PRODUCT FEATURE. Supporting active participation in literacy using Boardmaker Plus. Check us out on-line:

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1 Assistive Technology for Children and Adults with Special Needs Address 526 Main St. P.O. Box 68 Henderson, MN Phone Fax Web site PRODUCT FEATURE Supporting active participation in literacy using Boardmaker Plus By Kim Antonius and Claire Zeijdel Remembering that we cannot reach the mind we do not engage ought to be a daily compass for educational planning (Tomlinson, 2005, pg. 9). Engaging students requires that they are involved and active in the learning process. For literacy development, this means everything from choosing books, turning pages, asking questions, writing stories, talking about books and other written work, practicing new words and interacting with others during literacy activities. All of this can be a particular challenge for teachers of students with multiple disabilities. These students require alternate access to and Figure 1. presentation of literacy materials to accommodate for physical, visual or cognitive differences. In addition, many of these students use technology to support communication and learning. Technology can allow students to move from passive involvement to more active engagement in literacy activities. Their success with the technology and literacy development depends on providing computer setups that allow for independent and efficient access to literacy activities. In addition, these activities must be based on good models of literacy instruction that take into consideration the needs of all learners. This article will explore the use of on-screen grids in Boardmaker Plus to optimize the participation of two students in classroom literacy activities that are based on the Four Blocks (Cunningham & Hall, 1996) model of literacy instruction. Meet our students Boardmaker Plus offers many tools for supporting the literacy development of young children. To illustrate this we want to introduce you to two students. Eric is an eight-year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy. He has low vision and is non-verbal. Eric attends his local community school and is in grade two. Eric is using Boardmaker Plus on a Mercury as his primary method of communication. He communicates by using pre-programmed sentences and phrases represented with high-contrast text and symbols. He uses some core vocabulary words that he can sequence to create sentences. Eric s team would like to see him increase his ability to sequence single words into sentences for more novel communication. Therefore, there is a strong emphasis on helping Eric to increase his expressive vocabulary and sentence building skills. Eric is at the emergent stage of his literacy development. Eric loves stories with repetition and is able to predict, retell stories and answer comprehension questions. He recognizes most of his letters and their sounds and can build simple words. Using words, he can make sentences. Eric s team has identified the need for him to increase his independent participation in literacy activities. His access method is with two switches for step scanning. With the support of large, clear buttons, color for contrast, auditory prompts and large toolbars, Eric is independent in his use of his device. This article originally appeared in the December/January 2007 issue of Closing The Gap, Vol. 25 No. 5. Check us out on-line:

2 Eric Four block area: Self-Selected Reading Template(s) used: Bookshelf Template, Dictionary Template, Book 3 Template We created an environment where Eric can independently select books to read. Books were created to support Eric s independent exploration by adding a button that leads to a glossary and a pop-up comments board. If you are using the Dictionary Template to make a glossary for someone who uses scanning access, you will need to make each word and definition into a scanning group (see screenshot). Don t forget to program Return to Last Board into the comments buttons on your pop-up for a scanner. Eric Four block area: Guided Reading Template(s) used: Book 1 Template Boardmaker Plus is ideal for Guided Reading activities. By adding a message at the beginning of a book, the teacher can provide instruction or a pre-reading question to set the purpose of the reading activity. Then, taking advantage of the dynamic screen properties, a writing or comprehension activity can be linked at the end. By adding a save message button and an open message button to the writing activity page, Eric can independently save his work and come back to it anytime By adding a portfolio button that links to his portfolio, he can move between this work and other resources he may have on the topic. His portfolio also provides him with a mechanism for checking his own progress and displaying his work to others. 2

