Reading Remediation: During this class we were asked to find 5 reading remediation websites, 5 reading remediation software programs and 5 reading remediation Apps. This was a great activity because it opened my eyes to all the reading programs that are available. I find I often just keep using the same programs because that is what our school has or typically uses and I have a comfort level with it. It is good to get out of those "comfort " levels!
Reading Remediation Software:
1. Ultimate Phonics: spencerlearning.com/
Ultimate Phonics is specifically designed to build your child's powerful reading brain. Through a series of 262 lessons it enables you to easily teach your child to be a fluent, accurate, excellent lifelong reader.
2. The Sounds Abound Program: www.linguisystems.com/products/product/display?itemid=10068
This program helps meet the needs of children with varied levels of phonological awareness. Sequential classroom activities include adaptations for different learning styles. The easy-to-read manual includes tools to help you choose appropriate activities. The picture cards are used in the activities to illustrate the target words, syllables, and phonemes.
The detailed lesson plans/activities include:
- purpose and grade level
- seating arrangement
- materials list (picture cards, classroom, and household items)
- text, game, book, song, or rhyme (e.g., Duck, Duck, Goose; The Hungry Thing ; If You're Happy and You Know It)
- preparatory activities
- instructions, examples, and teaching suggestions
- follow-up activity
- variations for advanced students and students needing further instruction
Target these skills:
- rhyme recognition, completion, and production
- syllable segmentation and deletion
- phoneme isolation and segmentation
- phoneme deletion, substitution, addition, and blending
- phoneme-grapheme correspondence
3. Talking Fingers Inc.www.talkingfingers.com/
The Talking Fingers approach is based on a simple idea: text is speech made visible! We use our mouths to talk, to make the sounds of words. We use our fingers (with a pencil or keyboard) to represent those sounds on paper. When children learn to link speech sounds with letters, they can use the alphabet code to write any word they can say. Their fingers are "talking"!Our goal is to empower generations of children with excellent writing, reading, and thinking skills that they can use to enrich their personal lives, earn a livelihood, and contribute toward a more literate and thoughtful society.
The Talking Fingers approach is unique and is based on a simple idea: text is speech made visible! We use our mouths to talk, to make the sounds of words. We use our fingers (with a pencil or keyboard) to represent those sounds on paper. When children learn to link speech sounds with letters, they can use the alphabet code to write any word they can say. Their fingers are "talking". This approach is aimed at maximizing the activation of the left side of the brain where skilled reading and writing are processed.
4. MindPlay Virtual reading Coach: www.mindplay.com/
MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach improves students reading performance by assessing reading abilities,developing an individual student syllabus, differentiating instruction and providing mastery-based activities to address reading gaps.For students it provides interactive lessons with media rich content, direct, explicit and systematic instruction, scaffoled instruction and remediation, virtual reading specialists and speech pathologists, self-paced and mastery based instruction, and immediate and specific feedback.
virtual Reading Coach
5. BRAINtastic:
The incredible, curriculum-linked reading software that uses an integrated phonemic and text based approach to reading! BRAINtastic! Reading Success utilises Integrated Speech and sound support, going beyond phonics to establish reading foundations, build solid reading skills, develop fully rounded readers, grow a love of reading and cultivate comprehension power, all with activities at a level appropriate for each child!
- Based on the latest evidential research**
- Helps children to learn to read the same way they learn to speak
- Over 2,900 carefully targeted activities across 6 CDs for children aged 4 to 15+
- Over 3,800 sound files for phonemes, vocabulary, instructions, answers and more!
Reading Remediation Websites:
Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for elementary students and teachers. We focus on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Try the online interactive activities, or click below to find out how to get our engaging 15-minute video programs.
 Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read with phonics. Our systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL). Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children. In May of 2009, we released the Starfall Kindergarten Reading and Language Arts Curriculum. Our method of instruction motivates children in an atmosphere of imagination and enthusiasm, provides opportunities for child-directed instruction, and supports English language learners and struggling readers learning alongside their peers.  3. Word Maker:donjohnston.com/wordmaker/ WordMaker uses a variety of activities to build targeted phonics skills. WordMaker is Systematic Sequential Phonics Instruction, which is, according to the National Reading Panel, the most effective approach for teaching Phonics. Students build on the words they know how to read and spell to create new words that are longer and more difficult. The 140 progressive lessons focus students on specific letter combinations, thus teaching the early reader to look for patterns and apply what they know about them when encountering known and unknown words. Wordmaker was developed in collaboration with Dr. Patricia Cunningham, creator of the Four-blocks Literacy Model.  4. ReadWorks.org: https://www.readworks.org/ ReadWorks provides research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages directly to educators online, for free, to be shared broadly.The ReadWorks curriculum is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and the standards of all 50 states. Most importantly, ReadWorks is faithful to the most effective research-proven instructional practices in reading comprehension.  5. Knowledge Adventure: www.knowledgeadventure.com/subject/reading-games/ The online reading games from Knowledge Adventure encourage children to form words and sentences correctly and to read and comprehend phrases and sentences. There are many cool reading games on this website and kids can decide which one they want to play. Whether they're writing a letter to a pen pal, fighting against a monster or putting their knowledge of geography to the test, kids will have fun playing these free online reading games. Reading Remediation Apps:  1. abc PocketPhonics:| Priced at $2.99, abc PocketPhonics teaches children more than 170 frequently used words. This app plays a recording of a letter and then asks the child to find the letter out of a group of about eight letters. When the child selects the correct letter, he or she receives a thumbs up and moves on. Another letter is pronounced, and your child eventually builds a word. Additionally, abc PocketPhonics demonstrates how to write each letter by allowing children to trace the letter with their fingers. This app is best suited for beginner readers in pre-school and kindergarten. It includes a Parentzone section that links parents with more tools to teach children how to read.  2. Word Magic: Word Magic is a spelling app that shows kids a picture of an object and gives them some of the letters of the word for it. They have to choose the letters that are missing by touching the screen. Based on the child's level, the missing letters can come from the beginning, middle or end of the word. For example, you might set the app to display one missing letter at the beginning of a word for a 3 year old, while you could challenge a 6 year old to find two missing letters in the middle of a longer word. After five correct answers, different colored stars appear as a reward and a voice recording congratulates the child. Priced at $.99, Word Magic gives you a lot of bang for your buck by both helping to build spelling skills and developing vocabulary  3. Learn To Read: With the Learn to Read! app, the days of time-consuming and laborious flashcard making are over. This app, costing $1.99, is a technologically advanced spin on traditional flashcards. Frequently used words on flashcards appear on the screen while a voice recording pronounces the word. Learn to Read! is equipped with the Dolch Word List, a group of sight words commonly used in the English language. They include parts of speech such as pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, adjectives, conjunctions and verbs that are difficult to learn through the use of pictures and have to be acquired though memorization and recognition. This app is best suited for children from pre-school to second grade, and multiple levels of word difficulty are available.  4. Rock 'n Learn Phonics Easy Reader: This app is priced at $1.99. It helps children develop their reading skills through three phonics stories. The stories can be read to the child or she can sound out the words and read the story. If the child needs some extra help with figuring out a word, she can click on the word for assistance. Rock 'n Learn Phonics Easy Reader focuses on developing pronunciation of short vowel sounds, consonant-vowel-consonant combinations and words ending with ll, ss, ff, s, and plural s.  5. Super Reader on The Job: This app costs $2.99. Super Reader is a simple educational program designed with young children grade 2 to 4 in mind. Parents and/or children may choose from 24 engaging short stories to improve their children’s English as well as capture their imagination. ✔ The stories were crafted by an experienced elementary school teacher and will encourage a child to read. The stories provide them with the necessary skills to improve their English as well as test their comprehension skills. ✔ Multiple choice questions follow each story. The app is convenient and simple to operate. It was tested on grade one and two children who enjoyed it immensely. The salient features are: ☆ 24 Comprehensions ☆ Multiple choice Quiz ☆ Quiz Status Tracking ☆ Layout designed for easy reading on both iPhone and iPad ☆ Tested by kids |
I did not attend Wednesdays Class because I was attending a Special Education Conference in San Francisco, but after viewing the class online I was very intrigued to see that we were having some of the same conversations at the conference. I attended some sessions put on by Martha Burns, a PhD, CCC-SLP has been a practicing clinician in the USA for 35 years. She serves onthe Faculty of Northwestern University, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and served on
the medical staff of Evanston-Northwestern Hospital for over thirty years.
