ALDEN, New York—For kindergartners at Alden Primary School, using an electronic white board and accessing the Internet are as routine as reciting their ABC's.

"Kindergartners have no fear or apprehension when it comes to technology," says kindergarten special education teacher Susan Ronan. That's why she and team teacher Carrie McMullen integrate technology into lessons from the very start.

Each morning, Ronan creates an electronic slide show outlining the daily schedule. In each message, she incorporates thirty to fifty sight words, words that youngsters recognize by sight without having to sound them out. The slides are then projected onto an electronic white board for an interactive presentation. To strengthen her students' sight word base and phonemic awareness, Ronan deletes either a letter or a word from the message, and individual students are asked to fill in missing characters on the electronic white board.

"The kids are thrilled when the lights go off and they get to use the electronic white board," Ronan reports.

Students are then asked to read the message aloud as Ronan drags the cursor along the text, improving students' reading readiness, sight word, and phonemic skills. Additionally, Ronan incorporates a two- to five-part color pattern (e.g., words appear in a sequence of red, green, and blue), and students are asked to identify how many parts are in the pattern. This exercise addresses math skills outlined in New York's state standards.

Because young students are still studying the alphabet and working to expand vocabularies, Ronan is often searching for visuals of places and things that start with the letter of the week (each week of the year is assigned a letter or combination of letters). Often, she finds such visuals on the Internet and uses Web sites to expand her students' vocabulary and understanding. For example, during "M" week, students went online for a visit to Manhattan.

Software is also a frequently used tool in this kindergarten classroom. Favorites include educational programs like one where, Ronan says, "a little gray guy who looks like a kindergartner" guides youngsters through repetitive exercises that help them improve their reading skills. Ronan notes that this software provides teacher feedback on student progress—where they ran into trouble, for instance, or how many attempts they made at a certain exercise.

Five students in this class of seventeen are special education students. Ronan asserts that technology offers unique benefits to these students. "With special education kids," Ronan says, "it takes a longer time for them to understand a skill and generalize it. Technology has infinite patience. So if it takes three weeks, that's fine. No one will get frustrated." They can repeat an exercise over and over until they get it.

Additionally, Ronan and McMullen have developed a class Web site (http://www.alden.wnyric.org/PS/ronan/ KinderWebSite/Home.htm*) where students and their families can go to find class schedules and calendars, educational links and interactive games for kids, a photo gallery, and a link allowing family members to e-mail teachers.

This provides a valuable connection for parents, which is important since many work during the day and do not have the time to visit the classroom. The class Web site "really opens the lines of communication between home and school," Ronan says, noting that she receives at least one e-mail a day from a parent or relative.

Alden Primary is a K-2 building located in a rural area of western New York. While the school lacks a central computer lab, the kindergarten classroom is well-equipped. Ronan reports that they have four multimedia PCs, a laptop, projector, electronic white board, digital camera and a growing library of educational software. Ronan is currently working on a master's degree in educational computing at Buffalo State College.

"I believe it's important for young students to be exposed to as much technology as possible," says Ronan, "since the world that they live in demands a high level of technological savvy. This is not to say that they need computer class once a week. On the contrary, kids must see technology being integrated seamlessly into their course curriculum. The sooner you integrate technology into the curriculum, the better off they'll be down the line."