Andy



T2S project Tools: native T2s textEdit Students will set up their own t2s native systems on their macs, learn to use it in conjunction with a card catalog lesson, learn to use text edit, be able to access an internet article on explorers, read it using native T2S and take notes using TextEdit. Students will then be able to transfer those notes into a mini report.

__**Native t2s mini lesson: (done)**__ Have kids set their t2s preference and command in system preferences, speech. Show how it can be used for reading library options and card catalog, Let them practice with t2s on everything they read on the computer during library class that day. __**TextEdit mini lesson:**__ Have an “about me” template prepared using text edit that is saved in handouts. Have students drag template onto desktop and rename (their name) about me and have them answer questions then send to my drop box. Encourage them to use the reader if they wish to and ask them to use the tool to check their answers to make sure they make sense. __**Text edit mini lesson 2:**__ Send kids to: __http://www.multcolib.org/homework/alphaexp.html__ Have them open a TextEdit doc, Show how to highlight, copy and past notes of interest. Have students “read” the article using t2s, copy and paste a few interesting facts, re-write in their own words, save as “theirname textedit2” and send to me using the drop box. __**Real Research:**__ Students choose a topic. Open a text doc. Write down in text doc. a list of things you want to learn about that topic. Search for a relevant site and start to take notes, pasting under each approopriate heading on the list.

Andy, I'm glad we got to work together today. It was important that there was an opportunity to share our blog project - like coming full circle. Also, it was great to have the opportunity to get to know you a bit better. I'm looking forward to making the Teachers Who Write conference a priority for next spring. Pat  __**Random Thoughts on July 13 readings **__

1. The other day one of our teachers posted a link to the YouTube video that Jane showed us last year in the 2.0 class: The Sony promotional "Did You Know" clip. Worth watching!!! Here's the address if you need a reminder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY What's stunning to me about this clip is how fast things change and how that change is aided by technological "advances".

**Our kids learns in a whole different way that we did because of what is available to them.** 

2. Technology not only opens up the whole field of information, it also equalizes access. Now, students with learning disabilities can be on the same playing field as everyone else. And that playing field is so much vaster that ours was (in the olden days). 3. While I was reading/listening to the article, I was also able to take notes in a more efficient way without having to stop the flow of information. I liked this. 4. technology helps differentiation. Students can make text larger/smaller, slower, stop and start, have words defined... without the whole class stopping. 5. Smart boards can put class notes onto the computer and they then then be accessed through TTS for learning impaired students. 6. __**ISOLATION??? **__I wonder if learning with headphones on makes people feel more isolated. there's something about a group lesson that head people gather energy, share ideas, thinking out loud. When we listen on our own, the world is that much smaller. 7. I LOVE the read back idea for teaching writing. I'm always asking students to do that, but they never do. Now, it might be fun for them to hear what they have written, not to mention instructive and, perhaps...a little enlightening?



July 14 reading on Fluency
=Reading Fluency = By: N. Mather and Sam Goldstein (2001)

So... first I had to get past my "reader's" voice and the mispronounciations and the constant and niggling thought that this "reader" was NOT fluent. But after a bit I was able to sink into the meat of the article. Although I don't teach reading, formally, it was interesting to hear about some techniques for improving fluency and speed. I was a little disappointed, though, to note that the article was written in 2001 and that some of the studies and techniques listed were from the 80's. Tape recorders!!! Oh my. I'm reminded that the ten best ways to make a better reader are read,read,read,read,read,read,read,read,read,read. This was addressed in the concept of re-reading and the suggestion that when children tested out with better scores it may have been because they were given more time to read. Practice is what makes us better. This t2s tool we are learning is a way to make reading practice more fun for poor readers. It's also a more modern method of taping books and using fingers to point to the words as you read. It's taken what was proven to be a useful tool in the 80's and made it fit with the technology we have today.

 July 15

=Thoughts about today's readings on Fluency =  It was interesting to read/hear about the mechanics of testing for fluency. And taking the test was a bit of a shock. Even as a good reader, I was nervous. The kids must feel worse, especially of their reading skills are poor. One thing that can't be ignored is the notion of "experience". Without experiences, kids are going to have poor vocabulary, and even if they can decode effortlessly, they might not understand what they are reading. In addition, there are some ideas that are so foreign that even though the spelling and reading of the word might be easy, without adequate background knowledge, the student will be lost. For example, I had a student a few years back who was trying to read The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman, a novel set in medieval times. On the first page there was a reference to a steaming dung heap (or pile of manure). This student was absolutely stuck. She couldn't imagine what on earth a dung hee-ap ( her phoenetic pronounciation) was. Later on, that same student couldn't read the word mule, because she had no idea what it was. Donkey or ass, were familiar, but not mule. She kept reading it as mu-lay. This student was from a family in poverty and money wasn't the only thing lacking. Families such as hers were also starved for experiences and for vocabulary to describe these experiences. At Oak Grove we've been working with Sue Biggam and with several texts by Allington and know the importance of making connections to readings, having kids pose before during and after questions, and increasing the vocabulary base. I think these should be in the toolkit along with listening while reading, following with your finger, re-reading, and reading out loud. Finally, I was glad to get definitions for acronyms I had been hearing (see below). While "reading" the two articles in class today, I used a multi tiered approach. I put the Ghost reader to work while I scanned the original article which I had opened by the side of the ghost reader window.( I discovered this technique yesterday while exploring the San Diego Zoo site and found I could enjoy the graphics while allowing the reader to read the text.) My technique for finding the definitions was to scan for the key words, stop the "reader", highlight the new selection I wanted to hear, then copy and paste the notes into my text editor. This did not allow me to read either of the whole articles, but gave me a good idea what they were about and allowed me to zero in on my target. The one thing that I can't yet grasp, is how I would do this if I were a student with a reading disability. How would I skim/scan using only the t2s program? __**DEFINITIONS **__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">CMB - curriculum based measurement **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">ORF - oral reading fluency **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">IRI's - Informal reading inventories **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">fluency/automaticity - " ** **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">the ability of readers to decode words accurately in text with minimal use of attentional resources" **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">WCPM -words read correctly per minute **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">fluency rubric -" student reads a grade appropriate passage and rater listens for 60 seconds or less ** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">At the end of the listening period, the teacher consults the rubric and assigns a score that most closely aligns with the student’s reading. In using a rubric, teachers and other raters need to share a well-established sense of what constitutes appropriate phrasing and expressiveness in reading for their assigned grade level. The use of such rubrics can assist teachers in coaching students to higher levels of interpretive reading. Rubrics can also help students develop a greater internalized (metacognitive) awareness of their ability to interpret text orally and to guide their development in oral interpretive reading" **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">prosidy the ability to appropriately use phrasing and expression **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Multidimensional Fluency Scale ** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">– "one dimension stresses the importance of accuracy in word decoding, a second dimension focuses on quick and automatic recognition of words in connected text, and a third dimension stresses expressive and meaningful interpretation of text. These dimensions are related to one another – accurate and automatic reading creates the conditions for expressive reading. All three are important for effective comprehension and overall good reading. All must be taught, and all must be monitored." **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">NAEP -Natuonal Assessment of Educational Progress
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">repeated reading - students read passages aloud several times and gets guidance and feedback from the teacher. **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">monitored oral reading - keeping track of students oral reading **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">modeling fluent reading - reading out loud to students from a text where they can see the words while you point to the words **