Candidate Literacy Project II-Assistive Technology Application

This is a sample candidate literacy project for a student with significant disabilities who uses assistive technology to communicate and to participate in literacy lessons. The candidate incorporated use of various assitive technology (Go Talk 9, Big Mack Switch, use of digital text and creation of PowerPoint books) throughout her literacy lessons.

See attachments below for accompanying assitive technology instructional materials.

Sample Candidate Literacy Project

Assisitve Technology Applications

Rationale

When I began working with Adam, I quickly realized that he had so much potential in reading; more than I had originally anticipated. I began this practicum by observing and then slowing working my way into lessons. Through my observations and reading his IEP I discovered that he was working on his letters and sounds, and very few sight words. Although he is not yet reading sentences, he's getting there, but I wondered if he could do more. Due to his physical and communication limitations it is a challenge to get him reading, but there are ways.

I chose to build on what he had been learning in his program. We worked with the sight words he knows, plus a few more that I felt he could learn quickly, and he did! I also gave him the opportunity to actually hold a book and be engaged in it, rather than just being allowed to look at the pictures. I worked with the speech pathologist and borrowed her Big Mac many times to allow him to read parts of books by using the switch; he loved it! I created sight word cards with not only the words on them, but also pictures, and put a light blue background in the background to help him with his visual needs. I also added some comprehension questions at the end of reading to assess him in this area, which I had not seen done before. I knew that the questions would be very basic, but had confidence that he could do it, and I was right. He really enjoyed the lessons I taught him, and I hope that I have showed his teachers that he has so much more potential and they continue pushing him to reach his potential.

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STRUCTURED SHARED READING LESSON PLAN

STUDENT: Adam      BOOK: What Time is it Mr. Crocodile by Judy Sierra

Some relevant student characteristics

Adam is a happy first grade student, who loves to read books. He has Cerebral Palsy and Cortical Visual Impairment which affects his ability to retain information at times. He is legally blind and requires books with large text and pictures. Due to his physical impairments he has difficulty grasping items, turning pages, and writing, among other fine and large motor skills. Adam also uses speaking devices since he does not verbally communicate his wants and needs at this time. Adam is able to answer yes/no questions with verbal prompts, for example, "Yes or no Adam, do you like bananas?" This lets him know what he is expected to answer. At this time, he is able to recognize all lower case alphabet letters and sounds, and is working on recognizing upper case letters. He is also able to recognize some basic sight words such as, see, I, me, my, a, and go. When asked, and at times given verbal and physical prompts to point, Adam will point to an object on a page in the story.

Some sample Reading Lesson Objectives for this/ these student:

1.) Adam will be able to participate while reading the book What Time is it Mr. Crocodile by activating a Big Mac Switch to read the repetitive line.

2.) Adam will be able to engage in the story by pointing to pictures and responding to questions when prompted.

3.) Adam will be able to identify beginning sounds for the words, monkey, crocodile and banana by placing post-its with this letter written on them underneath the correct picture.

4.)  Adam will be able to identify whether or not he enjoyed the story by bingo stamping a picture with verbal prompts and physical assistance to use the bingo stamp.

• Book Intro

*Adam has previously read this story with me, but not while using the Big Mac Switch. I had engaged him in a picture walk prior to this reading.

1.) Allow Adam to activate the switch so he is able to hear the recording prior to reading.

2.) Before reading, I will introduce the book to Adam saying reminding him that it is a book about a Crocodile who makes plans during the day to eat monkeys.

3.) Ask Adam if he would eat a monkey by saying, "yes or no Adam, would you ever eat a monkey?"

4.)  Tell Adam we are going to read and find out if the crocodile eats the monkey.

• Support during reading

1.)   While reading, I will prompt Adam to turn the pages himself.

2.)   After turning each page, Adam will activate the Big Mac Switch reading the line, "What time is it Mr. Crocodile?" He will be prompted and given wait time to do this if needed.

3.)   With physical prompts, Adam will use his "reading finger" to follow the text from left to right.

4.)   I will ask Adam to point to objects within the pictures or point to body parts that are mentioned (I.E. head).

• Discussion

Prior to reading, I will ask questions to prepare him for reading such as, "This is a book about a crocodile wanting to cook up some monkeys and eat them for dinner, would you ever eat a monkey? I will ask Adam if he is ready to read the book.  During reading, I will ask questions to keep him engaged, such as point to the crocodile, point to the moon; can you show me your head? Do you like bananas? Do you have friends? After reading the book, I will ask Adam if he enjoyed the book by saying, "Adam did you like the book yes or no?"

• Writing Connection

Using Boardmaker, I have created a sheet that will allow Adam to identify beginning letter sounds for the words, monkey, crocodile and banana. Given a choice of two letters, Adam will choose which letter each word starts with by choosing the correct post it and placing it (with physical assistance) underneath the correct picture.  With physical prompting, Adam will write his name on this paper as I say each letter to him.

