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Enhancing literacy skills
and literature study with
iPads and Blue-Bots
Kelsie Brosnan
S
t Patrick’s is a Catholic primary school with 480
Prep to Year 6 students, located in Bundaberg
in regional Queensland. St Patrick’s teaching
focus places a strong emphasis on student literacy
and numeracy development, enhanced through the
use of Information Communication Technologies
(ICT). The purpose of this paper is to share some
examples of the classroom work we are doing,
integrating ICT into our teaching to meet our
curricular goals.
Task 1: Re-interpret fairy tales
Apps: Epic!, Seesaw and Pic Collage Kids.
Two students looking at Story Map A)
As part of our Year 2 English unit children have
been reading and identifying key components of
fairy tales. They used the Epic! app to assist them in
planning and writing their own fairy tale.
Epic! is an app that gives teachers and students
access to thousands of digital fiction and non-fiction
texts. Many titles have a ‘read-to-me’ option, along
with quizzes and activities for students to complete
after reading the text. Teachers can assign texts to
students, track how long students spend reading a
text and view the students’ responses to activities
and quizzes.
The children used Epic! to read and reread the
story, The three billy goats gruff. When they log on to
their Epic! profile they can access books that have
been assigned to them by the teacher. This assists
children to quickly find the correct book for tasks.
The selected book also included a read to me option
for children who may need increased support
accessing the written text.
During the second reading children took a
screenshot of the pages that showed the characters,
setting, problem and solution, to insert into a graphic
organiser. The graphic organiser had been uploaded
to Seesaw by the teacher and children were able to
log on to Seesaw and save it to their camera roll.
Seesaw is a digital portfolio and learning journal
tool available as an app for iPads. Students can easily
access teacher created resources and then upload
their own work, photos, videos and audio files to
Seesaw to share with teachers, parents and peers.
Children inserted the graphic organiser into Pic
Collage Kids and set it as the background. They
inserted their images from the story into the correct
places in the graphic organiser and used the clipping
tool to crop their pictures to size. Once completed
they saved it to their camera roll and uploaded it to
Seesaw. Children then orally recorded their retelling
of the story in Seesaw. By uploading their work to
Seesaw the teacher was able to monitor who had
completed the task and determine who may need
further support or extension with identifying story
components and retelling stories. This task was
completed during literacy stations where children
complete several literacy activities at their own pace.
Before completing this task, children had many
opportunities as a whole class and in small groups
to explore and learn the basic functions of each of
the apps. When children encountered difficulty
with this task they were able to ask other children
working on the same task for assistance or refer back
to the visual instructions.
P R AC T I C A L
L I T E R AC Y
Graphic organiser
27
 Task 2: Retell the story
Jack and the Beanstalk
Resources: Blue-Bots, storyboard, Jack and the
Beanstalk mat.
Blue-Bots are bluetooth-connected robots that are
easy for children to control by using the command
keys located on the Blue-Bot shell. The Blue-Bots can
be programmed to follow directional instructions
and this helps children to learn about sequencing,
directionality, problem solving and counting. The
Blue-Bots can also be programmed using a tablet or
computer. This allows children to program the Blue-
Bot on a screen then send the program to the Blue-
Bot via bluetooth. The Blue-Bot then carries out the
program designed by the children.
Children have been working on identifying key
elements in fairy tales, including the characters,
settings, problem and solution. This task required
children to describe the key events in more detail as
they retold the story, Jack and the Beanstalk, using the
picture clues provided on the mat. Children were
familiar with this story and had listened to, and
retold three other versions, as a whole class and in
small groups.
The story map provided children with eight
spaces for writing, encouraging them to retell with
more detail, rather than just retelling the beginning,
middle and end. In the space above their writing
2 017
the children were required to write the algorithm
they would need to use to instruct their Blue-Bot to
O C TO B E R
move to that part of the story. Children have had
multiple opportunities to explore and play with the
Blue-Bots prior to this task. Previously they have
used their Blue-Bots to answer literal and inferred
comprehension questions about fairy tales. For
3
example, ‘Move your Blue-Bot to show where Jack
N U M B E R
swaps his cow for the beans’, or ‘Move your Blue-Bot
to show where Jack’s mother is feeling disappointed’.
When retelling the story children had to think
about what part of the story would come next,
2 2
what algorithm they would need to use to program
the Blue-Bot to get there, as well as plan ahead
VO LU M E
to ensure they used all eight of their storyboard
boxes. Children had the option to complete this task
independently or as a team during literacy stations
28
and there was no time limit. Most children began
the task independently and then decided to team up
to check their algorithms and work out which part
of the story mat they needed to move to next. This
provided children with the opportunity to problem
solve with their peers, and retell the story orally as
well as in written form on their storyboards.
These two tasks were fun, and gave the students
hands-on opportunities to engage with technology
and literacy simultaneously. Further, we were
working towards specific content descriptors in
English (ACELT1591, ACELA1463) and Digital
Technologies (ACTDIK001, ACTCIP004, ACTCIP006),
from the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2015).
Technology has allowed me to create a more
flexible and engaging learning environment for my
students and provides opportunities for children
to work both independently and collaboratively on
tasks that suit their needs. It has allowed me to easily
capture and record hands-on learning experiences
for parents to see and for myself and the children
to reflect on. I enjoy the professional challenge of
finding and learning new ways to use technology
in the classroom for the benefit of all my young
learners.
References
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and
Reporting Authority. (2015). F-10 curriculum. Retrieved
from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
Kelsie Brosnan is a primary school teacher who is passionate
about play-based, flexible learning in the early years. She has a
special interest in using technology to allow children to think
critically and creatively, to work collaboratively, and to extend
and record their hands-on learning.
Kelsie_brosnan@rok.catholic.edu.au