|
Phonics
Programs on CD-Rom •
Language Tune-up Kit
- Phonics-based software based on the multi-sensory Orton-Gillingham method for
children and adults. The LTK Placement Test determines students' reading skills
and places the student at the appropriate starting lesson.
 Go Phonics - Comprehensive Phonics Reading Program, Go Phonics features six decodable readers with controlled vocabulary in a systematic phonics building block sequence for teaching beginning reading skills. This is a teacher-developed, Orton-Gillingham based multisensory phonics curriculum with K-2 language arts. Integrated tools include fifty phonics games (word decoding & fluency practice), workbooks. This approach is effective for dyslexia and is a comprehensive foundation for beginning readers.
 •
Dositey.com
- inexpensive Internet based lessons, courses, exercises, worksheets, and other
critical thinking activities. Phonics games, exciting excercises, and interactive
lessons to boost a child's success in school.
 •
Wordshark
- 36 totally different computer games providing high motivation and interest.
'This software has had dramatic results. My student simply can't believe that
he can be learning so quickly, and now arrives half-an-hour early, and has asked
to stay an hour over his lesson time. This is the first time that he has ever
been able to remember spellings - ever. I have had to force him to take breaks
each half-hour because he was so adamant that he would complete each module more
quickly then anyone else. His progress has been amazing. I did not at first believe
this because I thought that as a dyslexic he would probably remember his spellings
one week but then forget them after a break, but I have just re-tested him on
the modules he covered before the half-term break (three weeks ago) and in a spelling
test of sixty words, he got all of them correct without any chance to mug up beforehand',
J. W., UK.
Sschool
Time Phonics Program (US)
The School
Time Phonics Program is a comprehensive, four-disk, CD-ROM curriculum that provides
an interactive, multi-sensory learning environment for mastering the basic letter-sound
associations in the English language. To use the program students only need to
know the letters of the alphabet. They do not have to know how to read beyond
a first or second grade level, nor do they need to know much about computers.
Once students sign in, they operate the program and complete their lessons unassisted.
Words used in the program are pronounced, defined, and used in context. Sentences,
couplets, and brief poems when they occur are read and repeated to students. In
addition, information and concepts that are easier to grasp are taught first.
Those that might be more difficult or less familiar are taught later. This "building
blocks" approach to learning is followed within a lesson and throughout the curriculum.
Spark
Island
BBC CD-Roms program
for ages 5-11 - 'an excellent tool to assist in some of phonological awareness
difficulties as they teach phonic rules in a game-like multi-sensory way (young
learners).' (D.D., Singapore)
| Speech
to Text Software
 •
• •
TextHelp
(highly recommended by John Bradford - an excellent word-processing support program
which links in to your word-processor, suggesting spellings for each word as you
start to type it, and reading out your writing so that you can see if it makes
sense or if you've missed out any words.')  •
• •
Kurzweil
3000 - 'The Kurzweil 3000 is the greatest tool to benefit the dyslexic student.
My high school students can bring in a library book or an article, etc. and scan
the material one class period and listen/follow along the next period. The students
can use bookmarks and change the voice and speed that it reads to their individual
tastes. The Kurzweil also comes with a CD with numerous works available to be
read without scanning. With the CD you just find the author and click; locate
the story you need and click; and start listening. The classroom teachers are
really great about sending the reading assignments to me a few days ahead of time
so I can have them scanned and ready to read. This helps the students because
they stay on schedule. Sometimes students come in after and before school to scan
articles so they will be able to keep pace with other students. Therefore extended
time isn’t necessary. The bottom line is that it is a wonderful tool that gives
the students a sense of independence.' (Lisa Landers, Texas)
The
“Kurzweil 3000” scans text, recognizes text, reads the text with voice options,
and highlights the text – each word as it reads it. It has highlighters that can
be used to extract and make notes from the text and therefore is useful in summarizing.
