Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Comments and discussion posts following class 2
Please post any comments or discussion points about how you can use text to speech and/or images to support instruction and learning in your classroom. Think about how you might offer flexible teaching strategies/materials and choices for students to gain information and demonstrate their knowledge.
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I have a lot low level readers and many ELL students. I think using the read along would help both . I also believe it will help me help teach my students how to highlight important text. I could use this on everyday warm ups. I could also use it to pair of into groups or individualy and do a more personal assighment.
ReplyDeleteTommy, I have a similar population of students at my school. As a media specialist, I have typically used online resources such as the Britannica Online Encyclopedia and PebbleGo which are already embedded with a text-to-speech feature and can offer that tool as a choice for students if needed. I am now going to be more deliberate about exposing all students to a tool like Natural Reader which will make a lot more online text for research purposes accessible to struggling readers.
DeleteI like that with Natural Reader we can make any online text easier to access for struggling readers. I have found that the text-to-speech feature in Encyclopedia Britannica often has issues. It's good to know that I can use Natural Reader if the Encyclopedia is not cooperating!
DeleteI think that text-to-speech readers could be very helpful in my classroom. If students are doing a research project, they could use a speech-to-text reader to help them if they are having trouble decoding the words in a book. For writing, the students could have the computer read their writing to them because they often only catch their mistakes if someone reads their writing out loud. I imagine (if it's allowed), I could use a text-to-speech reader for a student with a read-to accommodation for reading assessments so that all students can take the reading assessment at the same time. The student could listen to the text at a computer with headphones, and I no longer need to test the student one-on-one without the other children in the room.
ReplyDeleteI think having the computer read back to the student is a exellent idea. I think that would even help me to assess them better.[ I dont have headphones ] I could hear mistakes quicker than I could read them. Your testing concept is a great idea also.
DeleteI used the text to speech today with a student in my class so that he could "catch up" in an on grade level book that the next reading level is reading. He was then able to participate in a book discussion with the others. It worked very well. We set up a second screen so that he could take notes to use in the literature circle.
ReplyDeleteI got the password information from our Media Specialist and for the last 10-15 minutes of English 9 today, had the students log on to Britannica's Quest photo site. I asked one student to put together a powerpoint on Romeo & Juliet, and the others I let have a choice of their favorite topic and to put together a quick show with pictures and words. It was amazing how quickly and enthusiastically they took to this sort of creative work. I know it's something that we will continue to explore and use more fully in the months ahead. Thanks UDL!
ReplyDeleteIt took about a day, but I was able to have our ITSS person put Kurzweil and Natural Reader on all of our computers at my school. I've been playing around with both programs myself, and showing them to some colleagues. It is so exciting to brainstorm different ideas and ways we can help all of our students (of all skill levels).
ReplyDeleteThe first grade team is currently working on a countries research project. I worked with my students yesterday in the computer lab. These students have very weak decoding skills but relatively strong comprehension abilities. We logged onto Britannica Online. They were able to look up their country and have the website read to them! It was amazing how engaged the students were and how much less they needed support from me or the classroom teacher. Now that we have Natural Reader, the students can go on other websites (that might not offer a text to speech option) and be able to work and gain information without getting frustrated.
I just have one computer and it took us a couple of days before we got the kinks out and got it working on my computer. That is the first thing I noticed was the no frustration factor. It is harder for me to get used to than the students
DeleteIf you are working on the Country research, you might want to try CultureGrams. It is another online resource you have access to at school, that you can use to research countries around the world as well as all of the States in the US. Culture Grams doesn't have text-to-speech built in to it, but it would be good to try with Natural Reader.
DeleteI'm still working on having my kids re-take the latest test on computers so they can use Natural Reader. As long as I'm taking the trouble to do it, I'm going to try to find a way to have the questions show up randomly, so they aren't tempted to look on their neighbor's test. If I can do that, we'll do the next "real" test that way.
ReplyDeleteA new wrinkle - I have a kid who seems to have auditory processing difficulties. He is also a very weak reader. I'm wondering if having him read along with Natural Reader will help with both. . .
