they are or how they make you laugh. E-mailing the message is easier for a first grader, or anyone. We talked about how our days were limited as a group. That we had so many good experiences and that I hoped that they would express to their friends how much they liked them. Expressing these feelings would make everyone in the class feel good. This fits well with the affective domain.

Statements I Heard and Gestures I Saw: It did not take long for “may I check my e-mail?” to become the number one thing said in my classroom. Many of my students became interested in this and e-mail was on their minds constantly. I felt good about it, however, I did have to put some limits on some of my students. Otherwise, they would have never joined us for a math lesson again.

Also, the Jones article was correct. The students helped each other, talked about what they were writing and stretched their cognitive skills through the e-mailing project. I was correct in allowing peer helpers. Like with everything else, some students soared while others needed assistance. My “mother hens” were quick to help when someone said they needed assistance. It worked well for all.

I heard the students say so many positive things while they were e-mailing. I even heard laughter which I believe is so great in a school setting. Students who are learning while they are having fun, what a great combination. Cousins were exchanging jokes, grandchildren were making plans with grandparents, and classmates were expressing their feelings about each other.

Individual Successes:

Student number one is academically low and needs repetition, repetition, repetition. He is lucky that he has home support and they are interested in doing all they can to help him. They returned the form with four addresses and he was off to the races. He did need a lot of assistance and many of my peer helpers were available to help him. He sent nine e-mails and received five. An example of one of his e-mails is as follows: Dear Grandpa, > > I wut to go camping aftr my soccr game. >

Student number two is my Reading Recovery student. She has made great gains through Reading Recovery and is very interested in the e-mailing project. She has supportive parents and they responded to my request for addresses by sending two addresses. She sent nine e-mails and received twelve. She thrived in talking to her grandmother and her little girlfriends. An example of her work is as follows: grandma this is wut i say ruf ruf that is wut i say ruf. >

Student number three was retained in first grade and is thriving this year. I am not big on retention, however, in her case it worked. She is a computer expert and this project is her kind of thing. Her parents are supportive and they responded by giving me their e-mail address. She really enjoyed this project and wanted to e-mail at a constant rate. I classify her as one of my “mother hens.” In my four years of teaching I have never had a student so eager to help. She drafted seventeen messages over the course of this project. At one point there was a controversy over whether she had a dollar bill at school. She said, “Let’s e-mail my parents and ask them if they remember giving me a dollar this morning.” Hook, line and sinker!! Let’s communicate with the outside world using e-mail. She wrote this note to her parents in regard to an uncle who lives with them: Dear Mom and Dad,
Is robb still sleeping?

Student number four is an exceptional student. She catches on quickly and like the student above, she is a “mother hen.” She constantly wanted to send e-mails. She was my number one peer helper. She sent nineteen e-mails over the course of the project. Her e-mails became longer in length and her confidence in her abilities soared. This was a great project for her. This is an example of her writing ability without assistance from me:

Hi, Travis
What are you doing today?
Are you having fun?
See you when I get home.

Love, Kayla

Student number five is going to be retained this year. Again, I do not think that retention is the answer. However, she is very young and has a difficult time understanding the concepts that I am teaching. This was not the ideal project for her because of her inability to attend to what is being taught. My concern for this child was the basics. So, while others were e-mailing, I could spend time helping her with other things.

Student number six is a very high student academically and she loved to e-mail. She was very lucky because her grandmother would immediately return her e-mails. So, they could have lengthy conversations. It was more like an instant messenger for her. She wanted to check her e-mail every chance that she got. Because she finishes independent work quickly, she had many opportunities to e-mail. She had over twenty messages. An example is as follows: Yes, I will be looking forward to come to your house and go swiming with you and if Caleb come's with Aley then we can all swim together.

love, haleigh

Student number eight loved sending messages, especially to his classmates. This is an example of one of the eight messages his sent to his friends:

I like you jack. You’re awesome.

Student number ten sent the following message to a friend: can you play? or bring your bike. He sent five messages similar to friends. He also communicated with his mother through e-mail. He needed a little assistance each time, however, he was interested in e-mailing.

Student number eleven enjoyed e-mailing me the most. My favorite e-mail from this child was when she called me “the bomb.” We all had a laugh about that. This is a very bright child who, like many others, thought she had hit a gold mined being able to e-mail during her “spare time.”

Student number twelve made this project so worthwhile. He lives with his father and sees his mother every other weekend. One day he came to me very excited because his mother had answered his e-mail and his question to her. He asked her what shift she was working this week, day or night. When she returned the e-mail saying that she worked the day shift, his eyes brightened at the possibility that he might get to see her one evening that week.

Student number thirteen does not have home support. Like many of the forms that I have sent home this year, the e-mail form was not returned. She is one of the main reasons why I chose to allow the students to e-mail each other. She could do that easily enough and she really enjoyed that. She sent a total of four messages to her classmates.

Student number fourteen has the same story as the above student. Despite her circumstances, she is a very good student. However, she was not interested in e-mailing and I did not push her. She enjoys reading and I did not discourage that, of course. She did enjoy watching others email and she received messages from classmates who had positive words for her. I hope in reading the messages from her classmates her day was a little brighter.

Student number fifteen is my top student academically, socially, and in every way. His messages were so touching to his friends. He sent messages to his sister, cousin, parents, always inquiring about how they were doing or asking about something he knew they were interested in. For example: hey mom and dad. What are you doing. If you get this wish dad a happy > birthday

Student number sixteen also enjoyed emailing. She sent many messages to her friends expressing her feelings about playing with them on the playground or asking them to visit her house.

Student number seventeen spent most of his time emailing his family. I loved the email he sent to his parents telling them that he wanted to write comic books for a living. He is an exceptional artist and he likes to draw. He also liked emailing his grandparents: dear gramo s. i hope you have a good day and grampo has a good day too. > im haveing a good day. so have a good day.by

Conclusion:

I am so glad that I did this project with my students. I am so lucky to teach First Grade because I can see so many obvious changes from the beginning of the year to the end. I see them learn to read, write, do addition, subtraction. All of the skills they did not have when the school year began. I feel good about this project because I know that I taught one more life skill that these students will use on a daily basis in their future successes.