solo software by don johnston

Solo software by don johnston

Co:Writer, WRITE:Outloud, READ:Outloud: DRAFT:Builder

SOLO is a literacy suite of the most popular assistive technology accommodations, including a text reader, graphic organizer, talking word processor, and word prediction.

Co:Writer

Open Microsoft Word (Co:Writer must be used in conjuction with a word processing program

Launch Co:Writer (you can find this on the start menu or there may be a shortcut on the desktop

Co:Writer is a word prediction software program

A writer profile contains your own personal options andpreferences which are available each time you login

1. Click “New Writer” type your name and click “Ok”2. In the welcome screen click “Continue”3. Accept the default Standard template by clicking “Continue”4. Click “Finish” to accept the default5. Click the Co:Writer icon that is floating in the upper right corner of your screen. Now the Co:Writer sentence window opens in front of your word processor.

Creating a Writer Profile in Co:Writer

In order to see how Co:Writer predicts, use just one finger to type the following:

“I like to imagine how it would be if I could really express what’s on my mind.”

Type the first letter of the word you want to type See Co:Writer make the word predictions Press the down arrow key to speak and scan words or

point with your mouse to hear the words If you don’t see the word you want continue typing one

letter at a time OR press the right arrow key to get more guesses

Practice Co:Writer

Co:Writer knows where you are in the sentence so that◦ The first word in the sentence is automatically

capitalized◦ And each predicted word is a “grammar fit” all

words are grammatically correct

Practice Co:Writer continue…

When you see the predicted word you want, point to the word and click

The word will go into the sentence at the top of the Co:Writer window

At the end of the sentence, type a period and Co:Writer repeats the sentence and sends it to your word processor

Co:Writer will also insert a space after the period so you are ready for your next sentence

Another option is to type the number key to select the predicted word. This might help writers who are better with the keyboard then the mouse

Co:Writer: Point and Click to choose the words you want to select

Click the red “X”

Quitting Co:Writer

Launch Co:Writer again Click New Writer and enter another name,

click “ok” At the welcome screen, click “continue” Now you are in the wizard where you can

consider a variety of option. You may choose a specific template (ready made, standard, special needs, existing writer file or no template)

Click “Continue”

Co:Writer: Writer Profile Options

Here you can decide which Co:Writer window to use◦ Word Window◦ Sentence Window◦ Paragraph Window

Co:Writer: Writer Profile options, continue…

Here you can decide when you want to see your predicted words◦ Predict as needed: no word predictions displayed

until you tell Co:Writer to do so by pressing “left arrow” to see word prediction

◦ Always predict: word predictions are automatically displayed


The next window is where you choose from three main dictionaries◦ Beginning (6000 words)◦ Intermediate (12,000 words)◦ Advanced (40,000)


Here you can choose if word predictions match exactly the letters typed or if the word prediction will use the “Flexible Spelling”

Flexible Spelling is a feature that accommodates inventive and phonetic spellers


Sometimes writers are not sure how to spell words in their minds. Typically they don’t try at all. With Co:Writer, they can use whatever spelling skills they have◦ 1. Think of a sentence with hard to spell words: “I watched

an elephant and giraffe roller skate down the street.”◦ 2. Type your sentence, but stop before you type,

“elephant”◦ 3. Type the word “elephant” as an inventive speller (e.g.

lafent)◦ 4. Notice the word predictions. The word “elephant”

should be there.◦ 5. Now select “elephant”

Co:Writer: Exploring “Flexible Spelling”

In the next window, you may select the number of guesses that are predicted from 1 to 9◦ Beginning writers are more successful with

between 3 and 5◦ Intermediate writers with 4 to 6◦ Advanced writers can handle 5 or more


Here you can decide if you should show or hide a number list in front of the guesses◦ “Show Numbers” might be used for writers who

prefer typing the numbers to select a guess◦ “Hide Numbers” might be used for writers who

can use a mouse easily and or for writers who might be distracted by trying to read or type numbers


Here you can choose the size of the display Click “Smaller” or “Larger” until you reach a

size you feel is adequate for your student


In the last window you choose the background text and cursor color combinations to meet individual writer’s visual needs and/or personal preferences

Click “Finish” to exit

Co:Writer: Writer Profile option, continue…

Using “topic dictionaries” can help students get to words faster when writing on a certain topic◦ 1. In the Co:Writer Palette, click “>” Topic

