2020-2021 Information BLASTS!

Captions can be very beneficial for our students with disabilities. In a study that was conducted by Oregon State University regarding students using captions, it was reported that using captions can help students with comprehension and retention. Students extensively use the internet to complete assignments. Unfortunately, much of the information available on the internet is not captioned. Google has announced that Live Caption is available within Google Chrome. To enable Live Caption within Google Chrome, complete the following steps:

1. Click on the Ellipsis
2. Click on Settings
3. Select Advanced
4. Select Accessibility
5. Under Accessibility, click the button to enable Live Caption

The teachers of Powhatan Schools have been working with AIM-VA to provide accessible materials to their students with disabilities since 2008! Take the time to watch the video below to see how they have designed a structure to their program to meet the need of their students and teachers.

Thanks for sharing, Powhatan!

Estimates suggest that 80% of students with learning disabilities receive services for a reading disability. As many as 8 of 10 students with learning disabilities have reading problems so significant that they cannot read and understand grade-level material (Lerner, 2003). One way to help students access grade level material is using Text-to-Speech (TTS). TTS refers to tools that are designed to change digital text to speech and allows that digital text to be read aloud. Providing text-to-speech allows students to have access to grade level materials and listening to the text allows them to broaden their vocabulary as well as gain new information. The additional capability of highlighting words as they are read aloud allows students to hear and see text at the same time.

Problems of decoding, fluency and connecting text often affects comprehension. According to Paz at LD Resources Foundation Action (LDRFA), “We recommend the tools that have the option of highlighting the sentence as each word is converted to speech, especially for students, as it gives them a multi-sensory learning experience that can improve their ability to focus, retain information and improve comprehension.” Simultaneous visual and auditory access to text allows students to experience books in a new way.

Understood.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving family of children who learn and think differently. In an article titled, Text-to-Speech Technology: What It Is and How It Works, the Understood Team discuss how kids seeing and hearing text when reading provides a multisensory reading experience. They suggest that the combination of seeing and hearing text when reading has several advantages including improving word recognition, increasing the ability to pay attention and remember information, allowing students to focus on comprehension instead of decoding words, among others.

In a document developed for the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials on Audio-Supported Reading and Students with Learning Disabilities, supported reading is defined as a “technology-based technique for reading in which individuals read digital text in conjunction with listening to the text in an audio format such as text-to-speech (TTS)”. Jackson and Karger (2015) discuss that listening and viewing text can serve several functions, “For example, pairing written text with speech helps to sustain engagement during the reading task. Listening while viewing text can connect students directly to the text itself while the meaning of the text can be captured through listening.”

In the article Effects of Highlighting Text on the Reading Ability of Children with Developmental Dyslexia: A Pilot Study by Ikeshita et al. (2018) the researchers observed that “children with developmental dyslexia found it easier to read along when audio was synchronized with text highlighting, particularly for the highlighting style that used a blue band for whole sentences.”

Providing students with disabilities access to the printed page via text-to-speech technology is an important way for them to be able to decode grade level text and be given the opportunity to be more independent in their learning. As discussed, using TTS with the capability of listening and following along with the words being highlighted has many benefits.

AIM-VA was created to provide educators a way to access accessible books, workbooks, reading books and other curriculum-based print materials free-of-charge. Books not currently found in the AIM-VA library, can be produced if requested by an AIM-VA Digital Rights Manager (DRM) in any Virginia public school division. These accessible files for available for use by students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and a confirmed Print Disability. Search for existing books in the Library through the AIM-VA website.

