Save your page-a-day calendar stands!

Don't throw away your page-a-day calendar! Save the plastic frame and use them as book holders. These work especially well for small board books. It helps to keep your hands free to hold your child and model communication board use!

This great tip came from a presentation I attended at Closing the Gap in Minneapolis a few years ago. I apologize for not being able to cite the exact source.

If you know who originated this idea, please let me know so they can be given proper credit!

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Using Props

Props add an extra dimension of hands-on fun for students of all ages. These can be simple line drawings that correspond to a book or rhyme. The nursery rhyme book currently being developed will contain props for each rhyme. See the example below.

For students who have fine motor difficulties, mount your props on foam core board and put velcro on the back. Foam core board is the material used when matting pictures. It is available at places such as Wal-Mart. If you are lucky enough to know someone in the framing business, ask them to save their scraps for you.

Creative Educational Surplus offers some excellent velcro sensitive story boards and books. If you use symbols and velcro - their products are a must!!!

A great print resource for props can be found on p. 335 in the book Emergent Literacy Success: Merging Technology and Whole Language for Students with Disabilities by Caroline Musselwhite & Pati King-DeBaun. Check this out at: Creative Communicating.

February 1999

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March 1999

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Highlighting Tape

Highlighting tape is a transparent tape with a post-it note type adhesive which makes it easily removable.  We have used it to highlight things such as the repeated line in a story and the corresponding message location on a communication system.  It has also been used to provide a visual cue to emergent readers and/or individuals who have a left sided neglect to begin their reading at the left side of the page.  One parent I showed it to intended to use it to highlight important phone numbers for her daughter in their city telephone book.

Highlighting tape can be used in library or other borrowed books as it can be removed without leaving any marks!  It comes in a variety of widths including:  1/2", 1/6", 1/3" and 1 7/8".

Highlighting tape is manufactured by Lee Products of Minnesota and sold through a variety of sources including the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative.  It is also sold through:

        Crystal Springs Books:  Professional Books for Elementary Educators 
        Ten Sharon Road 
        P.O. Box 500 
        Peterborough, NH 03458-0500 
        1-800-462-1478

Their catalog is worth checking out!  It contains a variety of emergent literacy resources for teachers including books by Patricia Cunningham and Marie Clay.  Call today for your free catalog!

Why use them?  To provide realistic picture representations for communication boards and/or computer activities.

How? 
On a Macintosh:  In the following order, press and hold:  Shift - Open Apple - 3.  You will hear a sound like the shutter of a 35 mm camera.  Screen shots are saved on the hard drive and titled "Picture 1", "Picture 2" etc. in the order you take them. Print the screen shots directly or crop and copy only the portion you wish to use.

Using Windows:  Press and hold the Alt key then the Print Screen key.  You will not hear any sound.  Screen shots are saved to the clipboard.  Open the Paint program in your Accessories folder).  Paste the picture.  Crop, copy and/or save.

Next? 
Screen shots can be imported to and saved in other programs such as BoardMaker or IntelliPics.  For detailed instructions on using Screen Shots with BoardMaker, see the Mayer-Johnson Co. Tip of the Month for November 1998 at:  http://www.mayer-johnson.com/tipstuts/TOM0899.html

Screen shots can be imported into instruction sheets that you would leave for others as to how to enter, run and exit a particular program.  For example, in a school setting you could leave instruction sheets for other staff as to how to enter, use and exit specific software programs.

This month's tip is from Caroline Musselwhite.  Thanks Caroline!  Not only is this a great way to create a home-school link, it is also a wonderful idea for those having to give presentations who don't want to deal with computing at the same time!

Downloading Computer Software to Video

GOAL:  Take any software and "download" it to a VHS so kids can see it 
at home (obviously, you need to have the copyright on this software, but 
you can do this with anything you make!)

MATERIALS: 
Mac A-V Card or G3 AV Ready 
Cables - yellow & white phone plugs on both ends 
(I decided to just try the cables that came with my videocamera - 
Voila!  They worked!) 
VCR with audio and video in ports (must be near computer)

PROCEDURE: 
1)  Attach cables from Audio Out port on computer to Audio In port on 
VCR, from Video Out port on computer to Video In port on VCR 
*note* - I had to get an adaptor from Radio Shack to make this work - it 
converted from Phone Plug to stero mini plug - I just took the cable 
into Radio Shack and told them what I wanted to do in my best Southern 
accent and it worked!

