Using technology to explore heritage
“I teach at a Jewish Day School with a bilingual English/Hebrew program. Our students start learning Hebrew in Kindergarten, and by first grade they are reading and writing in both languages. The Hebrew classes have started using Pixie in a number of ways to enrich students’ acquisition of a second language. With Pixie, bringing technology and second language instruction together has added a whole new dimension to our Hebrew program. Using stickers for the Hebrew characters as opposed to typing on a keyboard engages both visual and kinesthetic learning styles.

For one project, each student illustrated one portion of a story. We combined the illustrations into a slideshow and recorded the whole class reading the story. This activity provided an entertaining opportunity for reading and speaking practice, and the children were delighted with the final product that we were able to easily share with parents via our web site. Using Pixie to record students’ voices not only allows easy export to the web so that parents can enjoy the product, but it adds richness to the story as well.

The Kitah Aleph (first grade) class also used Pixie to create its exhibit for our school’s Jewish History Fair. The theme of this year’s Jewish History Fair was Israel, in honor of Israel’s 60th birthday. Kitah Aleph students created cardboard suitcases for a trip to Israel. Each student made a name tag for their suitcases using a photograph of themselves and the Hebrew stickers in Pixie. They then used Pixie to draw and label in Hebrew the various items they would take on the trip. The resulting display was a big hit with the many visitors to the fair.”