References

Ikeshita, H., Yamaguchi, S., Morioka, T., & Yamazoe, T. (2018). Effects of highlighting text on the reading ability of children with developmental dyslexia: A pilot study. International Journal Of Emerging Technologies In Learning (IJET), 13(09), pp. 239-251. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i09.8736

Jackson, R.M. & Karger, J. (2015). Audio-supported reading and students with learning disabilities. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessible Educational Materials. Retrieved on [3/3/21] from http://aem.cast.org/about/publications/2015/audio-supported-reading-learning-disabilities-asr-ld.html

National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (2015). Audio-supported reading and students with learning disabilities. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessible Educational Materials. Retrieved [3/4/21] from http://aem.cast.org/about/publications/2015/audio-supported-reading-learning-disabilities-asr-ld.html

Lerner, J. (2003). Learning disabilities: Theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies (9th ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Pax, Z. (n.d.). Text to speech technology and top reading tools for dyslexia/learning disabilities. Retrieved on [3/7/21] from https://www.ldrfa.org/text-to-speech-technology-and-top-reading-tools-for-dyslexia-learning-disabilities/

Understood.org. (n.d.). Retrieved on [3/7/21] from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/text-to-speech-technology-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

Enjoy this blog written by Veronica Lewis, at Veronica With Four Eyes. It is meant to address middle school teachers at the beginning of the school year but is just as meaningful at anytime!

Click the picture below to go directly to the blog!

AIM-VA is looking forward to a great year! We are happy to have this opportunity to start the new year off with wonderful educators who support students with diverse learning needs.

To start off the New Year, AIM-VA invites you to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a husband, father, Baptist Minister, Civil Rights leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner. He made significant contributions to the fight for equality for people, specifically African Americans.

Dr. King was born on January 15 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a pastor, and his mother was a teacher. Dr. King was the second of three children. As a matter of fact, his oldest sister, Mrs. Christine King Farris (93) is still alive. Dr. King married Coretta Scott in 1953. Together, they had 4 children.

• Here are some fun facts about Dr. Martin Luther King:
• He was born “Michael King, Jr.” However, his father was inspired by the reformation Leader Martin Luther. Therefore, he decided to change his son’s name to Martin Luther King
• He was admitted to college when he was on 15 years old
• He was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
• There are 730 streets in the United States of America named after Dr. King

Remember, January 18 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (National Holiday). To celebrate Dr. King and his accomplishments, explore Read Write Think’s multi-grade level (elementary, middle, and high school) activities. Be sure to check out the following books AIM-VA has available for your students to read.

Books	Formats
Elementary School
What was the March on Washington?	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, Audio
Heroes in Black History: True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word
All the People: Book 10, 1945-1999	PDF:Accessible
Coretta Scott King (4th grade Level Reader)	PDF:Accessible
I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King	Audio, Braille
Happy Birthday Martin Luther King	Audio
Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior	Braille
Meet Martin Luther King	Braille
Middle School
Heroes in Black History: True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word
All the People: Book 10, 1945-1999	PDF:Accessible
Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior	Braille
High School / Young Adult
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom	PDF:Accessible, Audio
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.	Audio

Research has found that reading just 20 minutes a day exposes children to millions of words a year. Students have a chance to read for 14 days if they take advantage of every day over winter break. At the end of this article you will find a listing of Holiday/Winter books from AIM-VA to help. Also, here are a few ideas that may encourage your students to continue reading over this winter holiday.

1. Challenge your students to read at least 20 minutes a day. Make sure you have books that they want to read. You can do this by going to AIM-VA, select Get Started and Search for a Book. Check out the book recommendations by title, author, or keyword.
   
2. Create a way for students to keep track of their reading over winter break. Consider making a chart of some type where students can record what they are reading and how long they read each day. They can turn this in after the break for extra credit or some other reward. Here’s an example: Reading Chart

   Date	Title of Book	Amount of Time Reading	Parent Initials
   Dec. 21
   Dec. 22
   Dec. 23
   Dec. 24
   Dec. 25
   Dec. 26
   Dec. 27
   Dec. 28
   Dec. 29
   Dec. 30
   Dec. 31
   Jan. 1
   Jan. 2
   Jan. 3
   TOTAL		Total # of minutes read

3. Have students share their thoughts on a book as they are reading using Padlet https://padlet.com/, Google Jamboard or any other media that students are familiar with. With Padlet students can create walls, grids, maps, timelines, among other things. For example, this is a timeline of Huckleberry Finn created in Padlet. After winter break, students can turn this in for credit.
   