ReplyDeleteI'll bet that it would help. He can use both to bolster each. I think the highligting function on the readers will be a significant help. Perhaps too, consider adding some images that reflect whatever the reading assignment is.
DeleteFor unit two, we use the Frayer vocab model to teach vocabulary words to my reading students. I think having students look up images that represent or define the word can help them remember the words more. I was also thinking about solely including images so they can make an inference on what some words mean. Having them guess the definitions based on just the images would be a great way to appeal to my visual learners.
ReplyDelete--Maria Cosio
I used Clicker5 today with my class. they were able to use the text to speech features very successfully. They wrote sentences, listened to what they had written and made any adjustments as necessary.
ReplyDeleteHave they used anything like that program prior to your current lesson? Did they comment about how it made the assignment easier for them? I have never used that program but it sounds like it would really benefit the students.
DeleteI do like using text to speech to have them listen to their writing. When they hear it, they can then correct their mistakes. I use Natural Reader for that.
DeleteI hadn't used Clicker 5 with these students before. One of the aspects of Clicker 5 that was very appealing to them was having a word bank. All of the children were able to write many more sentences using this program than during a traditional writer's workshop lesson.
DeleteIn PE, I am not sure how I would use technology to teach students different terminology. I often pair students together to work through the process or we do hands on activities using manipulatives to help students understand. In health, I could definitely use Natural Reader when students have to do a research project. This option is a great strategy to help my low level readers understand information off of the CDC website.
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteI try to incorporate technology into most of my school counseling lessons. We are a technology school. I am pleased w/ the technology programs/choices we have available within MCPS. I am thinking about adding tumble book into a lesson.
I have been using text to speech readers with my lowest level students. They don't always use it and guess at the answers because they don't like having to use it. Those particular students I will do Human reader for MSA because of their level of impulsivity. I was glad you presented the research on students without disabilities not doing better because now I am more likely to use it with more students, or at least give them the option.
ReplyDeleteI imagine if you give all the students the option of using a text to speech reader, then the students who need it most might not dislike using it so much.
DeleteI'd love to see Clicker5. Will be be using it in our class?
ReplyDeleteDuring and after class 2, I was generating and adapting many ways to use text-to-speech for all and individual students in particular. My students being in preschool with special needs, they are not reading yet. However, I would use text-to-speech (another modality) to show them concepts about print, learning the alphabet, and allowing students to hear groupings of words that start with a specific initial letter. I know certain websites, like "Starfall" and "One More Story" help with these skills as well as similar to a text-to-speech program like "Natural Reader" or "Kurzweil". However, with these programs, voices can be changed as well as have students have the opportunities to find/match a specific letter by typing on a document. "Clicker 5" and "Intellitools" are also great programs I look forward to learning about more for another time of brainstorming. Using such programs will help me present info in many ways which would hopefully allow for better engagement to meet my students' educational needs.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in using text to speech and natural reader with a group of fifth graders I am currently working with. They are three years below grade level in reading but have strong comprehension skills. These programs will help them become more confident readers and allow them to participate in classroom discussions. I have asked for assistance in my building to help with the software.
ReplyDeleteTo me both text to speech readers and images represent simple ways to support students who have difficulties with written text.
ReplyDeleteNatural Reader and similar programs are great in that they give students options in how to utilize the features. One student may choose to have an entire passage read aloud, while another student may prefer to have selected words or passages read only. Some students may prefer not to use a text to speech program at all, while others may choose to use the program to read aloud their own written work to check for errors. The key is to model for students the different ways these types of programs can be used and to have students reflect on what would work best for their own learning.
Images present so many opportunities for supporting learners. Pairing images with vocabulary and key concepts, embedding images into readings and graphic organizers, using visual cues for classroom routines and directions, utilizing visual explanatory devices, and having students create their own visual representations are just a few of the options. Because so many of our students are visual learners, incorporating images is a must.
Britannica Image Quest is one of my favorite new resources. The amount of available images is fantastic! It has helped me to simplify the process of finding images for research projects. This year my students created television commercials for a project and found the images they needed exclusively on Image Quest. The site also has a cool feature that lets you print a pdf copy of images you save. I have given students copies of these print outs to support concepts we are learning about in class.