Dictionaries◦ 2. Click “open book” icon to open Select Topic

Dictionary◦ 3. In the Categories List on the left, select a topic

(there are more than 200 Topic Dictionaries)

Co:Writer: Exploring “Topic Dictionaries”

Write:Outloud

Launch WRITE:Outloud For windows users go to the start menu and

or access the shortcut that should be found on the desktop

Sign in as Learner 1 Enter the default password 123456 You are now in Student Central Click the “WRITE:Outloud “ icon at the top

left of the window

Write:Outloud is a talking word processor

Struggling writers rarely re-read, edit or revise their work.

Write:Outloud preferences are set to speak words and sentences as students write. You can set WRITE:Outloud to support diverse writers’ needs by turning ON or OFF four levels of speech support provided during writing.

WRITE a sentence

1. Speak letters:

useful during spelling activities and/or for learners with visual impairments who are

just learning to touch type and need auditory reinforcement

4 Levels of Speech Support for Write:Outloud

2. Speak words:

alerts struggling spellers to incorrectly pronounced words, indicating a probable

misspelling

3. Speak sentences:

Alerts learners to monitor writing with each sentence that is written

4. Speak paragraphs:

causes learners to engage in an auditory review of what they have written; an

effective editing/revision strategy that struggling writers rarely utilize

*To change speech settings go to SPEECH menu and select the option you want. Speech options toggle ON/OFF each time you select one.

Everyone type the following sentence:

“Long John Silver is a pirat. He is from the book Tresure Iland. I have saw the movie, to.”

SPEECH:- Move to the beginning/end of your text- Click the “SPEAK” tool to hear the first sentence read aloud, click it again to hear the next sentence- To stop speech, simple click the “SPEAK” tool a second time- Highlighting the text and clicking the “SPEAK” tool will allow the learner to hear exactly what is highlighted

Explore Write:Outloud…

EDIT/REVISE:- Recall that while you were listening to your writing read aloud you may have noticed an error- Highlight the word in error and replace it be typing the correct word in its place

Explore Write:Outloud

SPELLING:- Click the “spell check” tool- Click the “speak” tool to the right of the sentence containing the first misspelled word to hear the sentence and word spoken aloud- Click the “speak” to the right of the suggested word to hear it spoken aloud- Click “change” to replace the misspelled word with the correct one


ADD TEXT:- Move your cursor to the end of the document- continue writing- Now type:

“They like gold and tresare chests. My brother went to the movies. I had red about Long John Silver bfor I saw the movie.”


HOMONYMS:- Click “to/too” tool- Click each word in the SUGGESTIONS box to select it. Notice that the definition for the selected word appears in the DEFINITION box- Click the “speak” button to the right of the sentence to hear the sentence and word spoken aloud- Click the “speak” button to the right of the DEFINITION box to hear it spoken aloud- If the homonym used in the sentence is correct, click, “Next Word”- When you get to the word “to” review and select the correct word form “too”- Click “Change” to replace the incorrect homonym with the correct one- Click “ok” to exit the homonym checker


Franklin Talking Dictionary:

The Franklin Talking Dictionary is designed specifically for students in grade 3-12 and displays the definition of a word in easy to understand language. The Dictionary speaks the word and the definition.-


MARK for Deletion:- Highlight the sentence, “My brother went to the movies.”- Click the “mark for deletion” tool, the text becomes red with a line through it to indicate you are considering removing the statement- With the sentence highlighted, click the “mark for deletion” tool again and return the text to its original appearance- Or hit delete to remove the sentence


LISTEN: Get the to beginning of your document and click “speak” to hear each sentence.

