Tools to Help Student Learn
Every student is unique. The tools below help many students in a variety of ways. At the time I posted this they were all free. Additional resources will be added to this list over time. If your student has a difficult time reading text but is an aural learner (as in listens and understands) a tool like Natural Reader may assist them in becoming more independent when using a computer to do educational work. If the text on a website is too difficult for a student to understand using a site like Rewordify may make the difference as it changes the text but also allows the student to mouse over the new text and see the original text.
There is a short description for each tool. Over time suggestions on how to use each tool will be added.
There is a short description for each tool. Over time suggestions on how to use each tool will be added.
Natural Reader (http://www.naturalreaders.com/download.php)
Natural Reader is a free tool that provides text-to-speech. The free version provides computerized voices and a floating tool bar that allows you to access a website and have it read to you. There is also a paid version with additional features that you may want to consider.
Rewordify (http://rewordify.com/)
Rewordify “helps you read more, understand difficult English faster, and learn words in new ways.” You can cut and paste text in or you can simply submit a web address (URL) and you will see a simplified version of the information.
One great feature of this tool is that words that are changed are highlighted in yellow. This is called Smart Highlighting and it will show the original word, helping students learn new vocabulary.
Readability (https://readability.com/addons)
Readability removes the clutter that often surrounds websites, providing less distraction to the reader. It is a free app and is available for most platforms. You may choose to read it now, read it later, or send to a Kindle.
There are a number of choices that you may make. There are five options for the text/background color, you may choose the size of the font and you may choose the size of the margins.
Readability removes the clutter that often surrounds websites, providing less distraction to the reader. It is a free app and is available for most platforms. You may choose to read it now, read it later, or send to a Kindle.
There are a number of choices that you may make. There are five options for the text/background color, you may choose the size of the font and you may choose the size of the margins.
Ginger Software (http://www.gingersoftware.com/)
Ginger Software provides a range of resources that help students become more independent learners. The tools include:
Ginger Software provides a range of resources that help students become more independent learners. The tools include:
- Ginger Proofreader – a free spelling and grammar check tool. This tool checks for misspellings, misused words and grammar mistakes, providing alternative when needed (and you must accept the alternative).
- Sentence Rephraser “analyzes users’ text and creates variations of the same sentence to help enhance users’ communication.
- Personal Trainer will create a lesson based on your writing. It analyzes your writing, identifies weaknesses and provides lessons targeting the weaknesses.
- Text Reader will read your text back to you using either an American voice or a British voice, helping to learn correct pronunciation.
WordSift (http://wordsift.com/)
WordSift helps students visualize text. Cut and paste text into WordSift and it will identify important words that are in the text, essentially creating a word cloud. But this is different from most word clouds. Why? Because you can have the program highlight science words, social studies words, language art words, math word, academic words and more. You may also select a word by clicking on it and the Visual Thesaurus will show you the selected word in the center and relate it to other words. There are also images from Google that may help students understand the word, sentences from the text that show the word used in sentences within the text. This tool was designed for English Language Learners but benefits all students.
WordSift helps students visualize text. Cut and paste text into WordSift and it will identify important words that are in the text, essentially creating a word cloud. But this is different from most word clouds. Why? Because you can have the program highlight science words, social studies words, language art words, math word, academic words and more. You may also select a word by clicking on it and the Visual Thesaurus will show you the selected word in the center and relate it to other words. There are also images from Google that may help students understand the word, sentences from the text that show the word used in sentences within the text. This tool was designed for English Language Learners but benefits all students.
"Books That Grow began as an idea - that the same digital book could contain multiple reading levels, enabling ALL students to participate in reading assignments, saving teachers time and fostering student success."