The Learning Program

The Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County has a free and comprehensive set of learning materials that are appropriate for learners with many different developmental or intellectual working on their Learning Program website.

Included are (you must be logged in to go to most links):

Literacy Materials

• instructional materials
• introductory sight word readers and flashcards (which use photo support and large print for low vision)
• emergent readers and flashcards which support the Lakeshore Learning Readers
  
• abc phonics materials
  

Math Materials

• Introduction to Numbers (numbers, counting, number lines, concepts)
• Addition
• Subtraction
• Money
• Time
  

Daily Activity Guides

Significant and Profound Disabilities:
Many of the materials would be great for students with very significant to profound intellectual disabilities who are not necessarily working on literacy or numeracy per se. The introductory sight word readers make fantastic photo based vocabulary concept books for our learners working on earlier cognitive skills, as do the Count to Ten book and Counting Fruit book; textures or objects could be added for students with low vision.

Web Sites for Teaching Reading

• AAC and Literacy
  
• Building Language for Literacy
• Free Reading
  
• Leading to Reading
• Literacy Center
  
• Literactive
  
• Mighty Book
• Phonics Play
  
• Reading Rockets
  
• Roy the Zebra
• Starfall Reading
  

Find Out the Reading Level on Text

Today there has been an interesting discussion on the QIAT Listserv about how to find out the reading level on text. A number of websites were listed that can be used to look up a book and also two technology assisted Do-It-Yourself methods.

Websites to research reading levels on common books:

• Leveled Book Database
• Accelerated Reader List (here) or here
  
• Scholastic Book Wizard
  
• Reading Lady List of Sites to Determine Reading Level (.doc)
• Edit Central's Cut and Paste Online Analyzer
  

• Fountas and Pinnel ($$$)

Do-It-Yourself Method One: Search Amazon .com for the book you want to know about (try searching within the category (children's book). Scroll down to "Inside the Book" and choose "text stats". Ta-da! There is the Flesch-Kincaid reading level, the 100 most common words in the text and more (i.e. word per dollar)!

Do-It-Yourself Method Two: What about online text? Text you have written yourself? Try using Microsoft Word! Highlight a section or all of the text in Word then go to "tools", under "spelling and grammar" choose "option". Now click on "Show Readability Statistics". Wow!

Thanks to the QIAT posters for sharing all of this!

(By the way, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, one of my favorite childhood books (along with Blueberries for Sal, Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) is a 6.4 on the Flesch-Kincaid Index, costing 127 dollars per word.)

Free Book for Students

Image via WikipediaIf you teach students ages 6 to 13 or so you might want to encourage them to participate in Barnes and Nobles new summer reading program, Summer Reading with Andrew Clements. Students can get a free book from a list of exceptional paperbacks for children when they submit a completed reading journal.

Here is a link to an adapted reading journal using picture symbols students could fill out using labels (with or without pictures) pre-printed either by a student using a program like Classroom Suite to "type" and then printed onto sticker paper or pre-printed by a parent or teacher. This alternative jounral could be submitted attached to a copy of the journal filled in by the teacher or a parent (to give non-readers/non-writers or alternative readers/writers) some ownership of filling out the form.

In other, similar programs and contests many store managers will let older special needs student participate or compete at their ability level or using adaptations (book on tape, screen reader, adapted texts). Usually this is up to the local store manager, so go ahead and ask if your older students can participate. It can't hurt.