The sessions I attended were about Executive Functioning Disorders and Auditory Procesing Disorders/ Attention Deficits Disorders. She started out both sessions by spending a great deal of time on the Neuroscience of the brain. At first I was a little intimidated and felt this wasn't what I had signed up for. I wanted to come out of these sessions having concrete ideas about how to help my students with these disorders! As the sessions progressed, I really started to get interested. Martha Burns has been quoted as being; an engaging, dynamic and well-organized presenter who offers cutting edge information that is essential to everyone who seeks to improve the lives of students by
improving their ability to learn, and to learn to read. Her special talent is her ability to take complex information and present it in a meaningful and practical way, easily understandable by educators, clinicians and parents. This is all true, I was so intrigued by her presentation and how she explained in detail how the different parts of our brain functions and how the brains of students with various disorders are functioning. At one point she said that, "Brains aren't damaged, but it is neurons in the brain that aren't communicating properly, they just aren't firing at the same rate, almost like the xmas tree lights when one isn't screwed in properly," It was very interesting that during class, you were also having discussions and watching videos about the brain. I came away being amazed how our brain works! I learned words like connector hubs. fiber tracts and myelin building! And I did come away with lots of great information and more understanding and sensitivity for my students with these disorders.
She did eventually get to some teaching strategies that can be used with these students and some programs that can actually help build-up the brain. Some of them were quite simple and were actually very easy to apply and things that many of us do already. Some involved brain -based programs, such as Fast Forward, Mind Reading and Evo, which is a new IPAD program based on neuro-science research that will help students with ADHD with memory and attention. We also discussed how in the future that some of these brain-based programs will actually be prescribed by a doctor instead of medications and will be covered by health care plans!
I came away very excited and hopeful about our students for the future just like you did after watching the video, Todd Rose, "The Myth of Average."
One thing that really resonated with me was when she said: "Teachers build brains, special educators change brains."
After watching the video, "The Myth of Average," I came away thinking that everything he said just consolidated what I have been thinking over the past school year. As a Learning Centre Teacher much of what I do is provide remediation to students. Now that is not a BAD thing but I have realized that there are certain students that no longer are benefiting from remediation, what they need now are compensatory aids. It is so true that all students have a "jagged profile"with strengths and needs and sometimes they can't show their strengths and talents because we are focusing on their so called weaknesses too much! I have come to the realization that part of my job is too help provide these students with the technology they need so their talents can shine.The technology that we now have access to in schools is how these students can shine and show their talents. I am thinking of one student in particular, who is in Grade 6 now and has spent most of his school life trying to learn to read. He will never be able to read and it is time to stop trying to make him do something he can never do! He needs technology so he can "show" what he knows, instead of always "failing' at something that just isn't possible for him to achieve. I agree, that we need to use technology to create learning environments that provide the flexibility to develop all talents. I have come to the realization that my "adjustable seat," is to be an advocate for my students who need this technology.
Assistive Technology Assessment Models:
What is an Assistive Technology
Assessment?
An Assistive Technology Assessment is a
collaborative process through which an IEP team or education team -- one that
may also include certified technology specialists and other related services professionals -- identifies
technologies that can improve a student's performance, access, participation,
and independence. It's an ongoing process -- not a one-time event -- designed
to match students with assistive technology, as well as implement and measure
the most effective solutions for academic and career success.
Why is an Assistive
Technology Assessment Important?
Assessing a student's needs, strengths,
abilities, and challenges increases the likelihood of specifying solutions that
will improve performance. Finding the right tool for the job is crucial.
Studies show that over half the time -- and possibly as much as 80% -- students
stop using assistive devices procured for them, because they were a poor match.
Assessments create more effective matches.
What Are the Guiding
Principals of an Assistive Technology Assessment?
To match a student with the most
effective technology solutions.
How To Conduct Assessments?
1. Defining the Problem or Challenge: What task does a student struggle
with due to a disability or learning difference? If the student cannot adequately
perform these tasks with mainstream solutions, consider whether assistive
technology might help.
2. Gather Relevant Data: Using existing documentation/testing,
classroom observation, and interviews with teachers, professionals, and family
members, to gauge a student strengths, necessary skills, barriers to task
completion, learning environment, and current level of performance.
3. Generate Potential Solutions: Based on the information collected, I
identify tools, strategies, and supporting services, which hold promise to
improve performance and increase participation and independence.
4. Conduct AT Trials: I next develop and implement -- in
collaboration with school district staff and others -- an AT Trial Plan that
includes criteria and timelines for determining success and the collection of
measurable data on the impact to student performance.
5. Integrate Successful Tools &
Strategies:
Analyze results, determine most appropriate tools and strategies based on
trials (or whether additional trials are needed), and develop a plan to
implement the recommended technology.
5
Types of Assistive Technology Assessment Models:
1.
Matching Person and Technology:
The
Matching Person and Technology (MPT) model considers users’ expectations,
preferences, background, family and environmental influences, and economic
factors in the determination of appropriate AT. Characteristics that would lead
to use or non-use are identified, and ways are developed to modify the
environment, the person, or the technology to make a better match.
