I’ve purchased several (okay 9) of the Interactive Whiteboard CD’s they sell at Lakeshore.  Here is one of them in use:

This is the Interactive Alphabet.  The children tap on the letter or picture on the right side and then tap where they think it belongs on the right.  The claw arm then picks it up and drops in in the column where they tapped.  If it’s correct they get a message on the screen, but if it’s incorrect, the picture explodes and returns to the right side for the child to try again.  After about two lessons on how to use it, my kiddos picked it up and can run the entire program by themselves.  They love playing this game and sometimes we will play as a whole group, but I also use it as a Work Station.  I really like this program because the kids have to listen to the sound or picture name when they tap the picture.  It gives them a chance to hear the sound the letter makes and then they have to use the knowledge they have about the letter to place it correctly.  I do have some kiddos who put the letter in the wrong column on purpose, but that seems to be happening less and less as the novelty of doing that wears off.

We are lucky to have a new Lakeshore store here, but if you don’t, you can get them online–or you could write a DonorsChoose.org grant and get them for your classroom! 🙂

Kristen 🙂