1. Encourage students to think about whether their document makes sense when they hear it.

2. Do I need to add anything to clarify?3. Did I hear any mistakes?4. Did I use the spell checker?


Add a Title:

- Place your cursor at the beginning of the document

- Type your title and press “enter” twice to add space between the title and the body of the document

- Highlight the title- Click “align” tool twice to center the title- Click “font” to increase font to desired size


Add a Picture:- Click in the space between the title and the body to place

your cursor- Click “add picture” tool- In the Choose a File window, click selected picture- Click “open” and the picture appears in you document

along with a caption- Double click the picture. The Image Caption window

opens- Highlight caption text and delete or rename- Click “ok”- Click the picture to select it- Change size and center if desired


Print and Save:- In the File menu, select Print- In the File menu, select Save as and name

your file* The new document will be saved in you’re

My Work folder where it can be retrieved for later revisions


Read:Outloud

Launch Read:Outloud For windows users go to the start menu and


Sign in as Learner 1 Enter the default password 123456 You are now in Student Central Click the “Read:Outloud “ icon at the top left

of the window

Read:Outloud is a text reader

Read:Outloud launches and the Add eText window appears

In the Add eText window, select the eText: Saturn eText.rtf.

eText appears in the panel on the left side of the screen

Adding eText to Read:Outloud

Click in the upper left hand corner of the eText panel, your cursor blinks where you clicked so you know that your are working in the eText

Click “speak” to hear the headings and first sentence read aloud

Click “speak” to begin to hear the entire text read aloud

To stop speech at any time, click “speak” at anytime

Explore Read:Outloud Speech

Highlight the word in question and click “dictionary” tool

Discover the Dictionary in Read:Outloud

Highlight Strategies

◦ Highlight to capture key ideas and put them in your outline by: - Selecting the phrase, “Jewel of the Solar System” by

dragging your mouse over the phrase- Then, click the green “highlighter” tool- Repeat for other key ideas

Learn eText in Read:Outloud

Highlight Strategies:

◦ Highlight to capture supporting details and add them to your outline

◦ Then click one of the key ideas and click the yellow “highlighter” tool

◦ Next find and highlight a detail or fact that supports that green key idea in the text

◦ Finally, click the red “highlighter” tool and find an example or explanation that supports the yellow subtopic in the text

Learn eText in Read:Outloud

Organizing information in your outline is possible when using Read:Outloud in SOLO

Students can also learn to Electronically Bookmark using Read:Outloud

Organize in Read:Outloud

Learners can collect resource materials from the internet in preparation to write by using the built-in web browser

When learners locate text from the internet, they must:◦ Scroll to locate text to be spoken◦ Highlight the text to speak◦ Click “speak” tool

Investigate the Internet in Read:Outloud

Students can highlight to capture information from the internet and put it in your outline

Notes can be taken from the internet to add to an outline

Paraphrasing from the internet can also be included in outlines

Electronic bookmarking is also possible

Organize and Research the Internet using Read:Outloud

Go to the File Menu, select PRINT Look at the options for printing outline and

eText, Outlines can be printed as study guides

Click “cancel” In the File Menu, select SAVE AS, name your

document and click “save”

Printing and Saving in Read:Outloud

In the FILE MENU, select QUIT/EXIT, now you are back at Student Central

When learners are ready to Quit Read:Outloud

Draft:Builder

Launch Draft:Builder For windows users go to the start menu and


Sign in as Learner 1 Enter the default password 123456 You are now in Student Central Click the “Draft:Builder“ icon at the top left

of the window

Draft:Builder is a graphic organizer

Creating an outline and/or graphic organizer to plan, record and organize ideas is a very effective and important first step in writing a draft

Add an Outline Topic◦ 1. Draft:Builder launches and the “Add Outline”

window appears◦ 2. In the Add Outline window, select_A Blank

Template◦ 3. Click “Ok”

Outlining in Draft:Builder

1. Topic is highlighted in light blue 2. Subtopics (Level 1) is added in green 3. Subtopics (Levels 2 and 3) are added in

yellow and red 4. Creating Notes is a way to expand

important facts and emphasize facts

Plan and Organize your thoughts before writing in Draft:Builder

Create a Draft after completing an outline◦ Click the DRAFT tab◦ Your outline will remain visible on the left side of

your screen and new notes are also visible below the subtopics to which they are attached

◦ Click the title and drag it to the blank area on the right of your screen

◦ Drag and drop text from outline

Draft it with Draft:Builder

Use spell checker Use Dictionary feature Save your document Print your work

Draft:Builder creating your draft

Train in 30 manuals can be found at Don Johnston website: http://www.donjohnston.com/30/

Infinitec website offers writing supports for struggling writers www.myinfinitec.org

Resources

http://www.donjohnston.com/30/

http://www.myinfinitec.org/

solo software by don johnston

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