The second part of class on October 22 we looked at literacy apps for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. I downloaded the freebies on to my iPhone, and tried some others on one of Barb's iPods, but I'm dreaming about iPads. I wish all my students could have one, but first of all I wish I could have one! Something for the wish list.
Among my favourites:
Spelling Magic by Preschool University
"Teaches the sounds of letters and how to build words"
I like that the letters are associated with their sounds instead of their names. The user interface is straightforward, and the graphics are appealing but simple. There are three apps: Level 1 focuses on words with short vowels, Level 2 on consonant blends and Level 3 on blends and syllables. According to Preschool University's website, up to ten levels are coming.
Preschool University is a magic place; check out ABC Magic, Sentence Magic, Magic Reading, Word Magic, as well as 123 Number Magic.
Another app I liked won't help my current students much, but might help me! I'm fond of Shakespeare, but not because he's easy. Shakespeare Made Easy by Edith Nesbit provides retellings of the play as well as a video summaries. Very handy when you get home from the theatre, not entirely sure what just happened.
After watching the webinars on reluctant readers and writers, I also identified the Builders by Mobile Education: Story Builder, Sentence Builder and Question Builder. These are well-structured apps: Story Builder, for example, uses questions to guide a student through writing a cohesive story.
I'd love to have them all, but even those $1.99's will add up eventually! Couldn't resist Shakespeare, though.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Five Uses for Pictello
1. Providing directions for a hands-on project. For example, I assigned this project earlier this year to write a cinquain about weather. There were multiple steps:
2. Greeting for my class for a substitute to play on days I'm absent.
I could make a Pictello story to remind them how to behave in the classroom, point out key spots in the room (list of rules, canteen basket, indoor recess activities) and preview their schedule. Seeing my face and hearing my voice might remind them that I still exist, and will eventually find out what they were up to.
3. Report from my class on a day with a substitute.
They could make a Pictello story to show me what they did. They could include photos of books they read, worksheets they completed and other activities. They could take a photo of the sub, and s/he could add add some vocals. I would get a better sense of their day, and knowing they would be making a story might keep them focused.
4. Summarize a picture book they read.
Students could take a photo of each page, and in their own words, state the main idea of that page.
5. Re-enact an incident.
If staff are having trouble getting to the bottom of an incident, students could be asked to re-enact it, using poses and facials expressions to show what happened and how they felt about it.
- Write a rough draft on loose leaf.
- Show it to me for corrections.
- Write out a good copy on a form provided.
- Cut out out the poem.
- Glue it to a plain sheet of paper.
- Illustrate the poem.
- Choose a sheet of coloured construction paper for mounting their work.
2. Greeting for my class for a substitute to play on days I'm absent.
I could make a Pictello story to remind them how to behave in the classroom, point out key spots in the room (list of rules, canteen basket, indoor recess activities) and preview their schedule. Seeing my face and hearing my voice might remind them that I still exist, and will eventually find out what they were up to.
3. Report from my class on a day with a substitute.
They could make a Pictello story to show me what they did. They could include photos of books they read, worksheets they completed and other activities. They could take a photo of the sub, and s/he could add add some vocals. I would get a better sense of their day, and knowing they would be making a story might keep them focused.
4. Summarize a picture book they read.
Students could take a photo of each page, and in their own words, state the main idea of that page.
5. Re-enact an incident.
If staff are having trouble getting to the bottom of an incident, students could be asked to re-enact it, using poses and facials expressions to show what happened and how they felt about it.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Literacy Support Applications
We learned about these literacy support applications on October 22. Any or all of them would be motivating for all of my students, helpful for most of them, and revolutionary for some of them.
The application that my group presented was Read&Write Gold. When I was spending so much time learning its features, I wondered if I was wasting my time--what if I never had a chance to actually use this software? When I saw the other presentations, I realized that I was wrong. There are many similarities between the application, and learning one gets you in the right frame of mind. Even when there are differences, becoming familiar with one product can help you deal with the next, as in, "Oh, these is just like x except for y and z."
Although there are a range of features, I consider the heart of these applications to be the ability to provide access to text, receptively and expressively. That is, can they help you read and write. The text-to-voice and word predict features rule. They would be the most helpful features for my students. Being low readers in Grade 5 they need access to text in order to read to learn; they're too young for some of the more advanced organizing and studying features.
The key distinguishing factor between the products is, I think, the quality of the voices. The voices are necessarily computer-generated, but the less they sound like that, the better they communicate the text. But human-like voice quality is hard to emulate, and sets the breaking point on cost and disk space.
The price is right when the software is free. But like they say, "You get what you pay for." I also like to think about those software companies (someone has to). Development costs are huge; a great product requires investment in time and money. Those folks deserve some payoff. So it's nice to have access to a free product, but keep in mind that it's probably based on a product that wasn't free. Software companies operate on scary margins, and come and go like rain in Nova Scotia. When companies go under, fabulous programs and support go with them. (RIP Stanza)
Kurzweil
The gold standard. Need gold to buy it.
WYNN
Well-reviewed. The choice of Acadia U. Must be good.