The
MPT seems targeted for adults with disabilities. There are three major
components (Milieu, Person, Technology), which are assessed using a series of
questionnaires. The Milieu focuses on characteristics of the settings in which
AT is to be used. The Person component provides information about the user’s
personal characteristics and temperament. The Technology component focuses on
specific characteristics of the technology itself, including design factors and
funding.
The
MPT offers six assessment forms as part of the evaluative process.
The
Worksheet for the MPT Model identifies which technologies are
potentially useful for the AT user.
The
Survey of Technology Use solicits information about the person’s
experiences with technology.
The
Assistive Technology Device Predisposition Assessment collects
information on physical capabilities, life satisfaction, feelings about having
a disability, and temperament.
For school-age individuals, the Educational
Technology Predisposition Assessment is available, focusing on student
characteristics, educational goals, and environment.
The
Workplace Technology Predisposition Assessment identifies areas that
could inhibit the acceptance and appropriate use of new technology in
vocational settings.
The
Health Care Technologies Predisposition Assessment addresses health care
needs, including personal characteristics, characteristics of technology being
considered, and attitudes.
The
ultimate outcome of using the MPT process is selection of an appropriate AT
device that does not get abandoned prematurely.
2.
Lifespace Access Profile for Individuals with Severe or Multiple Disabilities:
The
purpose of the Lifespace Access Profile for Individuals with Severe or
Multiple Disabilities (LAP) is to provide a “client-centered, team-based
collection of observations that point to next steps in a comprehensive program
utilizing technology”
The
target audience for the LAP is primarily those with severe/profound
disabilities. The LAP consists of an assessment protocol that evaluates the
individual’s current abilities across five domains: Physical Resources,
Cognitive Resources, Emotional Resources, Support Resources, and Environmental
Analysis.
The
Physical Resources domain gathers information on the individual’s general
health, mobility support, and body sites for switch access. Cognitive Resources
include the ability to understand cause-effect and communication skills.
The
Emotional Resources section solicits information about reinforcers,
distractibility, and tolerance for change.
Support
Resources identifies the degree to which family members and professionals have
adequate training and time to implement AT.
The
Environmental Analysis section explores the individual’s level of participation
across environments and the use of AT within those environments.
Outcomes
from the LAP are part of the “Resource Development Priorities”, a section of
the LAP protocol. From these priorities, IEP/IFSP objectives can be identified
that incorporate AT.
3. SETT:S for the Student
E for the Environment
T for the Tasks
T for the Tools needed for the student to address the tasks.
SETT
is a “guideline for gathering data in order to make effective assistive
technology decisions” (The framework identifies three areas to consider (student,
environment, and tasks), then encourages research on the tools to meet student
needs.
SETT
is targeted for students with disabilities. Within the four components (Student,
Environment, Tasks, Tools) a series of questions are used
to collect information. The first component is the Student; abilities and needs
are identified. The second component, Environments, refers both to the physical
environments as well as the instructional environments within a classroom. The
third component of SETT is Tasks – the activities the student is asked to
perform and the barriers to performance. The fourth component is Tools, which
include both AT devices and services.
An
intended outcome is an appropriate match between the student, the environment,
the tasks, and the technology used to accomplish tasks within the environment.
SETT Framework:
Step 1: Collect Info
Step 2: Generate solutions
Step 3: Implement Plan
Step 4: Integrate AT In IEP
SETT Framework:
Step 1: Collect Info
Step 2: Generate solutions
Step 3: Implement Plan
Step 4: Integrate AT In IEP
4.
Education Tech Points:
Assessment
forms are provided, also. The specifics of this model center around six “Tech
Points”. Each Tech Point identifies the specific times within the planning and
provision of special education services that the need for AT should be
considered.
Tech
Point #1, Referral, starts with the process of identifying students in need of
services. Tech Point #2, Evaluation, considers whether the student needs AT during
the evaluation process; and whether the student needs AT as part of curricular
modifications. Tech Point #3 involves an Extended Assessment -- a trial period
with one or more AT devices. Tech Point #4 is Plan Development, consisting of
documenting that AT has been considered in the development of the IEP/IFSP.
Tech Point #5 involves Implementation. Three critical areas are identified:
student training, staff training, and equipment management. For Tech Point #6,
Periodic Review, the team reviews the implementation data and determines
whether changes are needed.
