Visual Learning Inspires Literacy Instruction

Tech Tip:Inserting Audio Files in Inspiration® and Kidspiration™




This diagram created using Kidspiration™ software

Best wishes for this holiday season and for the new year!

Students of all ages make connections with prior knowledge and build literacy skills with visual scaffolding/organizing tools such as Inspiration® and Kidspiration TM software. Here are some of the best teacher-created examples to serve as starting points for developing visually-based literacy lessons:

Make Children’s Books Come Alive With Technology
Mindy Ramon and Debbie Blake of the Cobb County Public Schools (GA) have assembled a group of creative Inspiration® and Kidspiration™ examples to enhance the teaching of K-5 literature comprehension skills.

T.O.G.E.T.H.E.R
Patti Weeg of the Global Classroom Project has gathered a group of exemplary ready-made Kidspiration™ templates to support literacy instruction. Topics include; identifying fact and opinion, matching synonyms, and using vowels. *Kidspiration software required to view diagrams.

Read Write Think Student Materials
The International Reading Association (IRA) presents a quality collection of online graphic organizer creation tools with excellent accompanying lessons to support K-12 literacy.

The Clearinghouse
The Center for Electronic Studying at the University of Oregon has an extensive QuickTime slide show collection of Inspiration/Kidspiration concept map examples for language arts, social studies, and science.

Inspiration and Kidspiration Teacher-Created Projects
Examples of graphic organizers created by students in UW-Stout’s online class Inspiration® and KidspirationTM: K-12 Strategies to Build Study Skills and Comprehension.

Tech Tip – Inserting Audio Files in Inspiration® and Kidspiration™
The ability to record and insert audio files in electronic graphic organizers is highly useful for ELL students and beginning readers. Teachers can easily record and insert directions as audio files within diagrams.

To record and insert an audio file in Kidspiration™:
1. Enable the sound recording feature by going to the Teacher menu, selecting Enable Teacher Menu and clicking on Application Options and then selecting Record Sounds.
2. Make sure that you have a microphone attached to your computer or built-in.
3. Click to select the symbol in your diagram to which you want the sound to be attached.
4. On the Sound menu, click on Record.
5. In the recording control window, click the Record button to begin recording. Recordings may be up to 15 seconds in length.
6. When you finish recording, click on Save to save the recording and attach it to the selected symbol in your diagram. In Picture View, you will note that a sound icon now appears in the upper right corner of the symbol. To play a recorded sound, click on the sound icon.
7. To erase a sound, select the symbol, go to the Sound menu, and click on Erase.


To record and insert an audio file in Inspiration®:
1. To enable recording, choose Application Properties on the Utility menu. Under Audio, select the Record Sound check box.
2. Select the symbol for which you want to record a sound.
3. On the Tools menu, select Sound, and then click Record.
4. In the recording window, click Record to begin recording. Recordings may be up to 30 seconds in length.
5. When finished recording, click on Save.An audio "quick control" icon is now attached to the corner of the symbol, and the sound may be played by clicking on the audio icon.
6. To erase a sound, click on the symbol to which the sound is attached, then go to the Tools menu, select Sound, and then Erase.


Announcement: Are you looking for graduate courses for Spring 2008 that support your professional development goals for learning new skills, changing salary lanes, licensure renewal and advanced certification?

SEARCH/BROWSE LIST OF SPRING COURSES http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/courses.shtml
You may participate from your home or school computer; no travel to campus is required.

REGISTER ONLINE TO RESERVE A SPOT
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/register.shtml
No payment is due until the beginning of the spring semester.

New poster for your faculty bulletin board:http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pdf/poster.pdf

For additional information, email Joan Vandervelde at vanderveldej@uwstout.edu or call Joan at (715) 642-0209

Labels: , ,

posted by Karen Franker, Editor @ 12/17/2007 09:12:00 PM