August+2009+Newsletter

Appropriate & Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM)

Students with disabilities who cannot read standard print effectively and are unable to meet grade level standards in reading fluency due to a disability require appropriate and accessible instructional materials to participate in and progress in the general curriculum. Teachers and schools should review the content, structure, and the presentation/media of any instructional materials to ensure they meet the individual needs of the student as well as curriculum objectives.

Fry’s Readability Graph - HYPERLINK "http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/fry/fry.html" __http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/fry/fry.html__. resources from Kathy Schrock on tools to determine the readability level of a body of text Readability Calculator - HYPERLINK "http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php" __http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php__. just paste in text to get a reading level Kids Search tools - HYPERLINK "http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm" __http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm__. single page with a variety of search tools for students KidsClick! - HYPERLINK "http://www.kidsclick.org/" __http://www.kidsclick.org/__. the advanced search includes searching by reading level netTrekker d.i. - HYPERLINK "http://ntdi.nettrekker.com/" __http://ntdi.nettrekker.com/__. previewed web search engine, including filtering by readability and state standards. includes text-to-speech features so web pages can be read aloud Scholastic BookWizard - HYPERLINK "http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do" __http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do__. search engine for scholastic books by interest, reading level, etc. Start-to-Finish Books - HYPERLINK "http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/index.html" __http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/index.html__. middle and high school (5-12) subjects written at the 1.5 to 5.5 grade reading levels. available in printed books, computer based books, and audio books Sunlink - HYPERLINK "http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/" __http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/__. search for books in Florida media centers by a variety of filters, including subject, reading level, and language
 * Content Resources**

WORD AutoSummarize Tool - HYPERLINK "http://word.tips.net/Pages/T001809_Creating_an_Executive_Summary.html" __http://word.tips.net/Pages/T001809_Creating_an_Executive_Summary.html__. Microsoft WORD tool to quickly reduce the amount of text or add visual structure Read:OutLoud - HYPERLINK "http://www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud/index.html" __http://www.donjohnston.com/products/read_outloud/index.html__. includes highlighting tools that move the highlighted text to a separate area (**//see illustration//**). works with a wide variety of file formats and includes a built in web browser. additional templates to support restructuring text and reading comprehension are available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/rol_guides/index.html" __http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/rol_guides/index.html__ Read and Write Gold 8.1 - HYPERLINK "http://www.texthelp.com/" __http://www.texthelp.com/__. a suite of tools that float above open programs, allowing it to be used with web browsers, word processors, pdf files, etc.; features include highlight/extraction and autosummarize tools ReadingMadeEZ Talking Word Processor - HYPERLINK "http://www.readingmadeez.com/products/TalkingWordProcessor-Features.html" __http://www.readingmadeez.com/products/TalkingWordProcessor-Features.html__. includes highlight/extraction tools and autosummarize tools Creating PowerPoint Books - HYPERLINK "http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/Tutorials/talkingBooks/powerpoint.php" __http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/Tutorials/talkingBooks/powerpoint.php__. instructions and template for making PPT books PowerTalk - HYPERLINK "http://fullmeasure.co.uk/PowerTalk/" __http://fullmeasure.co.uk/PowerTalk/__. an add-on utility to create talking PowerPoint books and presentations Talking PowerPoint Template - HYPERLINK "http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/make_a_book.zip" __http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/make_a_book.zip__. uses visual basic to read aloud any text in the notes section. instructions are on the last slide
 * Structure Resources**

Accessible Book Collection - HYPERLINK "http://accessiblebookcollection.org/" __http://accessiblebookcollection.org/__. a digital book resource Lit 2 Go - HYPERLINK "http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/" __http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/__. collection of literature in mp3 format Florida Electronic Library - HYPERLINK "http://www.flelibrary.org/index.cfm" __http://www.flelibrary.org/index.cfm__. digital magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, and books Learning Through Listening - HYPERLINK "http://www.rfbd.org/" __http://www.rfbd.org/__. accessible audio book library for students with disabilities gh Player and example Daisy Books - HYPERLINK "http://www.gh-accessibility.com/store/download.php" __http://www.gh-accessibility.com/store/download.php__ Bookshare.org - HYPERLINK "http://www.bookshare.org/web/Welcome.html" __http://www.bookshare.org/web/Welcome.html__ - free digital library for all qualifying students in the U.S. Tar Hill Reader - HYPERLINK "http://tarheelreader.org/" __http://tarheelreader.org/__. collection of free, easy-to-read accessible books OmniForm - HYPERLINK "http://www.nuance.com/omniform/" __http://www.nuance.com/omniform/__. great for scanning printed worksheets and forms into an electronic format
 * Presentation/Media Resources**