Success Stories
Research as a natural language
in the kindergarten
Hertzelia, Erez Nursery School/Kindergarten
Shelly Vexler, the kindergarten teacher reports:
We use ICT Sandbox as a teaching aid which accompanies research processes conducted in the kindergarten. One out of three daily learning sessions is supported by the ICT Sandbox. This way children acquire the habit of searching and retrieving information using computer tools.
So far, we have explored the earth, the sun and countries around the world. The children conducted a study with their parents on the topic, using the information in "Let Me Discover", and together they created a board, displaying the characteristics of the topic. The children then presented their work and different boards were displayed in the kindergarten throughout the year.
I was happy to see that the information is also expressed in creative work. For example, when we learned about the sun, the children drew the sun and the stars and even wrote 'sun', with the aid of "How do You Write This?".
The children use "E-mail Me" to correspond with each other, with their extended family - parents, grandparents, grandmothers, uncles as well as with the kindergarten staff. This ICT Sandbox tool provides significant added value, and also contributes to the greater involvement of all educational partners in the kindergarten activity.
Peer learning in Zait Kindergarten
Modiin
Lilian Sabika, the kindergarten teacher, writes:
This year we researched the topic of animals. The children were divided into teams and each child chose the animal that they wanted to find out about, which developed their independent learning skills. The children continued the research at home, in collaboration with their parents. They then gave a presentation of the collected data, followed by a representation of the collected data via creative work, posters and Powerpoint presentations. Finally, they presented their work in the circle. I felt that this encouraged their creativity and built confidence.
Each group presented its work, accompanied by scenery and songs.
It was a highly experiential learning. I was especially excited to follow the process that one of the preschoolers had gone through – having been very quiet and timid in the beginning of the year, she managed to stand up in the circle and share her work with all the preschoolers. I was pleased to see a big change in her self-esteem. Another girl used a page with the question signals from "Let Me discover," which her father had prepared for her, to help her remember the data she had collected.
In "Email Me", we documented the planning of each child's birthday party in the kindergarten.
The children experienced actual writing and acquired confidence in developing written literacy.
ICT Sandbox provided me, as a teacher, with significant added value, and also contributed to greater involvement of all educational partners in the preschool activities.
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A girl shares the data she had collected with her research group, that’s how they learn to work in a team.
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Birthday planning - developing customs for planning birthdays, making invitations, lists of whom to invite, sending out emails, all of which encourage the learning of good habits.
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A boy found the seven-spot ladybird he was researching, which I could see increased his curiosity.
A comparison between the snail and the slug
Rishon Letsion – First grade, Mishor Hanof School
Natali Rodrig, the homeroom teacher reports:
In the primary school we combine ICT Sandbox with various research activities.
For example, in a research activity about the autumn, the children found snails and brought them to the learning center.
The children told and wrote what they wanted to know about the snail, and in order to find answers, they followed the snails, conducted observations, examined the way they moved and what they liked to eat.
I could see that their curiosity was encouraged to discover new things.
Using "Let Me discover”, they were exposed to more information and other research questions. Later in the study, they hung the questions that appear in "Let Me Discover" in the learning center, and the children answered the questions from the information they had collected.
In the second phase, when children raised questions about "A snail without a home", they found the Slug in "Let Me Discover", researched it and compared and contrasted it with the snail.

Let Me Discover Search Engine



Nurturing creativity
Peer-to-peer learning
In Sigalit Kindergarten we promote communication skills
Hertzelia
Ayala the kindergarten teacher reports:
The children often use the tool “Email Me” to write to each other, to me, and to their families It is good to see them developing these communication customs. One of the boys in kindergarten was missing his father who was on a business trip overseas. I suggested that he should send him an e-mail. The travelling father responded immediately. We read the letter together in class and the boy was very excited and happy to have received an e-mail from his father. I could immediately see how much it helped him to cope with his longing for his dad.
Study board – from winter to wind turbines
Yavne – Haruv Kindergarten
Sivan Levi, the nursery school teacher shares:
Every subject we study in the kindergarten begins with some research in "Let Me Discover". Using the projector, we watch the topic we are studying in the morning session, and move on to research in
greater depth.
When we researched the winter, we worked in small groups which I could see encouraged collaboration and team learning and in one of the groups a child asked a research question about the wind. This question, a good example of encouraging curiosity, led us to further exploration of the wind in "Let Me Discover", following which the children were exposed to wind turbines. We continued our in-depth research on wind turbines and learned that they generate electricity. We made a turbine model with reusable materials and the kids made drawings on the theme, which were presented at the kindergarten's science center.