Family Literacy Day with an AT focus at Chalkfarm P.S.

Family Literacy Day at Chalkfarm Celebrated using Read and Write Gold Assistive Technology

Family Literacy Day kick-off

Today (Thursday Jan. 26), while the entire school was participating in a Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Ms. Freedman’s students at Chalkfarm P.S. were also reading.  But this class participated in DEAR with the help of Read and Write Gold assistive technology.

The students were especially keen to read articles on websites such as National Geographic for Kids and Sports Illustrated for Kids  - above their independent reading level, but at their listening comprehension level. Some of the text was already in digital form , so students independently used the Reading Tools found in Read and Write Gold.  When they encountered text that would not allow them to read, they used the Screen Shot reader.

Linking the AT Itinerant referral to Family Literacy Day In the fall of 2011, Ms. Freedman of Chalkfarm P.S. had requested to work with an Assistive Technology Itinerant Teacher to embed the use of Read and Write Gold in her lessons. She felt that her ISP class would benefit from greater use of Assistive Technology throughout the day.

Ms. Freedman and the Itinerant teacher co-planned and then later co-taught some lessons that involved using Read and Write initially to support the students' writing. After, they reflected on the first lesson by using a graphic organizer to frame the discussions-- about what worked well, what needed improvement and what steps should be taken next. 

“ The students are excited about Read and Write Gold, and we want to thank you for giving us opportunities that we never would have had," Freedman said, in her reflections on the process. "We love the hamburger graphic organizer because as a class, we can reflect on the things that we did well and the things that we still need to work on.”