2) Pull up the software you want to use on your computer (e.g., 
IntelliPics Cash for Trash)

3) Put a blank tape in your VCR and turn on VCR

4a) PowerMac Instructions: Go into Control Panels, Monitors, Options - 
select Display Video on Television - your computer monitor will go blank 
(gasp!)

Here's the tricky part - makes my little heart go pitter patter just to 
think about it! 
I typically press every button on my TV/VCR handset until I find the 
right one, and just tried them all to figure it out - then I remembered 
that I DID put this on my computer - press on your remote 
handset, and it should show the computer screen on your VCR monitor.

4b) G3 Instructions: Open Control Tab on bottom left of monitor; choose 
Monitor icon; select ; you will get a message 
telling you to be sure a tv monitor is connected - you may have to 
select on your TV remote handset (see 4a, above); if you see the 
picture on your monitor, select OK and you will see the picture on your 
computer AND on your TV monitor.

5) Press on your VCR, then immediately start running the 
desired program on the computer.  When finished, press on your 
VCR, rewind and see if it worked, redo if necessary, until you have what 
you want.

Good luck!  Let me know how it goes (remember, if you have a TechnoAce 
with you when you try this, it will be FAR less stressful!)

This month's tip is from Penny Reed, Director of the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative.  Thanks Penny!

Contact paper is now available in a wipe-off surface version.  Using this product, you can make your own wipe off boards out of almost anything!  For example, cut a piece of cardboard to a size that would be convenient to carry or place on a corner of a student's desk.  Cover it with the contact paper and viola! - you now have a portable wipe-off board.  This would be great for students who can read and need visual reminders of schedules, activities within a routine and/or "to do" lists.

Note:  Contact also makes an eraseable blackboard contact paper as well!

Check your local WalMart stores for this great product!

Make reuseable IntelliKeys overlays by first printing an overlay template.  For example, use the overlay templates from the I Can Write series available through the activity exchange at the IntelliTools website (www.intellitools.com).

Why? 
To save time and resources by eliminating the need to print out every new overlay you make.

How?

• Using clear tape (e.g. packaging tape), attach two clear transparency sheets to the bottom of the overlay. ( Note:  You may need to attach an extra piece of transparency at one end as the IntelliKeys overlays are legal size and most transparency sheets are letter size.)
• Using an overhead marking pen, write your target words/phrases/sentences on the first transparency sheet.
• Cover with the second transparency sheet to prevent the marker from coming off on your fingers
• You will still need to make programming changes within Overlay Maker to reflect what you have written on the transparency sheets but you won't need to print them out.

At Closing the Gap this year, I attended two excellent pre-conference workshops with ideas on adaptations for students who struggle with writing.  These included:  Write On, Write Now!  Supporting Early Writing Across the Curriculum presented by Caroline Musselwhite and Gretchen Hanser and Finding the Right TWIN presented by Judith P. Sweeney.  The following idea was presented in both of these sessions.

What? 
Students who struggle with writing can provide fill-in-the-blank type answers using pre-printed address labels.

Why? 
To reduce the student's struggle with writing tasks and free them to focus more on the cognitive requirements of the activity.

How?

• Examine the student worksheet, activity or assignment and make a list of the vocabulary they will need to complete it.
• Use a label program such as those designed to create mailing labels.  Judy Sweeney recommended MacEnvelope for an approximate cost of $39.95
• Instead of entering an address as you would for a label, type in the word (or words) that the student would need to complete a particular worksheet or assignment.
• Print the labels and have the student use these to place their answers on paper.
• Clear labels (as opposed to those with a white background) are more expensive but may work better on worksheets where the fill-in-the-blank portion is small.
• Students may need some assistance with removing labels.  For example, part of the backing could be peeled away  making label removal easier.

• MacEnvelope allows you to specify the color of the word.  Thus, you could use color-coding such as that suggested by Goossens', Crain and Elder.
• If your label programs allows you to import a picture, try bringing in BoardMaker images as appropriate.
• To contact Judi Sweeney for more information e-mail:  jsweeney@snet.net
• The idea guy has a link to the Avery Software site where you can obtain other label making products.