3 Eric Four block area: Writing For Eric s Writing activity we created a set of boards organized to support his writing goals of using new, appropriate vocabulary and building sentences with words. Making use of pop-up boards, we were able to present vocabulary organized by topic. The use of pop-ups also meant that there wasn t the need for crowding a lot of vocabulary on the screen minimizing the visual distraction. Pop-ups also build in natural efficiency for scanning access. Using the Scan Next Tool, we were able to further support Eric s sentence structure and efficiency by programming the insects buttons to scan immediately to the # of body parts button. Thus prompting Eric to start his sentence with insect and then immediately follow that with the content from his three categories of insect body parts. is a six year old with Rett s Syndrome. She attends her community school and has a full-time Educational Assistant (EA). communicates verbally. participates in literacy activities on the classroom computer with single switch access. Her EA prepares sets of boards for reading and writing using Boardmaker Plus. enthusiastically participates in journal writing, stories and word study activities represented with digital pictures. is just learning to scan, so her boards are prepared so that vocabulary is presented in small sets using button magnification to reinforce tracking. The literacy model Grids that were developed for Eric and were designed to support the Four Blocks model of literacy instruction (Figure 1). The model includes four key components of literacy instruction. It is focused at the grades one through three population but is relevant to all students learning to read and write. This model is one that we use frequently because of its underlying belief that all students can learn to read and write and that not all children learn in the same way. The teacher is using this model for all students in her class. The goal for Eric and is to increase their independent participation in these literacy areas to promote overall literacy development. The research shows that students with special needs require multiple opportunities for practicing new skills in engaging learning environments. The use of thematic units can provide opportunities for practicing skills with repetition using a variety of interesting topics. Once the team has designed the on-screen grids to meet the student s access, vision and cognitive needs the content can be easily changed to reflect new and engaging topics. The research also indicates that independence and self-regulated learning is the key to continued growth. There are a number of strategies that can be employed to promote independence and self-regulated learning. Some of these include: Designing on-screen grids that allow for the most independent access possible. This can be achieved by limiting the items on the screen, grouping items, using pop-ups and links and automatic go back buttons to previous boards. Using auditory previews to support independence for students with low-vision or for students who require more cognitive support in using the boards. Providing a clear and consistent instructions button that can be used as many times as necessary. Providing easy access to a home screen or menu for independently selecting activities or books. Adding writing tools to support independent and self-regulated writing (spell checkers, dictionaries, glossaries, read sentence, repeat, delete, print, save). The modifications The following list reflects considerations that were made in the process of designing grids for both Eric and. Eric: High contrast presentation of information. Auditory previews on for scanning. Very systematic organization of items on the screen to help Eric learn the layout of vocabulary and become more independent. Consistent, clear toolbars. Single words where possible to promote sequencing. : Provision of digital graphics where possible. Limited number of items on the screen. Magnification of buttons to emphasize their content for initial teaching. Use of Scan Tools to support successful selection of items on the screen. Learn more about these and other modifications as you read through the samples section below. The samples Each sample reflects a part of the Four Block model. If a template was used to create the grid, this has been indicated. Programming tips and notes have been included. These samples were developed with Boardmaker Plus from Mayer-Johnson. Boardmaker Plus is a software program that allows you to create interactive, dynamic activities on the computer. It has speech output and input, the ability to provide digitized voices, access options (such as scanning) 3

