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Empowering Struggling Readers in
Grades 4-6 with Technology
Related Resources for Teachers
Presented by Julie Coiro
SERC, March 21, 2002
Related Resources for Teachers Dorothy Strickland, in her 1995 article "Reinventing our literacy programs: Books, basics, balance", points out that technology can help classroom teachers in these two ways:
Online Resources
- access to technology (the Internet) increases literacy and content knowledge by making non-fiction articles available to you through searches; articles that are directly related to what you are are teaching provide a high-interest supplement to the textbook
- access to technology can help you assign these articles to individual students at their reading level, so that all students are able to sustain interest in the subject and not become frustrated because of the difficulty in reading the textbook.
- Reading Online is the premium resource for locating new information, articles, and resources for integrating technology into your literacy curriculum. You can discuss issues online within the Electronic Classroom, New Literacies Webwatch and Online Communities. Some good starting places for articles include
- Teaching Readers Who Struggle written by Gwynne Ellen Ashe
- Internet Resources to Assist Struggling Readers written by Denise Johnson
- Taking a Position on Integrating Literacy and Technology in the Curriculum by Bridget Dalton and Dana Grisham
- Reaching the Struggling Reader: Technology & Learning's May, 2001 article written by Terry Lankutis outlines some of the benefits to students using creative reading software and reviews four programs that target a different facet of the reading process and present information in multiple modalities. The programs are Earobics, Lexia, Kurzweil 3000 and Co:Writer.
- Don Johnston Inc. is a leader in learning intervention resources and provides high-quality products for struggling students and students with disabilities. A few great titles for students include casteReader, Co:Writer, and Write:Outloud. You can try any product free for 30 days and their newsletter is a great new resource.
- Sunburst Reading Software includes Missing Links, Island Reading Journey, and Cosmic Reading Journey.
- Electronic Book Devises
- First, download Microsoft eReader for free.
- Then visit Project Gutenberg to get access to many electronic texts (or create your own in Microsoft Word). If you get your text from Project Gutenberg, highlight and copy all the text and paste it into a Microsoft Word document.
- Then, download ReaderWorks which is a free software program that converts electronic files into Microsoft® Reader eBooks.