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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.

Illustration of "Email me" symbol. Mail envelope inside a yellow circle

Email Me Age appropriate e-mail

Literacy - Symbol of pencil and letters of the alphabet. Represents the development of the skill of written communication and written language literacy

Developing written literacy and enhancing written

communication

A photo of three children in kindergarten watching a computer screen with a letter from "Email-me"
Illustration of an envelope with a letter inside with a heart. Represents the cultivation of social behavior, imparting customs such as sending greetings and various wishes.

Developing customs like sending birthday and holiday wishes, and get-well messages

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.

  • A girl shares the data she had collected with her research group, that’s how they learn to work in a team.

  • 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.

  • A boy found the seven-spot ladybird he was researching, which I could see increased his curiosity.

Illustration of a symbol of ״let me discover״. A magnifying glass inside a light blue circle

Let Me Discover Search Engine

A photograph of a hand holding a ladybug

Nurturing curiosity

Developing thinking skills

A symbol of a human head with cogs painted on its brain. Represents the development of thinking skills
Symbol of a child looking through a magnifying glass. Represents the cultivation of 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.

Illustration of a symbol of ״let me discover״. A magnifying glass inside a light blue circle

Let Me Discover Search Engine

Photo from a top view of three children sitting around a table in the kindergarten and looking at a snail. One of the children draws a snail on a piece of paper.
Symbol of 2 children reading a book together. Represents the habit of peer learning and teamwork.
Symbol of a flowerpot and inside it grows an incandescent light bulb-like flower. Represents the cultivation of creativity

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.

Illustration of "Email me" symbol. Mail envelope inside a yellow circle

Email Me Age appropriate e-mail

Screenshot from an email to me showing a letter of wish for a good day written by a girl named Lucy to her friend Analisa

Developing customs like sending birthday and holiday wishes, and get-well messages

Illustration of an envelope with a letter inside with a heart. Represents the cultivation of social behavior, imparting customs such as sending greetings and various wishes.

Nurturing, developing, and imparting the use of interactive tools

Symbol of a finger pressing a point on the screen. Represents imparting skills of using interactive tools
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.

Illustration of a symbol of ״let me discover״. A magnifying glass inside a light blue circle

Let Me Discover Search Engine

Photograph of drawing pages with three turbines painted on it and written on the page "Electricity"

Nurturing curiosity

Developing

thinking skills

Symbol of a child looking through a magnifying glass. Represents the cultivation of curiosity.
A symbol of a human head with cogs painted on its brain. Represents the development of thinking skills
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