I have also created a note home to Adam's parents telling them about the book we have read and inviting them to read it at home with him. Part of the note includes three choices as to how Adam liked the book (I loved it, I liked it, or I didn't like it at all). Adam will read the letter with me by using his reading finger, and will also sign his name at the bottom of the letter.

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Structured Shared Reading Lesson Reflection

As I was deciding to do a lesson with Adam, I decided on a shared reading lesson that would allow him to participate by using a Big Mac switch. The school had a book fair a few weeks ago and I bought a book, What Time is it Mr. Crocodile ; I thought would be perfect for him because the print was large enough and the pictures were as well.  I chose to read the book with Adam a few times before writing a lesson with him to be sure it was something he was interested in and could see well; luckily Adam loves the book.

Due to his disability, Adam struggles with writing, turning pages, and holding the book; he also needs things to be on a slant which allows him to view the pictures. After teaching the lesson, I feel that it went pretty well and I did everything I had hoped for.

I was very comfortable while teaching the lesson, but also realized that I should have chosen a book that had more predictable text. The line "What time is a Mr. Crocodile" was on every page and was said immediately after turning the page, but the text that came before the repetitive line was not always the same. If I had thought of it I would have chosen a book that said something predictable; for example, "The monkeys said, what time is it Mr. Crocodile?" This way, Adam would have heard "the monkeys said" which would have been his cue to hit the Big Mac switch. Once I realized this was a problem, I became a bit uncomfortable knowing that I was going to have to give him more prompts that hoped for. Regardless of becoming a bit uncomfortable for this reason, overall, the fluency and pacing of the lesson I thought went well.

Adam's special educator asked me to use the other special education room, which was empty,  for the lesson because she had some things going on in the room that could have possibly been a distraction to the lesson; therefore there were not any other students in the room. My role for this particular shared reading lesson was to read every other page while Adam read the repetitive line. I tried not to give him any prompts to do so, but as I said before, he needed more than I had hoped because there was no reoccurring text that cued him to say his line. I also assisted him in turning the pages, but found that he is getting to be pretty good at doing so himself! He is reaching for the page fluffers and doing much better at turning the page slowly so he doesn't rip the book. I was proud of him! I gave reinforcements throughout the book which I have found really encourage Adam to continue doing well.

Overall, Adam responded very well to the lesson. Unfortunately he had seemed much more excited to do the lesson the first time. We began the lesson around 9:00, but because the speech teacher had schedule changes, she came in unexpectedly and took Adam so we had to stop. When he came back he was still willing and ready to read, but did not seem as excited to read the book, I think he was thrown off by having to stop the lesson to leave. For the most part Adam actively participated, but toward the end I could see he was beginning to get tired and seemed to participate more passively, by putting his head down on the book, saying "No!" to questions asked and needing more prompts to read his line.

For the month or so that I have been working with Adam I have done many literacy lessons with him and have always had him turn his own pages, which I don't think he gets the opportunity to do often. Allowing him to turn his own pages keeps him actively engaged and I think he enjoys being allowed to participate in ways that most kids get the opportunity to. I also liked the letter home. Adam got very excited when I said we were going to send a not home! He always enjoys hearing and talking about his mom and dad. I was worried that he was going to choose that he didn't like the book at first because he seemed as though he was leaning that way. Once I repeated the choices of how he liked the book, he chose that he loved it. Adam likes to press buttons and loves using the bingo stamp, and wanted to stamp all of the pictures, but I still think it's a good idea to get him used to using things like this. The only thing that I would do differently in a shared reading lesson of this kind would be to choose a book that allows him to predict the repetitive line.  I would also like to experiment with different extensions. I would consider a put and paste with letter sounds or rhyming words. Overall I think the lesson went well and look forward to doing more, possibly some sort of guided reading lesson with him.

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STRUCTURED SHARED READING LESSON PLAN

STUDENT: Adam         BOOK: The Box by Jessica Martens (PowerPoint)

Some relevant student information:

Adam is a happy first grade student, who loves to read books. He has Cerebral Palsy and Cortical Visual Impairment which affects his ability to retain information at times. He is legally blind and requires books with large text and pictures. Due to his physical impairments he has difficulty grasping items, turning pages, and writing, among other fine and large motor skills. Adam also uses speaking devices since he does not verbally communicate his wants and needs at this time. Adam is able to answer yes/no questions with verbal prompts, for example, "Yes or no Adam, do you like teddy bears?" This lets him know what he is expected to answer. At this time, he is able to recognize all lower case alphabet letters and sounds, and is working on recognizing upper case letters. He is also able to recognize some basic sight words such as, see, I, me, my, a, and go. When asked, and at times given verbal and physical prompts to point, Adam will point to an object on a page in the story.

Some sample Reading Lesson Objectives for this/ these student(s):

*Adam will be able to read and follow along with a PowerPoint book that uses print to speech.

*Adam will turn the pages at an appropriate time using the mouse.

*Adam will be able to answer comprehension questions by placing the correct picture/word underneath the question after it is read to him.

*Adam will decide whether or not he enjoyed reading the book by completing a note home using a bingo stamp.

