FarFaria app for iPad: The Netflix/Hulu for kids books

A while back someone told me about a new iPad app called FarFaria.  It has been described by some reviewers as "A Netflix (or Hulu) for children's stories". I just recently got around to downloading it and playing with it a bit and there are some things I definitely like about it.  The app is free to download, but, in order to actually use most of the books, you must pay a $3.99/month subscription fee (roughly $48/year).  You do get to try it for free for 30 days.

  Some of the things I like about this app is that there is a wide selection of books in the Preschool to 2nd grade range.  The books are high quality, and many books come with a "read to me" feature that will read the book in high quality, pre-recorded human narration.  All of the books are developed specifically for the app, so you can't find your favorites from Barnes and Noble or the public library here, but most of the books are still very good.  This app is easy enough to use that a child could operate it independently, which would be great for self selected reading time in school and at home.  If you are willing to spend a little less than $50 a year for children's books, then this app might be for you. 

For a more in depth review of the app, check out this link.

A Literacy based lesson plan for students with severe disabilities

At the recent UATT conference, we had the change to attend a presentation from an SLP and music therapist from the Hartvigsen School in the Granite District in Utah.  They demonstrated a very well planned and executed lesson to teach students with severe disabilities a wide range of important skills in a brief (30-45 minutes) time period using AT, AAC, music, Core Vocabulary, and much more.  I really was impressed with how much thought went into the lesson, and how they were able to target important skills such as:

• Social reciprocity (greetings, farewells, conversations, etc.)
• Communication (including AAC for nonverbal students)
• Vocabulary
• Literacy
• Following 1 and 2 step directions
• Turn Taking
• Sensory/Tactile experiences
• Cause and Effect
• Civil Rights awareness
• and more!

The entire lesson was based on reading a nonfiction book about Martin Luther King Jr. They had carefully planned selected vocabulary and activities for each page of the story. While they included a lot of music into their lesson, you don't necessarily have to do so.  You also don't have to be a trained Music Therapist to teach a lesson like this.  I think a thoughtful teacher could use their lesson plan as a template to design any lesson to target the same skills with a literature based approach.  You can access a copy of their lesson plan by clicking here.

Why I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Bookshare

I had an experience the other day that helped me remember why I love teaching, and especially why I love working with struggling readers.  I was visiting an 8-9th grade school, and one of the students that I had taught in 6th and 7th grade came up to me and asked if I could help him download some more ebooks from Bookshare on his laptop.

Here is a little bit of background on this student:  He is a very bright guy who really struggles with reading, but wants to read the same popular novels that everyone else is reading.  He is one of the very first students that we signed up for Bookshare several years ago. I'll never forget the look on his face, when, as a sixth grader, he learned he could read Harry Potter all by himself with the help of an electronic device. That is what got me so excited about Bookshare back then, and still one of the main reasons why I'm excited about it to this day.

This was all reaffirmed to me the other day when I helped him and his teacher download Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief from Bookshare onto his laptop. As soon as the book was loaded on his laptop, he sat down, got out his headphones, and instantly became absorbed in the book. No one else in the room existed to him at that moment, except for the characters in the book. That is the power of a great book, and one of the incredibly rich life experiences that many students with reading disabilities miss out on.

That is why I am so excited when I see a teacher or student become interested Bookshare. Because I know the world that the technology can open up for students.  To me, it breaks down barriers to education, enlightenment, personal growth and fulfillment that comes from finally having access to the world of great literature.  For more information about Bookshare, check out www.bookshare.org, or this post I wrote about Bookshare.

Bookshare- Free Digital Accessible Books for Students with Disabilities

I count my ability to read as one of the greatest joys and blessings in my life.  Reading provides me with opportunities to learn, think, escape, relax, and grow.  Sadly, there are people who cannot fully enjoy reading due to visual, physical, and learning disabilities.  That is why I love to tell people about a resource for free accessible books called Bookshare.  Here is a description of what Bookshare is, taken from their website (www.bookshare.org):

Bookshare® is an online library of digital books for people with print disabilities. It operates under an exception to U.S. copyright law which allows copyrighted digital books to be made available to people with qualifying disabilities. In addition, many publishers and authors have volunteered to provide Bookshare with access to their works. By requiring individuals to register as Members and provide a Proof of Disability, Bookshare ensures that only qualified individuals use the service.

Bookshare Members download books, textbooks and newspapers in a compressed, encrypted file. They then read the material using adaptive technology, typically software that reads the book aloud (text-to-speech) and/or displays the text of the book on a computer screen, or Braille access devices, such as refreshable Braille displays.

Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students

Bookshare opens the door to the enjoyment of reading for people who cannot otherwise access text because of disability.  In order to qualify for a free bookshare account, a person must be a student (K-12 or higher ed) with a qualifying disability.  Students can qualify in one of three ways:

1) be unable to see a book because of blindness or low vision

2) be unable to hold a book or turn pages because of a physical disability

3) be unable to read a book because of a learning or reading disability.  For more info on who qualifies, click here:

  

  They can then qualify for a organizational membership through a participating school and/or an individual membership.  Members who already have an organizational membership simply need to send in a form to bookshare to request an individual membership.  For more info on membership options, click here

 Over the next little while, I am going to work on producing some simple tutorials as a resource to download books from bookshare.org and read them using assistive technology.  So stay tuned and please check out www.bookshare.org for more info!

