How Read

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How ReadWrite Gold 8.1Can Help ALL Students

• Michelle Johnson
• District TRT
• Bowling Green Independent Schools

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Why are we here?

• PURPOSETo help our students become independent,
  successful learners.
• This tool hasnt been widely used previously
  (with some good reasons).
• The new version of ReadWrite Gold has the
  potential to help all of our students become more
  successful and more independent.

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New Version 8.1

• More dependable
• Only version approved for use with CATS testing
• Cool new tools that will benefit ALL studentsyou
  might even want to use them yourself in grad
  classes!!!

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What IS ReadWrite Gold?

• ReadWrite is a literacy support software
  solution for people who struggle with reading and
  writing. ReadWrite has been designed to help
  improve reading writing skills, with features
  such as text to speech with highlighting, talking
  dictionary, phonetic spell checking, word
  prediction homophone support to address key
  aspects of reading and writing processes.
• ReadWrite allows users to be more fully included
  due to its collaborative functionality with
  mainstream Windows applications. This
  compatibility means that there is no need for
  users to work within a special environment or to
  learn a whole new way of creating and editing
  text, as ReadWrite is an easy-to-use 'floating'
  customizable toolbar that integrates seamlessly
  within Windows applications such as Microsoft
  Word and Internet Explorer.

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Starting ReadWrite Gold

• Click Start
• Hover over All Programs
• Hover over Texthelp Systems
• Hover over Read and Write 8
• Click ReadWrite Gold
• Play around with docking/undocking your toolbar.
  Leave it your favorite position.

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Reading ToolsThe Basics and Speech Options
Once you are satisfied with your settings, go to
any web site and try out the text reader.
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Say Like

• I noticed the program mispronounced the word
  tuition. I went to the Say Like tab under
  Speech Options and input
• Say this tuition
• Like this tooishun
• Try it out yourself. This is especially handy
  for proper names.

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Autoread

• This is a great feature for special needs
  students in writing. Its like having a built-in
  conference as they type. ? (The first thing I do
  in conferencing is have the kids read what
  theyve written out loud to me.) Well try it out
  later when we delve into writing tools.

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Screenshot Reader

• Use this feature to read text used when text is
  not accessible, for example, in web pages
  designed with flash or in images.
• Lets try the title of our training page, for
  example.
• Now how about a BrainPOP movie? (They are
  designed with flash.)
• Your turn. ?

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Speech Maker

• This handy tool lets you take text and make an
  audio file. How about your last test study
  guide? ?
• My Demo
• Open the ACT Study Guide .pdf file and choose a
  section to turn into an audio file OR use a file
  of your own.
• Files can be posted to your web page. Students
  can download them to their computers and/or mp3
  players.

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DAISY Reader (Digital Accessible Information
System)

• DAISY is the digital talking book standard,
  developed by an international consortium of
  libraries that serve people who have print
  disabilities. The DAISY standard was developed in
  order to enable a person who is blind or
  otherwise print disabled to access the
  information in a book with the same ease with
  which a sighted person accesses information in a
  print book. The usability of a DAISY digital book
  could be compared to that of a cassette tape, the
  format in which most accessible books were, until
  relatively recently, available. As audio tapes
  are fast becoming obsolete, the DAISY format was
  originally developed for the world of digital
  talking books delivered on CD, other portable
  media, or over the Internet. (from
  http//www.bookshare.org/web/SupportDaisy.html)

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DAISY Reader (Digital Accessible Information
System) contd

• MLK example
• To Love This Life example
• These came from the American Federation for the
  Blind web site. The direct link is on our
  Training web page. To install any of these,
  however, you need to be the administrator of your
  workstation. Your STC can do this for you as
  well.

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Pronunciation Tutor

• The coolest thing about this tool is the ScanSoft
  Paulina voice for Spanish.
• English speaking kids taking Spanish will love
  this feature.
• Students whose native language is Spanish will
  also love this voice!
• Go aheadtry it out!

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Scan

• Do you have materials that arent in digital
  format? The scan tool is the answer.
• You DONT have to have a scanner to use this
  feature
• You can use a digital camera
• OR the scan from file option
• demo scan from file
• Now you try it. Click on Open Image of Text from
  our web page.
• Save the file.
• Click the Scan drop down menu. Bullet Scan to
  Word and Scan from File.
• Click the scan icon and follow the prompts.

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Research Tools Fact Finder

• Adding/changing search engines
• Fact Finder Options
• Manual Text
• Search

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Fact Finder continued

• Search using
• Note Using another search tool automatically
  changes your default.

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Collecting the Good StuffFact Folder

• Select Text
• Click Fact Folder
• To add a picture
• Click picture
• Click down arrow beside Fact
• Folder
• Click Add web image
• Review Facts
• Export Facts to Word
• Squirrels example

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Fact Mapper

• Works in conjunction with the Fact Folder to
  organize research.
• Exports to Microsoft Word.
• It does not include citations, however.
• My personal choice for concept mapping is
  Inspiration (or Kidspiration for younger
  students).