The
ETP process has outcomes built in at each Tech Point. The ultimate outcome is
that the student receives the AT devices and services needed to access the
curriculum and meet IEP/IFSP goals and objectives.
5.
Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative:
The
purpose of the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) is to provide a
comprehensive and thorough assistive technology assessment process. Assessing
Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology: A Resource Manual for School District
Teams (WATI, 1998), will be discussed here, and is referred to generically
as “the WATI”.
The
WATI targets school-age children with disabilities and school districts. It
provides both the process as well as specific guides relevant to the 10
sections of the model. Section 1 provides an overview of the AT assessment and
planning process. Section 2, the Assistive Technology Assessment Packet,
provides all the forms developed for the WATI model. AT for writing and
computer access is addressed in Section 3. Section 4 on AT for communication
addresses three major groups of individuals: the alternative language group,
the expressive language group, and the supportive language
group.
AT for reading, studying, and mathematics are grouped together in Section 5 for
adaptations in academic areas.
Section
6 provides information on AT for recreation, leisure, and activities of daily
living, including environmental control. AT for positioning and seating
comprises Section 7. Section 8 addresses AT for vision and hearing. Writing AT
in the IEP is addressed in Section 9 with examples of IEP goals and objectives.
Section 10 has information on AT laws and funding, including funding sources,
legal provisions and policies.
The
outcomes of the WATI assessment process focus on consideration of AT in the IEP
and that the student receives AT devices and services needed to access the
curriculum and meet IEP/IFSP goals and objectives.
Human Activity Assistive Technology Model: (HAAT)
Human Performance Model Bailey (1989) was developed by human factors engineers and psychologists … to assist in the design and application of technology. A Framework for studying human performance in tasks involving technology.
Typically used to describe the performance of a human in a given task (activity) in a
given situation (context – environment).
Human Activity Assistive Technology Model: (HAAT)
Human Performance Model Bailey (1989) was developed by human factors engineers and psychologists … to assist in the design and application of technology. A Framework for studying human performance in tasks involving technology.
Typically used to describe the performance of a human in a given task (activity) in a
given situation (context – environment).
Explanation of the Components of the HAAT Model:
Activity- 3 basic performance areas: self-care, work/school, play/leisure
- the activities an individual performs are determined by that person’s life role(s)
- activities can be broken down into smaller tasks … need to know what these are … helps determine points at which an individual may need assistance to accomplish activity
Human (intrinsic enabler)
- the do-er, the operator - underlying abilities (sensory input, central processing and motor output)
- need to take into consideration the person’s skills and abilities ability, basic training of a person, what he brings to a new task skill
– a level of proficiency
Context
where the activity is being performed
- setting (environment)
- social context (e.g. with peers, strangers, family)
- cultural context (influences social s context) … will talk about the influence of culture on AT later
- physical context (e.g. light, temperature, sound)
The AT (extrinsic enabler)
provide basis that allows human performance to improve;
- hard technologies
- human/technology interfaces (e.g. positioning devices, control interfaces, displays)
- activity output (needed to contribute to functional performance – e.g. communicating, moving,
manipulating)
- processor … what links the interface to the output (e.g. computers, mechanical component)
- environmental interface (supports sensory performance – e.g. aided hearing, sensors)
soft technologies
-performance aids
-written instructions
-training
Comparative
analysis:
A
comparative analysis of these six models reveals both similarities and
differences. They all share an ultimate goal which is to match a person to the
most effective AT that will meet his/her needs within the environments in which
it will be used. All these models in some capacity explore and assess the
person, the environments, and the tasks for which the technology is needed.
Each
model emphasizes the process of assessment. A multidisciplinary, collaborative
team approach is strongly emphasized in all models. They all follow an
ecological, functional assessment approach. The SETT, ETP, LAP, and WATI are
primarily designed for AT assessment within school settings. The SETT, HAAT and LAP
programs could easily be adapted for adults and non-school settings, the ETP
and WATI not as easily.
“In some ways, a comparative
analysis of these models is a bit like the proverbial comparison of apples and
oranges. Evaluated separately, they each have specific characteristics,
strengths, and emphases. Taken together, they make a good fruit salad!” (Barbara. E. Bromley)
Janice I see you found http://www.homemods.org/resources/pages/ATAssess.shtml. Good searching. The AT assessment is critical to making the appropriate match to the user. Can you add any more personal insights to the process?
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your experience about the conference Janice...yes brains are important :) Learning happens at the synapse! Can you tell us more about how you felt when watching "The Myth of Average?". and what is your "adjustable seat" in your classroom.
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