Activities That Build Rigor & Relevance

Having a technology "toolkit" can help students successfully complete learning activities that build rigor & relevance. Here are just a few example activities (from Dr. Richard Jones, http://www.natpd.com/present/files/RDJ_hand_rr_6_14.pdf).

1. Brainstorming
2. Creative Arts
3. Inquiry Activities
4. Instructional Technology
5. Memorization
6. Guided Practice
7. Presentations/Exhibitions
8. Problem Based Learning
9. Project Design
10. Research
11. Simulation/Role Playing

An example for cognitively young students is the Star Reporter ( http://www.ablenetinc.com/starReporter.asp ), a curriculum activity from AbleNet where the classroom creates a newspaper. Tools and services to help students engage in news include:

1. News 2 You - http://www.news-2-you.com/index.aspx
2. 9 - http://9.yahoo.com
3. Newsmap - http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm
4. Ten by Ten - http://www.tenbyten.org/10x10.html

Productivity

Start your toolkit with a collection of inexpensive tools you can use in the classroom and your student can use at home.

1. OpenOffice - www.openoffice.org . free Microsoft Office compatible software for several platforms, including Win and MacX.
2. Docs and Spreadsheets - www.google.com . free online word processing and spreadsheet. online collaboration features are also included
3. Zoho - www.zoho.com . an extensive set of free online productivity tools, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database. online collaboration features are also included
4. WORD - www.microsoft.com . look at the auto summarize and special find/replace features
5. WordWeb - http://wordweb.info/free/ . a free English thesaurus and dictionary that works with most Win programs
6. Communicate: In Print 2 - http://www.widgit.com/products/inprint/index.htm . a symbol based desk top publishing program, great for creating symbol rich print materials
7. Publishing resources, including free clip art, can be found at http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/books.htm
8. Thumbstacks - www.thumbstacks.com . free online presentation and remote presentation software
9. Speaking Notepad - www.qwertystudios.com . inexpensive talking word processor for Windows
10. TexEdit - http://www.tex-edit.com/ . inexpensive word processor for Macintosh with text to speech that highlights each word as it is spoken
11. Adobe Reader - www.adobe.com . current version includes extensive commenting tools and a "typewriter"
12. KidWidget Win / KidWidget Mac - http://www.astoundit.com/products/kidwidget/index.html . an inexpensive publishing toolkit; including Write, Draw, Paint, Music, Games, Calculator, and Dictionary. speech output is included.
13. Canvastic - http://www.canvastic.com/Canvastic LLC . a graphics and text publishing tool for grades K-8. It includes an adjustable interface that is designed to add tools and features as the student learns the program.

Creativity

There are great creativity software programs that come on computers today; MovieMaker on Windows, and iPhoto, iDVD, and GarageBand on the Macintosh. Here are some additional tools to add to your toolkit.

Art

1. Free Online Photo Editing Software - http://desktoppublishing.com/photo-editing-free.html . a collection of free image editing and painting software
2. Picasa - http://picasa.google.com . free image editing software for Windows
3. Cosmic Blob 3D Win & Cosmic Blob 3D MacX - http://www.cosmicblobs.com/ . a user friendly 3D modeling program. Check out the Cosmic Blob Widget for MacX.
4. iScrapbook - http://www.chronosnet.com/Products/iscrapbook.html . inexpensive scrapbook software
5. Gliffy - www.gliffy.com . draw and share diagrams on the web
6. SketchUp - http://sketchup.google.com . free 3-D drawing software for Win (on the CD) and MacX. check out the video tutorials
7. Tux Paint (Win . Mac . Linux) - http://www.tuxpaint.org/ . free painting software for children. be sure to download the rubber stamps
8. ImaginationCubed - http://www.imaginationcubed.com/LaunchPage . a free online drawing tool with the ability to invite others to draw together online
9. Sketch Studio - www.drawinghand.com/Sketch/SketchStudio.php . natural media drawing with drawing tutorials, for Win
10. ArtRage Mac & ArtRage Win- http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html . a free natural media drawing program for Win and Mac
11. Color Wheel - http://www.sessions.edu/career_center/design_tools/color_calculator/index.asp# . a Flash based tool for creating color schemes and learning about color
12. Painter Essentials 4- http://www.corel.com . a natural media painting program for Win and MacX. includes image hoses, a "high end" type of stamp tool, and a variety of tutorials for digital drawing and painting. you can download a 60 day trial version from the Corel website
13. Create a Sculpture - http://hirshhorn.si.edu/education/interactive.html . an interactive art activity where students create their own sculptures.
14. Comic Life for Mac from http://plasq.com/ enables students to take pictures and create their own personal comic books.

Music

1. Dot Mixer - http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/exhibits/dotmixer/index.html . an audio playground that works best with headphones. students can mix preset sounds in terms of volumn and panning
2. Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net . free audio editing software for Mac and Win
3. Onion Street Music - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/communities/onionstreet/music/ . a variety of music programs, including a 16 track mixer and an interesting set of preset music mixers that can be "played" with keyboard shortcuts; perfect for something like an Intellikeys overlay
4. Mashup Music Machine - http://www.taketheleadmovie.com/mashup/ . an online DJ mixer that uses preset music loops
5. Super Duper Music Looper (Win) - http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=535 . a kid friendly, inexpensive loop music creation program. trial version
6. ACID - www.sonymediasoftware.com . high end loop based music creation for Win
7. RiffWorks - http://www.sonomawireworks.com/riffworks.php . digital music creation and recording environment for Win or MacX
8. Reason - http://www.propellerheads.se/ . a full featured professional music creation environment with self-contained synthesizers and loop players
9. NotePad - http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/ . free music notation software

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

UDL tools and digital text help teachers and students quickly adapt instructional media to match each student's needs. The digital text to speech can be used by students who struggle with print as well as by students who choose to hear the text rather than read it.

1. ReadingBar - www.readplease.com . adds text to speech to Internet Explorer on Windows so webpages can be read out loud and saved to audio
2. Natural Reader - www.naturalreaders.com . a free Win text to speech utility. add to Adobe Reader and your computer can read PDF files aloud . use with a web browser and the Internet "talks"
3. Universal Reader & Universal Reader Plus - www.readingmadeez.com/Products.php . are inexpensive text to speech programs (Plus includes scanning) for Win that include a "point and hear" feature where you can use a mouse to point to text and hear it aloud. you can apply for a grant from the company to get the software provided for the first year
4. Talking Word Processor 9.1 . www.readingmadeez.com/Products.php - is an inexpensive talking word processor that includes highlight extraction, audio grammar checker, and a summarize tool. you can apply for a grant from the company to get the software provided for the first year
5. SOLO - www.donjohnston.com . extensive set of tools for writing with text to speech and activity guidelines
6. Kurzweil 3000 - www.kurzweiledu.com . scans printed text to digital format with embedded study tools
7. Read&Write Gold - www.texthelp.com . set of extensive study and text to speech tools that work with any program running on a computer

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