Don Johnston Software:Literacy Supports

January 14, 2010

Ellen Deutsch and Kim Hagar

LADSE AT Consultants

Agenda

• Introduction to the 4 components of the Don Johnston writing and reading suite– Co:Writer– Write:Outloud– Read:Outloud– Draft:Builder

Who Benefits From Technology Based Literacy Supports?

7th Grade

4th Grade

Same 4th Grader with Co:Writer and Word

• 3rd Grader• Poor legibility• Sensory issues

impact handwriting• Spelling challenges• Writing is laborious

and time consuming

• 5th Grader

8th Grader

Co:Writer

• Word prediction software– As the student enters a keystroke, the

software will provide a word prediction list based on grammar and context

– Students can then choose a word from the list or type another character

Co:Writer• A Helper Application• Works with any application where you can

insert a cursor– Word or Pages– Power Point – Email– Facebook

• Will now read any selected text within any application

Co:Writer

• Why?– Reduces keyboarding demands– Provides spelling supports– Provides grammar supports– Provides vocabulary supports– Provides auditory feedback

Co:Writer Supports Students Who…

• Struggle with the mechanical demands of writing (physical challenges, handwriting legibility, difficulty with keyboarding fluency)

• Have frequent spelling errors that they have difficulty identifying and correcting either by hand or in a traditional word processing program

• Have difficulty generating words and ideas and would benefit from word banks related to the content area

• Require that directions, questions, and reading passages be read aloud in order to complete written assignments

Co:Writer• Sometimes poor writers are not sure how to

spell the words they want to use. Typically, they just won’t use those words, favoring words they can spell. With Co:Writer, they can use whatever spelling skills they have.

• Co:Writer’s phonetic spelling supports identify many common errors.

Co:Writer• 8th Grade• Can’t read own

writing• Spell check is not

working for him• Frustrated with

writing

Co:Writer

• Co:Writer automatically:– Capitalizes the first word of a sentence and proper

nouns– Spaces between words– Predicts words that are grammatically correct

• These settings can be turned off to encourage increased independence with capitalization and punctuation.

Co:Writer• Co:Writer can support writing within the content

areas through the use of topic dictionaries and word walls

• You can select pre-made dictionaries or add your own vocabulary

• Some of the many topics include:– Afghanistan, Galileo, Global Warming, Ancient Greece,

Halloween, Bridge to Terabithia, Descriptive Words for Writing, Football and Football Names

• Vocabulary from the topic dictionaries can be displayed as a word wall to assist students in generating ideas

Topic Dictionaries

• Don Johnston continues to post new topic dictionaries on their website (http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/topic_dictionaries/ae/new/index.html)

• New topics include:– Water cycle -Three Cups of Tea– Gulf oil spill -Samuel Pepys– Grapes of Wrath -U.S. Supreme Court

Co:Writer• Students with motor challenges may

benefit from having personal words and phrases entered into a personal dictionary

• Enter names, addresses, school, etc. • Can be multiple words or phrases• Will then be predicted as the student writes to

reduce keystrokes

Let’s look at some student samples:

Without Co:Writer

Verbal response

WithCo:WriterAnd GreekMythology Topic Dictionary

This student also has severe challenges with spelling and punctuation. His handwriting is illegible and keyboarding laborious. However, he is quiet bright and can give outstanding verbal responses.

We are at scool tuday is trke trat I can run fas “We are at school. Today is the turkey trot. I can run fast.”

Without Co:Writer

What He Meant…

• With Co:Writer, his compositions contain fewer errors in mechanics. His goals this year include writing longer, more complex sentences and expanding his written vocabulary.

Quick text-to-speech within any application with Co: Writer

Write:Outloud

• Simple Talking Word Processor– Simple to use with few distractions– Reads words as they are written – Auditory feedback helps students edit their

work

Write:Outloud

• Struggling writers rarely re-read, edit and/or revise their work. Write:Outloud 6 preferences are set to speak words and sentences as students write. This provides needed auditory feedback during the editing process.

Write:Outloud

• Simple toolbar

• Text can be read aloud and repeated with the speech features.

Speak Read All Repeat

Write Outloud• The Franklin Spell Check Dictionary

– Presents the word in context of the sentence in which it was used to help learners hear where and how the word was used

– Suggests words based on phonetic spellings…something other spell checkers often fail to do as successfully!

– Speaks the suggested words so learners can be sure they are choosing the word they really want

Write:Outloud

Write:Outloud• Homonym

Checker– See words

in context– See and

hear definitions of all options

Write Outloud• The Franklin Talking Dictionary - designed

specifically for students in grades 3 through 12 - displays the definitions of a word in easy-to-understand language– Presents the word in context of the sentence in

which it was used to help learners hear where and how the word was used. This is especially important when looking up words that have more than one meaning!

– Offers simple, comprehensible definitions– Speaks the word AND definition

Write:Outloud• Good writers often write more than they need and

then delete unwanted or inappropriate content during revision. Struggling writers frequently resist deleting text because it took so much effort to get the words written in the first place. Mark for Deletion is a safe way for struggling writers to consider removing text from their document without actually getting rid of it permanently.

