Document Camera Ideas

Ideas for using your document camera with your students:

Word Walls: Create mini thematic word walls in Word using clip art, print and lay under the document camera during writers workshop or journal time so the students can easily see the words if needed.  ,

Poems and Charts:

• Letter Identification/letter sounds: Make Dr. Jean’s Letter Baby w/paper plate and put under the document camera. Play the song “I’ve Got the Whole Alphabet in My Mouth” while spinning the wheel with the song.
• Letter Identification/letter sounds: Put an ABC chart under the document camera to use with Dr. Jean’s song “Who Let the Letters Out?”  Or you can use the chart when you are doing interactive writing and the student needs to find a particular letter.  This way the whole class can see and help in the selection.
• Concepts of Print: Type out the words to the Frog Street color songs or any poem or song in Word, then put under the ELMO and have students follow along on the big screen with a big pointer as you say the poem or sing.  You can add clip art to make it look “pretty” and to give contextual clues to the students.

Morning Message: Use the document camera to project your morning message on the big screen.  Students can use wikki stix, pointers, highlighters etc to find punctuation, words, spaces, count words etc.

ABC Manipulatives: Use the ABC manipulatives from the Lakeshore ABC tubs.  Place the little manipulatives under the document camera and have the students name each object and listen to the initial sound.  This way all students can clearly see the tiny  objects.  Put one object that does not belong under the camera and see if they can figure out which one doesn’t belong.  Lakeshore also has word family tubs that you can do the same thing with.

Question of the Day: Project your question of the day on the screen.  Have it up and running when the students walk in so they can do it first thing in the morning before class begins.  Students can respond by placing their name card or clothespin in a can under the big screen.  ( a happy face on the “yes” can and a sad face on the “no” can.)

Show and Tell: If you do show and tell make a new rule that all items need to fit under the document camera, and then let students show their items on the big screen.  Everybody’s sure to pay attention when they can all see everything, no more “I can’t see!”

Making Words: Using magnetic letters has never been more fun that it is under the document camera!  Use your letters to spell words; place some letters (you have secretly already pre-selected which letters) under the camera and let the kids come up and try to spell a sight word from their list.

Environmental PrintPlace a piece of environmental print under the document camera and ask the students to help you find where to place it on the word wall.  You can also place it in an envelope and slowly pull it out revealing only a little at a time and see if they can guess what it is.

Rainbow Writing: Place a sheet of white paper under the document camera and write a large letter on it using a black marker.  As you write the letter talk the children through it; “Where should I start writing my letter?  At the top or bottom of the paper? O.K., I’m starting at the top and now I’m going straight down and sliding to the right.  What letter is it?”   Next, have one student at a time come up and trace the letter with crayons using correct letter formation, talk each student through the letter just like you did before.  Each student chooses a different color to give it a “rainbow effect”.  Post these around the room for educational decorations.

Interactive Writing: You can do your interactive writing on paper under the document camera, no more losing the attention of the kids sitting in the back, now everybody can see.  You can use pencil pointers, wikki stix, highlighting tape, highlighters, etc to point out features in the writing.

Concepts of Print: Using real texts or student writing you can search for certain letters, spaces between words, words in a sentence, punctuation, show left to right progression, return sweep etc   Use fun pencil pointers, wikki stix, highlighting tape, highlighters, etc

Display Student Work: Using the document camera project student writing in journals or surveys the students have taken from Read and Write Around the Room to show examples of good work and to point out features of writing.  This is a real motivator for writing, you will be surprised how your students will rise to the occasion.

Taken from Pre-K Today