Teaching Elementary Students About AI

So it seems like AI is an inevitability-however you feel about, it is already here. Students are using regularly without even knowing that Google is an AI tool now. We need to teach students how to navigate these tools responsibly.

Information Literacy is something that it is never too early to introduce. Even with my Kinder students are on Instagram and Tiktok. They will tell me stories about something as if it really happened because they saw it on YouTube. Many of these students have unfettered access to technology at home. Parents don't even monitor what they are looking at. I had a Kinder student who would go get her mom's phone after she went to bed and spend hours on YouTube (mom thought it was something wrong with her phone battery because it was never charged the next day). 

So how can we introduce this to younger kiddos. There are videos like this one:

This is AI generated. This videos expalins how that works. 

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/openai-sora-identifying-ai-videos

I am always talking through how I model Googling something. A student asks "do fish drink water?". I google it but am cautious to point out that even though an answer appears-the sources are to the right. Am I going to trust a source like YouTube? Reddit? Or the National Oceanic Institute?

Laying this foundation early on will help these students in future research endeavors. I truly believe kids who are more informed about what is reliable and trustworthy will make better decisions in the future.

Books to Teach Kids to Build People Up

One of the things I hate to see is kids putting each other down. Whether it's laughing at a question or mocking each other for differences. We have a mantra in our class--is that bringing that person up or putting them down. The kids laugh in the beginning but by the end of the year they are quoting that mantra themselves. 

Here are some books that can help teach students to be kind:

One thing kids today do not know how to do is listen. They make everything about themselves. If you talk about your dog they start saying "well my dog....". We have to teach them how to listen and I think this book helps do that. 

This is a wordless book but powerful nonetheless. It's about standing up for people who may not have a voice of their own.

One of my all-time favorites. Talks about how kindness ripples out to others.

Everyone does not think the same way. This is a book about embracing and valuing differences.

I have actually had parents complain about kids making fun of the lunches their child brings to school. We need to be open-minded to differences, especally cultural differences and this is one way to explain that. 

My all time favorite book! Molly is different-she has buckteeth and is short. But it does not stop her from being fierce. They say she sounds like a duck and she says "quack". What an amazing role model for just being who you are.

Kids today are not getting instruction in SEL skillds. We need to correct that.

Let me know if any of these are your favorites as well.

Introducing Ethics to Young Learners

Critical thinking and creativity can absolutely be taught to our learners in early childhood. It takes persistance-they may not get it the first time. But if you are consistent in challenging your kiddos you will see the growth in their application of these skills.

One of my favorite concepts from Kaplan's Depth and Complexity is Ethics. Judging what is right and wrong. This can be achieved with stories:

Was it right for the Gingerbread to run away from the little old couple?

Was what the boy did right? What the tree did?

Of course we can look at David and say what he did was wrong but was his mom right in her response?

Was it right for the letters to go back up the tree again at the end?

Ethical arguments: I would also include an activity to discuss a question as part of my ELA warmup-it's oral language skills right?

So every day I gave them a question? Is it right to pick up a dollar you found on the sidewalk? What about if you saw who dropped it?  Is it right to have rules at school? I teach them how to listen to their partner and then form an argument as a response.

What I want to impart in my students is there is usually a grey area. I am reminded of Les Miserables when he is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread. It is wrong to steal of course, but ther eare situations where people may see the grey area.

My favorite thing is to watch them grow into good arguers (although their parents probably do not appreciate that. :)   

Depth and Complexity with Little Ones

My passion in education is rigor. I wanted to share ways to incorporate that into your daily lessons. These activites can be done with all children. They inspire deep and critical thinking. 

Let me know if you listen and what you think. )

Thanks so much! Enjoy!

Depth and Complexity in the Early Grades