The voice control and speed of speech can be set and it sometimes reads words
out of context, but very rarely. It is an excellent asset for dyslexic students
if you can find an electronic version of the text that you are required to read,
import the text and have Kurzweil read it. However, its greatest drawback is that
scanning each page of text when reading a book is extremely time consuming and
takes a large amount of computer space. Therefore, my son finds that he does not
use the program as much as he would like to, due to this drawback. (Keppy Guberman,
Israel)
 •
• •
Clicker
4 - Clicker Writer is Clicker's talking word processor. You can type into
it just like any word processor. When you complete a sentence, the sentence is
spoken using one of the clear voices included. If you like, you can have each
word spoken as it is entered, or even each letter.
#
"With Clicker 4 the computer is set to read automatically as soon as a period/full
stop is used. This has been great in reinforcing the use of capital letters and
full stops. My son is able to check his work as he goes and edits immediately
instead of waiting until the end when he has forgotten what he has written. He
prefers the voice in this program as the other was more or less on one tone. He
is more able to independently find correct spellings and he is able to listen
to each word then select the one he needs. This is helping him to work with greater
independence and is building his confidence to try and complete a task."
(S. B-W, Somerset, UK)
# "When I took
S out to work with him we spent some time discussing “good” words to use for our
leaflet about the school. I helped him with some of the words because as a very
reluctant and struggling reader he hasn’t come across lots of exciting adjectives.
When we had a comprehensive list I spent a few minuets turning it into a user
friendly Clicker grid. I decided to use Clicker because you can create any grid
you want with any amount of words in it . You can also have graphics and or sounds
with the words. The child is encouraged to type small well known words but when
it comes to a longer word or one that is difficult to spell the child uses the
mouse to click on the word in the grid, this then appears next to the already
typed work. This works particularly well when the child is timid about using words
they are not too sure they know and are also very scared of spelling correctly.
When they click on the word the computer will speak it, so they know if it is
the word that they want or not. When the child has written a sentence the computer
will automatically read out loud what the child has written before they move on
to the next line/sentence. This program gave S the opportunity and satisfaction
to produce work of the same quality as his friends and with only a very marginal
amount of input from a adult. " (C.B., Surrey, UK)
 •
• • Dragon Naturally Speaking
- well reviewed program which turns your speech into writing on the screen! Highly
recommended for dyslexic teenagers and students: 'An invaluable program, which
I use every day. The more time you spend at the 'training stage' - reading chapters
of a book out loud - the better it works. Also, let it take a look at your 'My
Documents' folder, so that it can learn the kind of expressions you use a lot.
You are offered the option to do this during the training stage.' (John Bradford).
US
|
UK
 •
• IBM
ViaVoice is similar to Dragon Naturally Speaking, though less well reviewed.
ViaVoice Pro USB Edition, Release 10, includes a quality headset microphone with
USB adapter. REVIEW
-
USA | UK
•
 ReadPlease
- Free - "Shatters the myth that computers
must sound robotic and monotonous. Just imagine having web pages and e-mail read
aloud to you. If you are finding there is just too much on-screen reading with
all of this technology, then you will love using ReadPlease". •
HelpRead - Free
software that "reads along with you while you do the reading. Whether you’re
younger or older, new to reading or have your own library, this program should
be able to help you read more and understand more of what you read".  •
Write
Out Loud - easy-to-use word processor that gives immediate speech feedback
as students type words, sentences and paragraphs. As students draft their assignment,
they see and hear if their writing makes sense and if it is what they wanted to
say.
• WordQ
- a writing tool used along with standard Windows word processing software. It
uses advanced word prediction to suggest words for you to use and provides spoken
(text-to-speech) feedback.  •
PenFriend
- Supportive writing software featuring word prediction (predictive typing), on-screen
keyboards, screen-reader speech feedback, etc. Penfriend XP's core strength is
in predicting the next word you want to write. It does this using a dictionary
of known words, along with detailed knowledge of when they are likely to be used,
their grammatical type, words you have used before, and so on. Every time you
type a letter, it comes up with a new list of the most likely words which fit
your letters. Choosing one is a simple matter of pressing one more button, or
clicking on the word with the mouse. If you're not sure how to read it, you can
hear it spoken before you choose a word.