4. Have students create a word cloud with new words they do not know or words that explain the character or story https://www.wordclouds.com/. Here’s an example of a word cloud that describes the character of Huckleberry Finn.
   
5. Find out if your students are taking a road trip and encourage them to listen to a book in the car. This is a way to help pass the time and a way to meet a reading goal at the same time.

You can continue many of these ideas after winter break and incorporate them into your reading activities throughout the rest of the year.

Other resources for ideas to keep students reading:

7 Tips for Getting Your Kids to Read Over Winter Break

Keeping Elementary Students Reading Over Winter Break

4 Practical Tips to Keep Students Reading Over Winter Break

AIM-VA Holiday/Winter Books

Many books are already available in AIM-VA by searching the website or Ordering Portal. However, many are listed befow for your convenience.

Please note… books not currently found in the AIM-VA library, can be produced if requested by an AIM-VA DRM (Digital Rights Manager) in any Virginia public school division.

Books	Formats
Early Elementary School
The Return of Santa Paws	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, ePub
A Snowman	PDF:Accessible
A Lucky New Year	PDF:Accessible, Nimas, RTF, HTML, Daisy
How the Grinch Stone Christmas	PDF:Accessible, Audio
Memoirs of an Elf	Audio
Granite	PDF:Accessible
Ned's New Old Sled	Braille
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: Ski School Sneak	PDF:Accessible
Late Elementary School
The Return of Santa Paws	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, ePub
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, ePub, Audio
A Christmas Carol	Nimas, RTF, HTML, Braille, Audio
Little Women	Large Print, RTF, Daisy, Nimas, Audio
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever	PDF:Accessible, Braille, Audio
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, Audio
How the Grinch Stone Christmas	PDF:Accessible, Audio
Santa Paws on Christmas Island	Audio
Granite	PDF:Accessible
My Life in Dog Years	PDF:Accessible, Audio
Stone Fox	PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, ePub, Audio
Children's Book of Jewish Holidays	Braille
Middle School
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, PDF:Fully Accessible, Word, ePub, Audio
A Christmas Carol	Nimas, RTF, HTML, Braille, Audio
Little Women	Large Print, RTF, Daisy, Nimas, Audio
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, Audio
Woodsong	PDF:Accessible, Audio
High School / Young Adult
A Christmas Carol	Nimas, RTF, HTML, Braille, Audio
Twelfth Night	Large Print, Audio
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, Audio
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler	PDF:Accesible, Audio

As we move to the close of the year, we are reminded of the people and things for which we can be thankful. We can be thankful for our families, for our teachers, our first responders, and the countless number of individuals who have to go to work every day to ensure that our lives maintain some sort of normalcy during this pandemic. Despite the changes, AIM-VA is still here to help you support your students.

AIMVA has the following books which focus on being thankful and grateful during the Thanksgiving season:

Thanksgiving on Thursday
by Mary Pope
format - PDF: Accessible

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
format - PDF: Accessible

Turkey Trouble
by Wendi Silvano & Lee Harper
format - PDF: Accessible and Large Print

Make Your Home Among Strangers
by Ennine Capó Crucet
format - PDF: Accessible

When making the shift to the virtual learning environment, many school districts are providing students with technology such as Chromebooks, iPads, hotspots, etc. It is important that students are able to use technology in a way that is meaningful and beneficial to them. Just as important, however, is that they do so independently.

Students need access to accessible class materials and reading books when working with the technology assigned to them. The key word is accessible! Sure, you can scan or download a few worksheets for class and Voilà!, digital copies. But, is this enough for all of your students? Ask yourself:

• Is the text in the digital copy accessible?
• Can your students have the text read aloud?
• Can they copy & paste words they need to do a web search, write a paper, or find the definition?
• Will they be able to complete the assignment independently; without the help of someone else reading to them?