• Book Intro

*Begin by practice with sight words. These sight word cards also have pictures on them and most may be new to Adam. This activity serves as word work and are also some words he will see in the reading.

Prior to reading, I will tell Adam he is going to read a book about a person who gets a box in the mail. Inside the box there is something blue and he is going to read and find out what it is. We will read/listen to the book almost all the way through; we will stop reading right before we find out what is in the box. I will prompt Adam to point to what he thinks is in the box by having three pictures. One of the teddy bear, of a blue heart, and one of a blue smiley face. Adam will point to what he thinks is in the box and I will tell him we are going to read from the beginning to find out. This will provide him with the opportunity to begin making predictions.

• Support during reading

With minimal prompts, Adam will read through the book independently (after the book intro), turning the pages at appropriate times and staying engaged in the book. If he begins to turn the page before it is read, I will verbally or physically prompt him when to turn the page. I would like to see Adam read the book as independently as possible. I will stand back and watch him and only give prompts as needed.

• Discussion (What will you say/ask to have a CONVERSATION about the book?)

Prior to reading, Adam will make a prediction as to what he believes is in the box. After reading, Adam will decide if he liked or disliked the book by using a bingo stamp to make his decision.  He will do this in a letter being sent home to his parents.

• Writing Connection

After reading, Adam will complete a worksheet involving comprehension questions. I will read the question to him and give him three choices for the answer. Adam will choose the picture/word that is the correct choice and place it in the box with minimal physical/verbal prompts.

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Shared reading (PowerPoint) reflection

Today I taught a shared reading lesson to Adam, and think that it went very well.

I am working on giving him more independence and not as many prompts, just to see what will happen. Things are going well. I implemented the lesson just as planned, and I think that Adam really enjoyed the lesson.

I wanted to give Adam some sight word cards to read, since it is rarely done for him, and I believe he can do it. This lesson had the potential of not going well because it was right after a week's break, and he was just getting back into the swing of things. I started the lesson feeling very comfortable, knowing, I was going to let him read the book himself, and it was possible things would go poorly because of the break. However, things went extremely well, Austin did great! He was very engaged in the book, and did a pretty good job on the comprehension questions. The only part that made me feel uncomfortable and didn't exactly go as planned was reading the sight words. I gave Austin a choice of two sight words. I made sure to tell him what each word was, and then asked him to give me one. He got the first word right, but then began to fall apart a little bit. I am not sure if it was because the words were on cards, rather than on his Go Talk (where they usually are) or because he has never seen the words and pictures together or possibly because of the long break. I quickly realized that he was becoming frustrated, and decided to only give him a few sight words and move on. He did great while reading the PowerPoint book. He was very engaged, and was saying "no" along with the text to speech. Adam would have read that book over and over if possible!

The lesson took place in the special education room. We were the only ones in there, mainly because if some of the other students see a computer being used, they tend not to be able to focus. As I mentioned, my role in this lesson was to see how much Adam could really do. I gave a lot of prompts, verbal and gestural, while reading sight words. I introduced the book quickly, and then let him use the mouse and go through the book. I was nervous that he would click too much and I would have to interfere, but he did so great!! I gave some prompts for the comprehension questions. I gave him two choices for each question, repeated each question at least two times, and helped him to place the picture under the correct question. I also helped Adam to fill out the letter home to his mom and dad.

Adam was definitely an active participant during this lesson, except for the sight words; I would say he was somewhat of a passive participant during this portion of the lesson.  He became distracted during the reading of the sight words, and was looking at the computer, knowing that he would be working on it. While reading the story, he was extremely engaged, following along, reading the words he could say, and turning the page only when appropriate. I was so impressed. 

Overall, I think the entire lesson worked well. I would only change a couple of minor things. When doing the sight words, next time, I will only plan to have him read a few, and I will have the computer out of sight while doing this. I would definitely keep the PowerPoint book the same since he enjoyed it so much and benefited from it so much. The comprehension questions went well, the only thing I would do next time, would be to make the paper bigger. When he put the answers down, you could no longer see the questions. I was very happy with the outcome of the lesson!

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Discussion of Progress

Adam has made so much progress in the short time I have spent with him! When I began, he was working on learning his capital letters, and some letter sounds. I was so lucky to see him begin to improve on these skills. I actually taught him four capital letters. It took a while for him to learn them, but he did pick up on them. When I began working with Adam he had learned about five sight words, to add to that, he now knows, play, like and to. Adam has been engaged with books, is able to turn pages, and reads lines using the Big Mac switch. I also wanted to get him reading more PowerPoint books and books on tumblebooks.com. However, I was nervous at first because of his fascination with clicking the mouse.  However in the last couple of weeks I worked with him, he became accustomed to using the mouse and it wasn't such a big deal, which means he was paying more attention to the books and clicking at the appropriate time.  He is now completing comprehension questions with little prompts and making choices as to which books he would like to read and how he liked them. I am so proud of Adam and the improvement he has made.

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See attachments for assistive technology instructional materials:

Boardmaker Boards for Word Work and Literacy Comprehension activities

Power Point Book

Note Home to Parents