Showing posts with label aac and literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aac and literacy. Show all posts

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Help Me Read

Update May 2022 - Symbol Support Text has been proven not to prove much, if any, aid to comprehension and to be detrimental to learning to read.  This post is keep up for historical purposes.  Please don't use symbol supported text.


Out of the UK there is a new product for young emerging readers who use symbols.  Help Me Read is a reading scheme to add Widgit Literacy symbols to the Stage 1 level of Oxford Reading Tree books and other materials.  The materials include a manual communication board.

You can create books similar to the Help Me Read series by finding symbols to adapt books you all ready have. 

The NYC Schools and Baltimore City Schools have downloads of Picture Communication Symbols that are pre-made for many books.

If you support PRC device/Unity users the Plano School District as materials to adapt books using Unity Symbols.

You can also symbol adapt your own books.  Be sure to use these 5 Rules for Symbol Support.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Story Book Communication Boards (Games and Activities)



This one is for my friends who teach early intervention through the early elementary grades.  Super Duper/Webber has a new product called Story Time Communication Boards.  It looks very similar in design but not theme to one of my all time favorite products Webber Functional Communication Games.  Essentially this contains the a twelve square static communication board for 20 favorite picture books (2 sides on each board), which double as bingo boards.  Which would be pretty cool alone, but then add a CD Rom of sample IEP goals/benchmarks and printable activities and lesson plans, an electronic spinner (these are so cool) foam chips, calling cards, differentiated question cards and game pieces.  Too bad they didn't add the game board.  It retails for $56.00

This is from the website:


WebberStory Time Communication Boards teaches students with limited verbal skills to recognize and use the most important vocabulary words in 20 popular storybooks.* This versatile teaching tool allows students with language delays, autism, and other communication disorders to participate in reading activities using Mayer Johnson’s BoardmakerPicture Communication Symbols (PCS). Webber Story Time Communication Boards is ideal for the SLP, teacher, or special educator working in an inclusive setting.
The complete set includes four identical communication boards for each story and 12 matching picture cards (240 cards total) to teach expressive and receptive communication skills. The lessons and activities in the workbook reinforce vocabulary and the included CD-ROM makes it easy to print activity pages in black and white or color.
The workbook includes measurable goals and objectives, and three different activities with extensions (Sentence Completion, Question and Answer, and I Spy) to use with a lesson plan or Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These activities help increase the child’s understanding of the story. Modify the specific measures of each goal to fit the individual needs of the students.

Materials Include:
  • 40-double-sided communication boards (20 stories)
  • Activity workbook
  • 240 picture cards (12 per story)
  • Electronic spinner
  • 60 foam tokens
  • CD-ROM for printing activity pages in black and white and color
* Uses the following books with your Webber® Story Time Communication Boards.
  Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
  From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
  Good Night, Dora by Christine Ricci
  Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
  Where's Spot? by Eric Hill
  Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle
  The Napping House by Audrey Wood
  Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk
  My World by Margaret Wise Brown
  Matthew's Truck by Katherine Ayers
  I Love School! by Philemon Sturges
  Swimmy by Leo Lionni
  Wave Hello to Thomas! by Rev. W. Awdry
  Spot Goes to the Park by Eric Hill
  Cooking With the Cat by Bonnie Worth
  Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
  "More More More," Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams
  Here are My Hands by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
  Peek-A-Boo! by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

MEville to WEville Wiki


As many of you know MEville to WEville is a literacy program by AbleNet for elementary aged learners with moderate to significant disabilities, including non-speaking students. I have recently received a copy from (the generous folks at) AbleNet to review and will do so soon, but until then I want to share a resource that was posted on the Boardmaker ListServ.

The MEville WikiSpace shares tabs for your spiral bound MEville to WEville teacher guides, biligual parents letters, Boardmaker boards (in boardmaker format, so you can adapt them), alignment to Florida Standards, data collection forms (based on standards), internet links and a blog.

Here is a MEville to WEville FAQ is you want to know more about the program.

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