MyStudyBar
Free!
Read&Write Gold
My trial period has expired. See Assistive Tech Groupies. I have nothing further to say.
Natural Voices
Does one thing, but does it for free.
The application that my group presented was Read&Write Gold. When I was spending so much time learning its features, I wondered if I was wasting my time--what if I never had a chance to actually use this software? When I saw the other presentations, I realized that I was wrong. There are many similarities between the application, and learning one gets you in the right frame of mind. Even when there are differences, becoming familiar with one product can help you deal with the next, as in, "Oh, these is just like x except for y and z."
Although there are a range of features, I consider the heart of these applications to be the ability to provide access to text, receptively and expressively. That is, can they help you read and write. The text-to-voice and word predict features rule. They would be the most helpful features for my students. Being low readers in Grade 5 they need access to text in order to read to learn; they're too young for some of the more advanced organizing and studying features.
The key distinguishing factor between the products is, I think, the quality of the voices. The voices are necessarily computer-generated, but the less they sound like that, the better they communicate the text. But human-like voice quality is hard to emulate, and sets the breaking point on cost and disk space.
The price is right when the software is free. But like they say, "You get what you pay for." I also like to think about those software companies (someone has to). Development costs are huge; a great product requires investment in time and money. Those folks deserve some payoff. So it's nice to have access to a free product, but keep in mind that it's probably based on a product that wasn't free. Software companies operate on scary margins, and come and go like rain in Nova Scotia. When companies go under, fabulous programs and support go with them. (RIP Stanza)
Kurzweil
The gold standard. Need gold to buy it.
WYNN
Well-reviewed. The choice of Acadia U. Must be good.
MyStudyBar
Free!
Read&Write Gold
My trial period has expired. See Assistive Tech Groupies. I have nothing further to say.
Natural Voices
Does one thing, but does it for free.
Using Pictello
Pictello is an app for making and sharing visual stories. It costs under $20, and works on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. I usually prefer my apps to be free or less than $2, but I broke down and bought Pictello this evening. That makes it much easier to figure out things to do with it!
AssistiveWare website
The creators of Pictello. The site includes an introductory video and several tutorials.
Gary James at Aps for Children with Special Needs demonstrates Pictello
Chris Evans at Autism Hangout interviews David Niemeijer of AssistiveWare about Pictello
AssistiveWare website
The creators of Pictello. The site includes an introductory video and several tutorials.
Gary James at Aps for Children with Special Needs demonstrates Pictello
Chris Evans at Autism Hangout interviews David Niemeijer of AssistiveWare about Pictello
Applying what you learn
I tried to use in my classroom some of the great programs we have seen in this course. My class of Gr. 5s is quite diverse--except that they all have behaviour challenges.
I realize that this is not the best way to introduce new technology, but consider it an experiment.
The procedures included:
The best part was that I predicted it! I suspected that those three would like that website. So I felt smug about that. But I also expected that my more average readers would like Into the Book, but that didn't happen.
I realize that this is not the best way to introduce new technology, but consider it an experiment.
The procedures included:
- Since there are currently no computers in my room, I had to wait for our weekly hour in the computer lab.
- Since fewer than half our computers have speakers, and we have no headphones, I tried to find games that worked without sound.
- Of course, I needed free programs!
- Since my kids have a short attention spans, I was looking for something flashy.
- I choose these:
- Game Goo Educational Games
- Into the Book
- Funbrain
- PBS Kids Math
- I told them to Google the websites and play a game from each one for 5 minutes. They were directed to write on a worksheet which was their favourite website and why.
- Three students were already out of the class because of behaviour problems.
- Most of the rest were completely disinterested and rushed through the websites. They have a rather distorted perception of how long 5 minutes is. For some reason, they mostly chose PBS Kids Math as their favourite, with the stated reason that it was fun. Can't argue with that.
- They dashed to Stardoll as soon as my back was turned.
The best part was that I predicted it! I suspected that those three would like that website. So I felt smug about that. But I also expected that my more average readers would like Into the Book, but that didn't happen.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Steve Jobs introducing the iPad 2
This video is over an hour long, but skip to minute 13 for a clip on autism.
Steve Jobs
Why are we all so surprised when a dying person dies? My grandfather was 99 when he passed on, and I was shocked. Perhaps it's a good thing--the death of a person who has touched many lives binds people in a way that they are not willing to make public in the regular course of events.
I'm listening to that famous Standford commencement address. Nuff said.
I've been thinking about Apple and assistive technology. I remember using the Apple 2e with my adult special needs students in the 90s. Many of them had fine motor difficulties, but they managed those computers no problem. They could insert the disk and hit the space bar, and up would pop Paint with Words or Moneyworks or Clockworks or some other marvelous program that looked primitive by today's standards but could be operated with not much more than a space bar, plus it taught them how to read, count money and tell time. Our biggest obstacle were the constant reminders: "Don't touch the mylar!" Luckily, we had multiple copies of all our disks.