Multimedia talking books using PowerPoint

The following is a tutorial created by Kristie Stapler from the Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative.  It is a great step by step walk-through of how to create an engaging and accessible book using Microsoft PowerPoint 2003.  

Note: If you use PowerPoint 2007 or 2010, the concept will be similar, but the commands may be labeled differently or found in different location in the program.

Creating Talking Books with PowerPoint

A.  Create a Folder

1.     Create a folder on the computer to save your talking book files.

B.  Scan or create your Pictures

1.     Scan or create your pictures for your talking book and save to folder.

C.  Create a Talking Book Template

Create a talking book template that you can use with all of your talking books.

1. Open PowerPoint.  It should open to a blank slide.  If not select File-New and select Blank Presentation.
2. Choose the blank page layout and click Ok.
3. Add a forward page turning arrow by selecting the Slideshow menu and click Action Buttons.
4. Click on the Forward Arrow.  The cursor will change to a small cross.  Position this cross at the bottom right hand corner of the page and click and hold the left mouse button.  Drag mouse to draw the button.  Release the mouse button.  Resize forward arrow if needed.
5. Add a Back Arrow following the directions in step 4.
6. Add a page turning effect by clicking on Slideshow – Slide Transition.  Choose a transition effect and click Apply to all slides.
7. Save the slide as a template.  Click File-Save As.  When the dialog box opens, click in File Name and type “Talking Book Template”.  In Save as type: choose Design Template.  Click Save.

D.  Create Blank Pages

1.     Create blank pages for your book by clicking on Insert menu, then Duplicate Slide. Repeat until you have the required number of blank pages (slides) for your book.

E.   Add Pictures

Click on the first slide.  To add a picture to your slide, click on the Insert menu, then Picture, then From File and choose a picture that you have previously scanned or created.

1.     Insert the picture on the page.  Reposition and/or resize the picture on the page by clicking and dragging on the corners of the picture frame.

F.  Add Symbols/Text

1.     Adding Symbols:  Open your symbol processor and type your sentence. (examples of Symbol processors are Writing with Symbols, Inclusive Writer, Clicker, Intellipics)

2.    Make your sentence large enough but not larger than the computer screen.

3.    Remove the cursor from the screen by hitting the Return key.

4.    Copy the image by pressing the Print Screen button located at the top right of the keyboard.  Usually labeled as PrtScr or Print Scrn.  The image has been copied to the clipboard and is ready to paste into your PowerPoint.

5.    Click back to the PowerPoint where you want the symbol sentence to be.  Choose Paste from the Edit menu.  The screen image will appear on the page. 

6.    The image will be large and needs to be cropped.  Click on the image to get the Picture Toolbar.  (If you do not have the toolbar, click on View-Toolbar-Picture)

7.    Choose the Crop tool from the Picture toolbar. Move the mouse to the edge of your image.  Hold down the left mouse button and crop the image by dragging a corner or side inwards and release.  Continue to crop the image until the desired image has been created.

8.    The image may need to be resized or repositioned.

G.  Add Sound to the Page

1.     Before adding sound to the pages, make sure the microphone is connected to the computer and it is working.  (You can test the microphone by going to Start-Accessories-Entertainment-Sound Recorder and recording a voice test.)

2.    You must also change a setting within PowerPoint.  This allows you to create larger sound files and they will stay within your PowerPoint book.  (This makes it easier to move from computer to computer.)

3.    In PowerPoint, Click on Tools, then Options.  In the popup window click on the General tab.  Click on the Link sounds with files greater than box and type in 50000.  This will ensure that all sound files are included when you save your talking book.

4.    To add sound, click on the Insert menu, then Movies and Sounds and then click on Record Sounds.

5.    Click  in the Name box and rename this sound file. (ex: give more information than slide 1)

6.    Click on the Red Record button and speak the page text into the microphone.  Click Stop when you are finished recording the sound.

7.    Click Ok.

8.    A loud speaker will appear in the middle of your page. This can be positioned anywhere on the slide.

9.    This completes the first page of your talking book.  Click on the next slide and follow the directions in steps E - G.

BOOK OPTIONS

   I.   Automate The Sound On Each Page

a.    Click on the Speaker to select it.  Choose Slideshow menu, then Custom Animations.  To play the sound or movie automatically, click Start With Previous.

 II.   Use Forward And Back Buttons

a.    To set up the show, click on the Slideshow menu, then Set Up Show.  Click Browsed at a kiosk (full screen).  Then Ok.

III.   Combine A Page Turn With Speech

a.    You can set PowerPoint to turn the page and speak the text using a single mouse or switch press.

b.    Click on the Slideshow menu, then Slide Transition.  Click on the Sound box where all your sound files are located.  Choose the right sound for that page and click on Apply, not Apply To All.  Do this for each page.

c.    The cursor must be placed over the forward arrow to allow for switch access.

IV.   Add A Time Delay To A Page Turn

a.    Another modification is to give the forward arrow a time delay.  This prevents students making multiple or rapid presses that would otherwise make the pages turn quickly.

b.    Click on the Forward Button.  Click on Slideshow, then Custom Animations. 

c.    Click on Add Effect.  Choose Appear. Click on the Down Arrow next to the action button in the Animation Window.

d.    Choose Timing.  In the Delay box set time to 2 seconds.  Timing may need to be adjusted according to student.  Click Ok.