 •
WordQ2
- a software tool used along with standard writing software. It suggests words
for you to use and provides spoken feedback to help you find mistakes. Users of
all ages who have problems writing and editing can benefit from using WordQ. WordQ
was researched and developed at Bloorview MacMillan Children’s Centre, an internationally
renowned children’s rehabilitation hospital located in Toronto, Canada.
|
• •
•  'Web
Talkster' - talking browser - Almost free
to download - 'One of my students is more computer literate than I am. He just
loves his computers. I told him about the download for Web Talkster. He went home
and downloaded the program and started trying it out. He thinks it is the best
aid ever. He now can get a lot more out of the internet than he did before. He
uses it for everything from reading his email to even reading his assignments.
He worked out a way of importing his assignments into netscape so he can have
it read to him. He said that it took a little time to get used to the voice sound
but once he did he had no problems. This aid has made him more open to try other
aids such as using a tape recorder to get his ideas out as it takes a long time
to write them down he tends to forget what he wanted to write.' (Jacqueline Heaton,
NSW, Australia). More •
 BrowseAloud
- Free to download, "easy to use with control
over the voice, pitch and speed, Browsealoud is there when you need assistance
as you navigate the Web. Simply by scrolling your mouse over the text that you
want read to you, Browsealoud will read and speak what you require, helping you
navigate websites more easily". •
• •
Speegle
- Free talking search engine which will read your
search results out loud to you in a voice of your choice. Highly recommended.
• •
•  'AlphaSmart
- 'When JM found out what was required of him in Freshman English, he just about
shut down. That was when I introduced JM to as AlphaSmart. I explained how it
would work. Just turn is on and start typing, turn it off when you are finished—everything
is automatically saved as you type. With its built-in word processor, you can
write stories, make outlines, input data for spreadsheets, take notes and more,
then easily transfer to my computer or print directly to most printers in the
lab with a single keystroke. The AlphaSmart has eight files that make it easy
to organize your work. It is lightweight, portable and runs about 500 hours on
3 AA batteries. When you need to edit, or can transfer your work from the AlphaSmart
to the computer and change the font, spacing, etc. JM uses his AlphaSmart every
day and has a great attitude. He is looking forward to going to college now that
he found a tool that takes the pen/pencil away and has given him success.' (L.
L., Texas).
•
SURVEY
of teacher satisfaction with computer products - BECTA survey, January 2003
• •
• Better
Books Software - listing of software available for dyslexic learners (UK based).
 •
• •
Inspiration
- a program that is used to generate ideas for a topic in order to make an essay.
The program types a word – and you write another word associated with the first
word and another and it builds diagrams.
For
example let’s say you must write an essay about the “highway system”. It puts
these words in a box, then it branches out into another box, for example with
the words “ministry of transportation”, and another box - “roads”- “vehicles”
, each time branching out into more details.
Then
from the boxes, the program makes a list and extracts the list into headings,
then sub-headings and then bullet points. Eventually you have a summary of an
essay. Then you can put the bullet points into sentences and paragraphs.
This
program is very useful, when you don’t have an idea – it inspires you to one.
However, my son says that usually he has ideas and prefers to write them down
directly, and then organize his ideas rather than on a word by word basis.
Since
organization is a very weak point with many dyslexics, organizational programs
may be very helpful for them. Saving files on a computer in folders (with systematic
ways of searching for the files.) is a big advantage for dyslexics since they
don’t have pieces of paper that can be lost.
My
son has used some business programs such as “Visio”
by Microsoft which has templates for building diagrams and is useful to make maps,
and streets with pictorial explanations, not just boxes as in “Inspiration”. He
finds it very helpful in breaking down tasks and particularly helpful with organizing
topics in order to explain to other people. (Keppy
Guberman, Israel)
•
Quicktionary Reading Pen
- reads single words of text through an earphone, as well as providing a definition
on its small screen.
- 'My son's grandparents bought him the pen this year.
He is eight years old. He finds it difficult to use. When running the pen over
a word he sometimes misses out some of the letters and the word makes no sense.