Write:Outloud• Final Review• Encourage students to ask themselves the following

questions as they listen to their written work:– Does my document make sense?– Are the sentences in my document clear and complete or do

I need to add more information to clarify or expand upon my ideas?

– Did I hear any mistakes that I missed when reviewing my document earlier?

– Did I use the spell checker and homonym checker to make sure all of my words are correctly spelled and appropriate for the context of my document?

Draft:Builder

• An organizing tool that breaks down the writing process into manageable chunks to structure planning, organizing, note taking and draft writing.

Draft:Builder• Supports students who:

– Struggle with organization• Have difficulty understanding how ideas are related

• Are overwhelmed by the writing process

– Need increased structure and scaffolding to complete the writing process

– Benefit from auditory supports– Benefit from spelling and dictionary supports– Struggle with handwriting and motivation

Draft:Builder• Encourage students to ask themselves the

following questions as they listen to their written work:– Does my document make sense?– Are the sentences in my document clear and

complete or do I need to add more information to clarify or expand upon my ideas?

– Did I use the spell checker to make sure all of my words are correctly spelled?

Draft:Builder1. Create an outline

Draft:Builder• Or select one of the many pre-made

outlines such as…– 5 paragraph essay– Biography– Persuasive essay– Compare/Contrast– Descriptive essay– Six-Traits ideas, voice, or word choice

Draft:Builder• Whatever you write in the outline is displayed

in the map view and vice versa

Draft:Builder2. Flesh out your ideas in the notes section

• Teachers can create prompts • Blank notes can be left as place holders • Students only see notes for one topic at a time

Draft:Builder• Use the Bibliographer to cite sources used

Draft:Builder3. Write your draft (or drag and drop from your

outline and notes!)

Draft:Builder• Print

– Outline– Map– Notes– Draft– Teacher created outlines and notes for handouts

that can be filled in anywhere

• Copy and paste your draft into Word or Pages for final editing

Draft:Builder

• Use Co:Writer within Draft:Builder• Send the Draft:Builder outline to

Write:Outloud to view while you write• Send the Draft:Builder outline to

Read:Outloud as a reading guide

Read:Outloud• Text Reader• Students might benefit from Read:Outloud if:

– Dyslexia makes reading a challenge– They are reading two or more levels below grade

level– A print disability interferes with fluent reading– They are having trouble with comprehension

http://www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud/index.html

Read:Outloud• Why?

– Provide accessible text to students as required by IDEA and NIMAS

– Provides accessibility supports like text-to-speech

– Easily adjust text to meet vision needs

– Support comprehension through study skills tools like highlighting and note taking

– Open up access to web pages through included web reader

– Works seamlessly with books downloaded from Bookshare.org

Read:Outloud• Read:Outloud 6 can read material from multiple sources

– PDF – NIMAS – DAISY 3 – Bookshare files – Rich Text Format (RTF) – TXT – Internet (with Read:OutLoud accessible web browser) – HTML

Read:Outloud• How text is presented can make a big

difference in a student’s ability to stay focused, read or discern the text. You can change the appearance of NIMAS books with eText styles. Screen colors and font sizes play an important role in helping learners be successful readers.– Next to eText Styles is a drop down menu. Click

the menu to open it– Select a different style and watch the appearance

change

Sample 5th Grade Textbook

Same Text: Large Print

Same Text: Change of Contrast

Read:Outloud• Comprehension Strategies (Promote

higher order thinking and engaged reading)– Highlight and put key ideas in an outline– Highlight and capture supporting details

Teacher created questions for Hatchet transferred into Read:Outloud

Read:Outloud• Electronic bookmarking

– The topics in your outline are linked to the eText where they were found. This makes it easy to locate source information in a long document.

– Never misplace notes again!

Read:Outloud• Read web

pages from within Read:Outloud

• Multiple sources can be saved together for a well organized research project

• Anything that is highlighted directly from the text has quotes around it.

• Notes the reader creates do not.

• Cite your sources: Outline notes are linked to the source website

Read:Outloud• Read PDF files

– Scan worksheets and journal articles as pdf files– “Print” text files from Word or Pages as pdf files– Many textbook companies offer supplementary

text in this format– Notice that a PDF document can have a layout

like a book page• Forward and back buttons will page through the

document• Zoom capabilities• Not changeable and etext styles can not be changed

Read:Outloud• Explore Outline Templates

– You might want to provide more structure for students through pre-made outline templates

Sources for eText• Bookshare.org• RFBD.org (Recordings for Blind and Dyslexic)• Infinitext (through our membership with

Infinitec)• Negotiate with Textbook Publishers• Public Domain Text (Guttenberg)• Start to Finish Libraries (LADSE has some

titles for loan)• Websites

• Interested in learning more? LADSE can provide:– team trainings– support with developing lessons and

downloading materials– team teaching – Call LADSE for one time consult or assistive

technology referrals • 708-354-5730 and ask for Peggy Bell

• Ellendeutsch@ladse.org