A simple but imaginative online project, Kinderlexicon, has given German primary school children the opportunity to create information for their peers. The online children’s dictionary (www. kinderlexicon.de) has words and pictures produced by six to 10-year-olds in four primary schools.
Rather than writing simple definitions of a word, the children are encouraged to write longer pieces centred on a particular word. So if you look up “apfel”, for example, you’ll et a little passage about the colour of apples, the various types and the author’s favourite apple recipes. The work is checked by teachers at the participating schools before being submitted to a central site for publication.
Kinderlexicon is an excellent prototype for schools wanting to combine English and ICT. Not only is it a simple idea, it is a resource that can be built up over time and can easily involve children of varying ages and abilities.