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Speech Input

• For students whose IEP includes dictation or
  scribing, this is a useful, fun tool.
• You have to train the program to recognize your
  voicethis is the tricky part (because of the
  reading issue). However, it does a great job
  with minimal training. Also, for CATS testing,
  students using this option would need to be in an
  individual setting.
• Lets give it a go

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Translator

• Allows you to view Spanish translations for
  English words used in your application.
• The Scansoft Paulina voice is a fabulous model
  for pronunciation (set voice under Preferences
  tab).

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Study ToolsThe Highlighters

• Turn off web highlighting before using the
  highlighters. Works with text docs or Internet
  sites but not .pdf files.
• ActivityOpen the article Digital Natives,
  Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky.
• Yellowthe CAUSES of why our students are
  different
• Bluethe RESULTS of the differences
• Pinkimportant points
• Greenhumorous

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Gather Highlights

• Click the gather highlights button. This creates
  a new document. Lets compare our highlightsdid
  we match?
• Do you think students would enjoy this type of
  activity?
• Students with special needs can also utilize the
  text reader feature and fully participate.

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Summary

• Works with text from a web page or a text
  document, but not .pdf files directly. You can
  copy text from a .pdf and paste into a Word
  document to summarize.
• Try it out on Digital Natives, Digital
  Immigrants, Part II Do They Really Think
  Differently?
• Select the meat of the article. Copy and paste
  it into a new Word document. Click the Summary
  button and choose a . A new Word document will
  open with the summary.
• Now try it out with the webclick the Fact Finder
  button (the globe) and use Answers.com to look up
  info on your subject area.
• Select one of the articles returned and perform a
  summary.

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Calculator

• Standard or Scientific
• Conversionslength, mass, velocity, time,
  temperature, volume.
• Highlight the value to be converted in your
  document, then convert.
• Evaluate in document
• Type in problem without sign. Highlight, then
  click evaluate in document.
• Open a blank Word document and try one evaluate
  in document calculation and one conversion.

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Writing ToolsPhonetic Spellcheck

• QWhats the biggest problem kids have with the
  spellcheck feature in Word?
• PHONETIC spellcheck is different.
• fone
• fisics
• fisicul
• Try it out!

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Word Wizard

• Think of it as a thesaurus with the ability to
  read definitions and examples.
• unconcealed
• myriad
• overt
• Try it out!

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Talking Dictionary

• Set to Advanced Definitions
• surreptitious
• myriad
• clandestine
• Basic Definitionsfor younger students
• longing
• episode

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Word Prediction

• Click the drop down menu and go to Prediction
  Options. Click Follow the cursor when typing.
  Click Type the word when clicked.
• Click the Speech tab. Click Speak when mouse
  pointer hovers over word.
• Clicking Advanced Options brings up more tabs for
  Learning, Phonetics, Context and Edit Lists.
• Try it out!

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Homophone Check

• Open ACT Study Guide Strategy 5 Getting Into the
  Author's Mind (text version) from our web
  resources page.
• Click show homophones. All homophones will
  turn blue.
• For each homophone the student is unsure of, they
  highlight the word, then click to get
  definitions for each word. They can choose to
  replace incorrect words.

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Teachers Toolkit

• Click Start
• Hover over Texthelp Systems
• Hover over Read and Write 8
• Click Toolkit. Here you can
• Create and customize users and what features they
  have access to as well as set up groups of
  students.
• Add homophones and dictionary entries.
• Tweak pronunciation of words.
• View Spelling and Activity Logs.

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Testmaker Toolbar

• Testmaker is a tool that allows teachers to
  quickly convert a Microsoft Word file into a
  quiz. Displayed as a toolbar in Word, Testmaker
  creates secure (not editable) tests. Answers,
  which are editable, may be recorded via multiple
  choice, true/false, and text fields for short
  answer and essays.

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Testmaker Toolbar contd

• Deploying the test document is made easy with
  either of two strategies - save and distribute
  the test via local network OR save and distribute
  the test via Texthelp's secure web hosting
  service (I LOVE this!). The web hosting service
  bypasses local saving/retrieval and automatically
  creates a web link pointing to the test. Students
  click the link to access and complete the test.
  Completed tests are automatically emailed back to
  the teacher. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• My demo

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Testmaker Toolbar contd 2

• Try it outopen MS Word.
• Click Tools-Templates and Add-ins.
• Make sure testmaker.dot is checked.
• You should now see the Testmaker Toolbar.
• Click Options. Make sure Publish to Web is
  selected.
• Design your test and click Save test. Enter the
  title and your email address.
• Open your email and click the link.
• Take your test and submit.
• Check your email again and see what the submitted
  test looks like.

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Creating Your Own Activities

• Think about activities you can design to use the
  Reading Tools, the Research Tools (including the
  Calculator), and the Writing Tools. Be prepared
  to share one idea for each category.

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Sharing Ideas

• Reading Tools Ideas
• Research Tools Ideas
• Writing Tools Ideas

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Thank you!

• I hope this has been an informative day for you
  and that you are excited about using these tools
  in your classrooms.
• I am here for you every step of the way! Please
  dont hesitate to call on me.
• Have a fantastic evening! ?
• --Michelle