If the answer is yes to these questions, good for you! You happen to have gotten access to materials that will actually work for all of your students.

However, if you answered no, don’t fret… AIM-VA can help!

It’s what we do; convert the classroom materials you select for your virtual or face-to-face class, into accessible ones. It’s that easy!

There’s more to Halloween than just dressing up in costumes and filling candy bags with sweet treats. There are also Halloween books to read and AIM-VA is here to help! Teachers: encourage your students to let their imaginations run wild as they read stories filled with suspension and adventure.

Check out this Pumpkin Book Report activity. You can use it in your class and share with parents. It even includes 2 accessible worksheets for your students! We would love to see the final products if you use AIM-VA books - email pictures to aimva@gmu.edu!

So take a look at many fun and exciting Halloween books we have in our AIM-VA Portal that are already accessible for your students!

Books	Formats
Elementary - Middle School
Dinosaurs Before Dark	PDF:Accessible, Braille
Junie B Jones, Boo…and I mean it!	PDF:Accessible
The Hardy Boys #2: The House on the Cliff	PDF:Accessible
The Hardy Boys #44: The Haunted Fort	PDF:Accessible
Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask II	PDF:Accessible
Goosebumps: Zombie School	Braille
Goosebumps: Stay Out of the Basement	Large Print
Goosebumps: Welcome to Camp Nightmare	Large Print
Goosebumps: Escape from Horror House	Braille
Here’s Hank #5: There’s a Zombie in my Bathtub	PDF:Accessible
Pleasing the Ghost	PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, ePub
Time For Andrew: A Ghost Story	PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, ePub
The Last Kids on Earth	PDF:Accessible
Summer of the Woods: The Virginia Mysteries Book 1	PDF:Accessible
Midnight Howl	PDF:Accessible
The Dollhouse Murders	PDF:Accessible
Breaking Dawn	Large Print
Half Bad	PDF:Accessible
Haunted House	Braille
The Ghost Cadet	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, ePub, Braille
Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase	PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, ePub
The Ghost in Text 19	Braille
The Witch of Blackbird Pond	Braille
The Ghost's Grave	PDF:Accessible
Who Knew There'd Be Ghosts?	Braille
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Large Print & PDF:Accessible
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkahban	Large Print & PDF:Accessible
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Large Print & PDF:Accessible
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Large Print
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	Large Print
House of Dies Drear	Braille
High School/Young Adult
Four Great Plays	PDF:Accessible
Fever 1793	PDF:Accessible, Braille
Dracula	Large Print
Dracula's Guest	Large Print
Macbeth	PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, Braille
The Round House	PDF:Accessible
Slaughterhouse Five	Large Print, PDF:Accessible, WORD, PDF:Fully Accessible, ePub

Roald Dahl was a famous British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, an ace fighter pilot, and a chocolate historian. He is considered the Shakespeare of children's literature and was named one of the world's greatest storytellers of all time.

His first children’s book, The Gremlins, was published in 1943. This was a book about creatures that were a part of the Royal Air Force. This book was so interesting that Eleanor Roosevelt read the story to her grandchildren and Walt Disney commissioned it for a movie.

As a child, Dahl was an avid reader. His favorite authors were Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens to name a few. Due to his literary skills and awe-inspiring imagination, Dahl left a legacy of literary wonders. AIM-VA has a few of those wonders available on the AIMVA portal in various formats. Here are the Roald Dahl books and formats that are available on the AIM-VA Portal:

	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory PDF: Accessible PDF: Fully Accessible Word ePub
	Danny the Champion of the World PDF: Accessible
	Fantastic Mr. Fox PDF: Accessible PDF: Fully Accessible Word ePub
	George’s Marvelous Medicine Large Print PDF: Accessible PDF: Fully Accessible Word ePub
	The BFG Large Print PDF: Accessible
	The Magic Finger PDF: Accessible
	The Twits PDF: Accessible PDF: Fully Accessible Word ePub