Many students in the inclusive classroom (more so those with special needs) struggle to read on grade level. Fortunately for these students there is a wide variety of assistive technologies available to them that can make reading or attempting to read much easier. These devices include:
Reading Rods - Reading Rods is a kit with a set of interlocking blocks and that are used to build words through the use of phonemic awareness and phonics. Reading Rods provide students with a fun, interactive way to learn how to use letter sounds to build words.
Video - Using Reading Rods Video
Audible Books - Audible books are recorded versions of books. Audible books are especially useful for students who are blind, visually impaired or really have problems with reading. There are many audible versions of books of numerous titles and genres available to both students and teachers. Open Culture as well as Books Should Be Free provides its visitors with access to hundreds of free downloadable audible books.
Text Readers - A text reader is a software device that converts text to speech . There are many versions of text readers available out there for both students and teachers to use. Free versions of text readers can be downloaded from NaturalReader (which provides text to speech using natural sounding voices) or How To Geek (provides a variety of text to speech software programs) as well as Kurzweil EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS (which provides a free trail version).
E-Books -E-Books are books which are available online to users. Many books are available online these days but some however are only partly available (snippets of the book). This limited availability of books is due to the fact that the books you may receive for free will not be modern book because of copyright laws; the only books that you may get to read the whole copy of are books that have had their copyrights expired and have been written long time ( you can rephrase this if you like). The following links will help you to identify some websites that may help you find eBooks online for free:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-good-online-sources-free-ebooks-free-app-read/
http://www.freemake.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-ebooks/
The following power point (compiled by our classmates) provides information on other assistive technology devices for reading.
Assistive Technology Power Point
Reading Rods - Reading Rods is a kit with a set of interlocking blocks and that are used to build words through the use of phonemic awareness and phonics. Reading Rods provide students with a fun, interactive way to learn how to use letter sounds to build words.
Video - Using Reading Rods Video
Audible Books - Audible books are recorded versions of books. Audible books are especially useful for students who are blind, visually impaired or really have problems with reading. There are many audible versions of books of numerous titles and genres available to both students and teachers. Open Culture as well as Books Should Be Free provides its visitors with access to hundreds of free downloadable audible books.
Text Readers - A text reader is a software device that converts text to speech . There are many versions of text readers available out there for both students and teachers to use. Free versions of text readers can be downloaded from NaturalReader (which provides text to speech using natural sounding voices) or How To Geek (provides a variety of text to speech software programs) as well as Kurzweil EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS (which provides a free trail version).
E-Books -E-Books are books which are available online to users. Many books are available online these days but some however are only partly available (snippets of the book). This limited availability of books is due to the fact that the books you may receive for free will not be modern book because of copyright laws; the only books that you may get to read the whole copy of are books that have had their copyrights expired and have been written long time ( you can rephrase this if you like). The following links will help you to identify some websites that may help you find eBooks online for free:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-good-online-sources-free-ebooks-free-app-read/
http://www.freemake.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-ebooks/
The following power point (compiled by our classmates) provides information on other assistive technology devices for reading.
Assistive Technology Power Point