Matt, I like Britannica Image Quest as well. I was able to help some 5th grade students find images for a research topic that was quite narrow and specific related to World War II where they were previously unsuccessful searching other sources. I can see incorporating images to written routine processes such as book check out or using the patron's catalog making it easier (especially for my younger students) to become more independent at accessing information in the media center.
DeleteHi all!
ReplyDeleteI am currently using Natural Reader with my 7th and 8th grade TV Production classes. It has proven very helpful to get students through a huge chunk of reading related to the subject. What I have done, is made it available to all the students. The ones who'd like to listen, can just pull up the app and enjoy. I have found an incredible difference in the test scores from last year, when I didn't offer the option. The students are allowed to take the test as often as they like, until a certain date and I have gotten more perfect scores that ever before. Students tell me that they "read" once or twice and the test was a breeze.
My class consists of quite a bit of imagery. I was having the students use pictures from magazines to complete an assignment that required them to show an example of the concepts they'd learned. It was successful, but having them pull the pictures from Image Quest has been phenomenally successful. The completion rate has been the biggest indicator of success for me.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I attended an Adapted Art seminar. And though there were not a lot of examples of how technology can be incorporated into the elemetary art classroom, I was able to see how art supplies (marker, paint brush, scissors)can be modified for more independent art production amongst diverse students. Also giving students the choice of alternitive positioning (where they want to produce their artwork) made learning more independent for all students.
ReplyDeleteI have been learning more about Pixie this year as I have enough computers in the media center for kids to pair on. I mentioned to our art teacher that she might find it interesting to use with kids - either bringing principles of art (line, shape, color) into creating something primarily intended to reinforce content, or as a medium for the art lesson itself.
DeleteMy 8th graders have been writing research papers about tectonically active locations. While they were in the computer lab, I showed several students the Natural Reader software. They were able to listen to their essays and make corrections. They were really engaged, and it was a great way to encourage them to look more objectively at their own writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight! I just finished giving feedback on a student's 504 review and he has an accommodation that he is supposed to edit his writing prior to submitting it. He also uses a word processor to type his writing assignments. I think that he is one student who could definitely benefit from being able to listen to his work using Natural Reader.
DeleteOur younger students are familiar with PebbleGo, which generally uses a very engaging voice, so they can hear a difference when listening to text read by Natural Reader. I tried using NR with the whole class (projecting text on a screen and letting NR do the reading), and some laughed, which distracted others. On the other hand, I think when kids have a personal 'need to know' what the words are saying, they may overlook the quality of 'the voice'.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI had an interesting experience today while I was reviewing a test with my students. The students overall scored lower than my colleagues and I anticipated they would. We (the teachers) believe that our students scored low on the test because of the readability of the test and because of the vocabulary used in asking the questions. One of my students asked if there was a program that read the test aloud to students. This is not someoe who normally receives accommodations but it made me think back to the study we reviewed in class last week. I am seriously considering administering our next test using Kurzweil or a program like it that will read aloud to the students because I believe this may improve their ability to demonstrate mastery of the material.
I use Nature Reader too with all my research groups in the media center. Students feel comfortable to use this program for reading above-leveled text. I also created homepages for 7th grade English Turning Point project and SS Latin America project. The homepages includes different level texts which contain MCPS online services and useful websites. Some online services have read aloud features as well. In addition, I use Elmo and video clips that illustrate the concepts or related to the topics for visual learners.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am more than willing to incorporate as much technology in my classroom (particularly with the advent of the promethean board), as a math teacher I do not have much use for the text-to-speech software. That said however, I have a microphone attached to my promethean board. I've made short youtube videos of my lesson with my voice recorded in the video. this has been extremely helpful for students who were absent or students who need reteaching of a topic. It’s very easy to set up. I highly recommend it!
ReplyDeleteI want use Clicker5 with a student with speech and read problems. I didn't finihed ir, but I am planning to use tex and pictures and small sentences. My goal is connect words to the pictures. Also, I got a lot of ideas from this blog.
ReplyDelete