4 and the Boardmaker symbol set. Many of the samples were developed using templates that come with Boardmaker Plus. You can view an interactive sample of these activities on our Web site <www. bridges-canada.com>. Eric Eric s class is studying Insects and Spiders. They are learning to identify and classify insects and spiders, describe their observable physical characteristics, behavioural traits and compare the way they capture and eat food. Eric needs to be able to ask questions and explore possible answers and use appropriate vocabulary. In preparation, Eric s teacher has placed a couple of books about insects and spiders on Eric s bookshelf on his computer. She has also prepared a glossary of terms and a word wall for Eric s use while reading and writing. Customized activities have been prepared for Eric to practice and demonstrate his skills. See Eric s screen shots on pages 12 and 13. s class is studying The Seasons. They are learning about the characteristics of the different seasons, such as which clothing is appropriate, features of houses that protect against the seasons and what outdoor activities are based on the seasons. They will learn to identify and describe changes that occur to the environment and living things during the seasons. In preparation, s EA created books for with fun buttons for her to explore while learning the vocabulary and practicing her scanning in an errorless environment. A journal was prepared for to practice daily observations and writing. See s screen shots on page 14. In summary, we have illustrated the following considerations for designing literacy grids for students who are using alternate access. So, have we engaged you? Hopefully you have taken away some new ideas for creating on-screen boards that allow for maximum participation in literacy activities. Check out these great Boardmaker Plus templates and add-ons! Many of the Boardmaker Plus templates and add-ons are designed to support literacy. Here is a quick list of favorites from Lisa Petit at Mayer Johnson. From the Sample Boards: Beach Unit From the Templates: Read then Write Template Sentence Building Template Eric Four block area: Working with Words An example of Eric s Working with Words activities is a making Words activity. A consistent approach is applied to creating toolbars for all of Eric s writing activities. A simple color code of green for his instructions button (analogous with go ) and red for his correction buttons (analogous with stop ) is employed. Also, his toolbars are set apart and fairly large to make them more visually apparent. On Eric s portfolio page we put a couple of change access method buttons. Given that both Eric and his teacher would want to use his portfolio at different times (the teacher to check his work and chart his progress and Eric for the reasons mentioned above), we made buttons that would allow the teacher to change the access from step scanning to point and click and then revert back to ready the board for Eric. This little utility (found under the Settings tab in the programming menu), will really minimize the amount of time it takes his teacher to move around his boards. From Boardmaker Plus add-ons: Main Street Science: Lab report Cooking Up Fun: Shopping List, Written food review From Learning My ABCs: ABC Typing Beyond Boardmaker Plus: Weather report, Newspaper, Cafeteria Menu, All About Me, Book Report, Note Home Check out our Web site for some screen shots of these great templates and samples. < Other products that provide on-screen grids: Clicker 5 Crick Software <www. cricksoft.com> Writing With Symbols Widgit Software < IntelliTools Classroom Suite <www. intellitools.com> WordBar Crick Software <www. cricksoft.com> Speaking Dynamically Pro <www. mayer-johnson.com> Mayer Johnson has now released Boardmaker Plus Version 6. It has many new features that will further support and Eric s access to their curriculum. For more information, please visit < com> or < References How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms (2nd Edition) by Carol Ann Tomlinson (Pearson Education Inc., 2005). The Four Blocks: A framework for Reading and Writing in Classroom That Work by 4

5 P.M. Cunningham & D.P. Hall (Windward Productions, 1996). < < Four block area: Self-Selected Reading Template(s) used: Bookshelf Template, Book 3 Template For s Self-Selected Reading time, she has a collection of books programmed with hidden buttons for her to explore. When she scans to a page, it will first read the page to her out loud and then the next time she hits her switch it will scan to a hidden button and pause for her to make a selection. To make a hidden button: create the button and then select the dotted line from the lines tool, transparent button color from the colors menu and then draw a button. The scanning order will go from the bigger button (the page) to the smaller button (the hidden button) without needing to do anything special. To get the scan to pause on the hidden button, use the Scan Pause Tool and set it to I. The scanning will pause until the switch is hit and then select the button. About the Authors Claire Zeijdel is the General Manager of Bridges. Kim Antonius is Curriculum Development and Professional Development Specialist at Bridges. Bridges sells and supports Assistive Technology and Professional Development in Canada. For more information, contact the authors: Kim Antonius; <kima@bridgescanada.com>; Web site: < Phone: Clair Zeijdel; <claire@bridgescanada.com>; Web site: < Phone: Four block area: Writing s journal Writing activity was created using the same approach to scanning as her other activities (Scan Pause I and Scan Next). 5

6 Four block area: Guided Reading Template(s) used: Book 3 Template For s Guided Reading activity, we created a simple book with a prereading question programmed on the very first page. Rather than use the turn the page button, we removed it and programmed s book to change pages automatically. The last page leads directly to a simple writing task where can work on her scanning skills by writing a two-part sentence and print her work. Magnification is a great tool for reinforcing tracking and sequencing in scanning. You find this setting under the Highlight Buttons menu in Dynamic Boards. Note that if, as we do in s case, you want to only use this setting for one screen that you will need to make the change manually for the student. To get the pages to automatically change, simple build the change Board feature directly into the page button. Four block area: Working With Words In s Working with Words activity, she can reinforce her season vocabulary as well as develop her skill to transition from real photos to symbols. * You can provide errorless support to this activity by using the Scan Pause Tool along with the Scan Next Tool. In other words scan to Snowman/Photo > Pause > Select > Scan Next to Snowman/Symbol. * The digital graphics used in this activity came from the collection of images in Picture This Libraries for Boardmaker. 6