Bieng dyslexsic he does not know that the word that he has scanned is wrong. You
have to be very accurate and this can take a long time. At his age I find it is
a bit too complicated for him. I might try using it again when he is older. I
hope this helps you.' (L.H.)'
 -
'I went to a workshop where the pen was being demonstrated. I was rather doubtful
before, but I liked the way the pen enlarged the letters of the word you wanted
to read (it has an inbuilt screen) you can then check the spelling if you are
doubtful of the pronunciation. Like everything else it requires an element of
handiness and practice. I would say from 10+ it could be used but you should consider
the child. Does he like to be independant therefore would appreciate using the
pen rather than asking for the odd word. Is he prepared to be patient when using
the pen and does he have reasonable dexterity to use it? Some suppliers will arrange
a day for adults or children to try out their products so maybe it's worthwhile
phoning round.' (Lori)
•
School
Zone - wide range of materials for pre-school to 4th grade. (Comments/reviews
welcome)  •
Lexia Learning Systems
- software to help children and adults learn to read, especially those who have
had trouble learning in the past. 'Phonics Based Reading , designed for students
in Grade K - 3, provides hundreds of exercises to create a comprehensive early
reading program at a level accessible to younger children. Clear natural voices,
engaging activities and a quiet, focused environment provide a good environment
for learning crucial reading skills.' (Comments/reviews
welcome) •
GAMZ - mixture of software
products for dyslexic children/students. (Comments/reviews
welcome) •
Rocky Mountain Learning Systems
- Originally designed for use by reading specialists as a therapeutic system for
children and adults with severe reading deficits. Is claimed to be extremely successful
with students with dyslexia, learning disabilities, Title I, and other learning
challenges. It uses a phonemic (sound/symbol) approach addressing all learning
styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic, and is based on the Orton-Gillingham
method. Words and sounds are seen, heard, written, and even spoken and recorded
by the student, thereby using the sensory modalities to their maximum benefit
for brain processing and memory retention. (Comments/reviews
welcome)  •
TextEase -
versatile and powerful program with word processing, desktop publishing and multimedia
capabilities all in one. Suitable for all writing and publishing tasks at school
and at home, its ease of use and flexibility make it as ideal for young children
as it is for adults.
'I found that the spellchecker using TextEase worked
really well and was much more beneficial to the child. It automatically highlighted
incorrect words in grey. Then if he pressed the ABC button a list of words appeared.
The great thing about this program was that if the child finds reading any word
difficult, all they have to do is highlight it and press the red mouth and it
tells you what the word says. With this I can let the child correct his own work
due to the word being read out'. (C.B., Notts, UK) (More
comments/reviews welcome)
•
SuccessMaker - SuccessMaker
Internet delivers eight courses for children in math and reading/language arts,
with assessment of progess. 'SuccessMaker is an integrated learning package that
allows us to set challenging levels and also means that the student is able to
benefit from ‘hearing, seeing and doing’ as the basis of their learning. One of
the advantages is the reports that are generated which can provide almost instant
feedback to the teacher and the student. Pupils need to know how they are progressing
on a regular basis.' (P.H., Wolverhampton, UK) •
KeyStone
SpeechMaster - specifically designed to integrate voice recognition technology
seamlessly with a text-to-speech screen reader, homophone checker and advanced
spelling checker. SpeechMaster is a robust bundled product, comprising KeyStone
ScreenSpeaker and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred software. KeyStone SpeechMaster
gives people with limited writing skills the vital confidence to produce accurate
text after just a few hours. •
KeyStone
ScreenSpeaker - gives assistance in the use of Microsoft Word™ to create documents
without relying on a computer monitor. A user can listen to their work being spoken
back while the text is being typed. Any mistakes can be quickly found and corrected
using advanced spelling and homophone checkers, while the work is being created
or after it has been completed.
WEBSITES
WITH CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES•
Time
Table Rhyme - math/s
tables testing activity - automatically marked. •
www.multiplication.com
- range of math/s games and activities.
| Spread the word about any other books or software
that you know of. Go to our Discussion
Board now and pass it on! Remember - this is your website! |
|
•
