Summarize Text

Summarizing is the restating of the main ideas of the text in as few words as possible. Some students could understand the content if it was presented in simpler vocabulary.  Other students need less to read in order to complete the assignments in the same amount of time as their peers.  Summarizing the text is a way to help both types of students complete the same grade level assignments as their classmates

The links below take you to free sites where you can paste an article, text or essay into the box to get a summary.  You can also summarize PDF documents or online articles and webpages by uploading a file or pasting a URL.  The sites below all offer different options in terms of selecting word, sentence or document length as well as text difficulty.

http://tools4noobs.com/summarize

http://textcompactor.com

http://smmry.com

http://freesummarizer.com

Wikipedia also has a summarize type option.  It has a language option called Simple English.  This language option changes the reading level of some Wikipedia articles.  Compare these two versions on Molecules:
English
Simple English

Matter is a Google Extension that summarizes text. 
Matter highlights the important text in a passage.  It allows you to read the important parts of an article without removing or changing any of the actual text within the article.

Summarizing text can benefit our students in so many ways.  Please explore the options I have provided for you and see which one(s) are best for you and your students. Consider teaching your students to do the summarizing for themselves, as a way to become more independent in their learning.

5 Ways to Utilize iPad Backgrounds & Lockscreens - Guest Blogger

As the availability of technology in a classroom grows, so does the need for good organization and classroom management techniques.  

During a research session I came across a great blog post that I am sharing with you.

 5 Ways to Utilize iPad Backgrounds & Lockscreens

Audicity

Audacity is a free audio editor and recorder. It is an open sourced, cross-platform audio software for multi-track recording and editing. 

Why am I telling you about an audio recorder?  How could this possibly be an AT / UDL Tip?

As an audio recorder, Audacity has multiple classroom uses.  

- It can be used to record a report to be used in Blabberize.  

- It can be used to record long tracks of audio that students can use for practicing reading fluency.  Teachers can in turn have multiple students reading into different machines and then track their reading later, allowing more students to practice at one time.  

- It can also be used as a way for students to express what they know without having to generate handwritten or typed text. 

All of these options make Audacity a great tool for the classroom.


Audacity can be downloaded for both Windows and Mac machines.  The website offers a great features list and online manual.

Please share your uses for Audacity in the comments section for others to see.

Blabberize

Are you looking for a fun new way for your students to present a report to the class? Do you have a student that is shy and struggles with oral reports? Are you looking for a different way to give directions to your class, maybe for when there is a substitute? I have just the thing for you. Turn a photo into a talking report with Blabberize.

Blabberize is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

1. Upload a picture

2. select the mouth on the picture and 

3. record the sound.

Listen to "Abraham Lincoln" recite part of the Gettysburg Address.

Word Clouds & Word Cloud Generators

A Word Cloud is a graphical representation of word frequency.

A Word Cloud Generator is a tool that can be used to create visualizations from blocks of text. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more often in the text.

Word Clouds can be used to help students vary word choice in their own writing by highlighting words they use frequently. They can also be used to highlight themes in text by giving greater prominence to words that appear most often.

Most Word Cloud Generators allow you to personalize your cloud with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

Below are a couple of Word Cloud Generator options.


For Google Chrome:

http://tagcrowd.com

http://tagul.com


For PC:

http://tagxedo.com

MindMeister

Graphic Organizers are a wonderful writing tool. Every teacher I know has a favorite way to use and/or teach about Graphic Organizers. I want to throw a new option into the mix.

MindMeister is a multi-platform Graphic Organizer or Mind Mapping tool. It is available on the web: https://www.mindmeister.com/ as well as a free app: https://goo.gl/T5heba. It also allows for creation using a Google Docs Add-On.

MindMeister’s biggest limitation to the Basic (free) subscription is the number of Graphic Organizers you can store. You are limited to 3 Mind Maps at a time. You can delete old ones and add new ones but you are limited to three active, editable maps per subscription, at one time.

MindMeister has a large number of great options. One of my favorite is the variety of templates available. There is a template for Reading Comprehension as well as for Lesson Planning.

There is a great YouTube channel that contains short lessons on using MindMeister. Each clip is under 3 minutes long. Check out the YouTube channel at MindMeister Tutorial Videos.

Closed Captioning

Closed Captioning is proven to improve the reading abilities of students. Captioning is one way you can provide struggling readers with additional print exposure which is proven to help improve foundational reading skills.

The use of closed captioned television shows and movies is one way in which we can motivate and engage our students to help build and improve phonics, word recognition, and fluency. Closed Captioning is a function of almost every television found in homes across the United States. Closed Captioning, or subtitles, is also a feature required for all educational videos to be considered Accessible for all learners.

“By watching closed-captioned television, students consistently score higher on written tests than students in any other group.”

(http://bit.ly/captionresearch)