Bamboozle Your Students into Reading Engagement

Patricia Campbell, a Special Day Teacher at the Herbert Slater Middle School in Santa Rosa, CA shared this story with us...called the Tom Sawyer Effect.  So clever!

        Hasn’t every teacher yearned for their students to get excited about reading and learning?  Do your students readily ask about reading material?  Are they excited about comprehension scores?  After teaching for over a decade, I have found these tasks can still be difficult when teaching students with LD.  

    These days, however,  I personally witness students in my special day classroom responding to the curriculum with excitement, accuracy and retention.  What's the secret to this success and how does Tom Sawyer fit in?  

     The Start-to Finish computer books have made reading enjoyable for my students.  Each day they ask... “Are we going to read today?” Although we read many types of text, I know they are referring to Start-to-Finish. Why, because the human narration and easily written text keeps them interested and engaged.

     We read, discuss and answer chapter questions huddled together on the rug. Students lean forward to listen to the audio.  They read with no invitation from me. The computer books capture the attention of 'hard-to-reach' students.  When we finish the

reading comprehension instruction with a democratically attained 90-100%, there are high-fives all around and I am so proud.  

     Much like when Tom Sawyer coerces his friends to complete his chore of painting the fence, these books coerce my students to participate in their learning.  Even struggling readers jump at the

     Even struggling readers jump at the chance to sit in my chair and mimic a narrative voice heard from the story, like Treasure Island and the Pirate accent.  Ahoy Matey!

      Today, I use Co-Writer, Read-Out-Loud and Write-Out-Loud, in conjunction with the Start-to-Finish ebooks.  Students are able to build sentences, paragraphs and essays using word prediction software that ties vocabulary together from the novels they read to their own writing.  Students with disgraphia are better writers now.  They write in minutes what it took them previously to write in an hour.

         Call me Tom Sawyer if you like, I have bamboozled my students into learning with these clever and engaging computer books. And you can too!

Sincerely Successful,

Patricia Campbell

New Research Demonstrates Gains in Emergent Reading Skills for Adolescents with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities

Don Johnston Incorporated, publisher of assistive technologies and literacy software for students with special needs, has shared new research to demonstrate improvements in the emergent reading skills of adolescents with autism, intellectual and multiple disabilities. The research was conducted by Penelope Hatch, Ph.D., CCC-SLP at the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The seven-week intervention studied 43 students in total, ages 12 to 21, with diverse ethnicities and exceptionalities. Dr. Hatch designed the study to determine the effects on students’ daily reading experiences using age/ability-appropriate text with two groups of teachers: those trained to teach comprehensive literacy instruction and teachers without this training. Each student group read Don Johnston’s Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters, a collection of computer and paperback books designed for non-readers and students reading at beginning levels. They read for 30 minutes a day in self-selected reading assignments, teacher-led instruction or a combination of the two practices. 

Dr. Penny Hatch - Research Study
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/literacy/research.html

Learn more About Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters:
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/literacy/index.html

Reading Curriculum for Students with Special Needs

Julie W. Spedale, Director of the OPTIONS program for St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, LA uses the Start-to-Finish computer ebooks as her specialized reading curriculum to improve reading comprehension and fluency skills.  

Ms. Spedale says, "When students are brought together through a compelling story, there is no telling how far that friendship and learning opportunity will grow." 

http://www.donjohnston.com/educators/award_winning_schools/st_thomas_more.html

Independent eBook Review by Muncie Kardos, ConnSense Editor

Muncie Kardos, educator and editor of ConnSense Bulletin just wrote an independent product review of the Start-to-Finish Core Content computer books.  She used the ebooks to provide support to a group of middle and high school students with disabilities to enable them to access and participate in the general education science and social studies curriculum.  Read her review at http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/core_content/cc_review.html

Family Center on Technology & Disabilities Article

Here's a great article from the Family Center on Technology and Disabilities, Washington DC about quality accessible software and ebooks written by Dr. Ben Satterfield at the Center for AT Excellence.

Mr. Satterfield said, “We thought that technology could be powerful for children with disabilities but we lacked the proof. We certainly have the proof now. The blessing for us personally is that technology has made an enormous difference for Blake. To have an 18-year-old with Down syndrome who can read almost anything, who knows more about Romeo and Juliet than I do, because of the Start to Finish books (http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/library/index.html). Blake can find his way around a computer because the computer environment is so friendly and patient. This has been a revelation for the entire family and has informed much of our work with AT and instruction.”

http://www.fctd.info/resources/newsletters/displayNewsletter.php?newsletterID=10080

Speech-Language Pathologist Shares Creative e-Book Blog

Eric Sailers, M.A., CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistive Technology Specialist at LaMesa-Spring Valley School District and Crimson Center in CA shared with us an outstanding use of Web 2.0 skills using our Start-to-Finish book, The Tuskeegee Airmen. Check it out!

http://speechlanguagepathologysharing.blogspot.com/2009/02/chapter-7-summary-of-tuskegee-airmen.html

Annabel's Story- Thanks for writing to us!

Annabel wrote to Don earlier this month. She said..."I use Cowriter and WriteoutLoud for homework and stuff I find on the Internet for things that I can't read. Before I used Cowriter, I struggled in every class. I felt everyone could read or write or do more than me. I got picked on. Then my special-education teacher Ms. Craig, told me that I qualify for an alpha smart and Write out Loud with Cowriter so I could do more assignments for all my teachers. I use them all the time!"

Read Annabel's Letter!
http://www.donjohnston.com/products/cowriter/testimonials_reviews.html