I was actually disappointed when my outdated computers were replaced with new-fangled IBMs with mice and safely inaccessible mylar. Now I had to boot up the computer for most of my students, change programs for them and daily reconfigure Control Panel in order to circumvent the mouse. At that point, I was not a fan of the mouse.
When I later worked with children, I could see how the mouse was more intuitive for people with low literacy skills. And now I know that Apple was on the "job." Steve Jobs, and visionaries like him, continued to create channels of access for people who were alternatively included and excluded by new technologies. In the long run, our Steve was a good guy for universal access. Seriously, if Stevie Wonder thinks so, it must be true.
Some other tributes to Steve Jobs and his commitment to accessibility:
From Beth Finke at Easter Seals, a blind user of the iPhone.
From Tim Carmondy at Wired, who's son is on the autism spectrum.
I strayed away from Apple for years, but I'm glad to be fully back into the fold. It all restarted three years ago, when my principal bought an iPod for my music classroom. My own iPod, iPhone and MacBook Pro inevitably followed. As Steve Jobs said, you can only connect the dots backwards.
I'm listening to that famous Standford commencement address. Nuff said.
I've been thinking about Apple and assistive technology. I remember using the Apple 2e with my adult special needs students in the 90s. Many of them had fine motor difficulties, but they managed those computers no problem. They could insert the disk and hit the space bar, and up would pop Paint with Words or Moneyworks or Clockworks or some other marvelous program that looked primitive by today's standards but could be operated with not much more than a space bar, plus it taught them how to read, count money and tell time. Our biggest obstacle were the constant reminders: "Don't touch the mylar!" Luckily, we had multiple copies of all our disks.
I was actually disappointed when my outdated computers were replaced with new-fangled IBMs with mice and safely inaccessible mylar. Now I had to boot up the computer for most of my students, change programs for them and daily reconfigure Control Panel in order to circumvent the mouse. At that point, I was not a fan of the mouse.
When I later worked with children, I could see how the mouse was more intuitive for people with low literacy skills. And now I know that Apple was on the "job." Steve Jobs, and visionaries like him, continued to create channels of access for people who were alternatively included and excluded by new technologies. In the long run, our Steve was a good guy for universal access. Seriously, if Stevie Wonder thinks so, it must be true.
Some other tributes to Steve Jobs and his commitment to accessibility:
From Beth Finke at Easter Seals, a blind user of the iPhone.
From Tim Carmondy at Wired, who's son is on the autism spectrum.
I strayed away from Apple for years, but I'm glad to be fully back into the fold. It all restarted three years ago, when my principal bought an iPod for my music classroom. My own iPod, iPhone and MacBook Pro inevitably followed. As Steve Jobs said, you can only connect the dots backwards.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Some of my favourite reading websites
Don Johnson's WordMaker
This program has 140 sequential lessons that bring a child through the process of learning phonetic skills, reviewing and applying them. The interface is pleasant, but not overly busy. I can see this as being a very valuable tool for those students of mine (in Gr. 5) who are lacking decoding skills, but don't want to be associated with anything too childish!
Alien Scavenger Hunt
There are two Alien Scavenger Hunts at GameGoo on the Earobics website. They are goofy, noisy and definitely childish. Some of my students would really go for that! In fact, some of them who would be willing to do WordMaker in the morning would need Alien Scavenger Hunt in the afternoon. In Letter Bugs, they need to click on bugs flying by. Each bug is wearing a phoneme from a word that is read aloud to them. If they click on the wrong bug, it quietly disappears, and if they miss a bug it floats back eventually. There is a time limit. Some kids might find it a little too quick, but I think that mine would be able to work within the given time frame. Space Trash is similar, except they need to click on phonemes that are missing from a partly-spelled word. WORD OF WARNING: Musically-literate adults will hate this one.
Into the Book
Into the Book is an (apparently) free resource that provides read-aloud books that give children practice in higher level thinking skills. That sounds highfaluting, but it's quite accessible!
This program has 140 sequential lessons that bring a child through the process of learning phonetic skills, reviewing and applying them. The interface is pleasant, but not overly busy. I can see this as being a very valuable tool for those students of mine (in Gr. 5) who are lacking decoding skills, but don't want to be associated with anything too childish!
Alien Scavenger Hunt
There are two Alien Scavenger Hunts at GameGoo on the Earobics website. They are goofy, noisy and definitely childish. Some of my students would really go for that! In fact, some of them who would be willing to do WordMaker in the morning would need Alien Scavenger Hunt in the afternoon. In Letter Bugs, they need to click on bugs flying by. Each bug is wearing a phoneme from a word that is read aloud to them. If they click on the wrong bug, it quietly disappears, and if they miss a bug it floats back eventually. There is a time limit. Some kids might find it a little too quick, but I think that mine would be able to work within the given time frame. Space Trash is similar, except they need to click on phonemes that are missing from a partly-spelled word. WORD OF WARNING: Musically-literate adults will hate this one.
Into the Book
Into the Book is an (apparently) free resource that provides read-aloud books that give children practice in higher level thinking skills. That sounds highfaluting, but it's quite accessible!
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