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A project funded by the Georgia State Improvement Grant
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On-Line - Spring 2002
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Academic Activities
using Speaking Dynamically Pro by
Mari Beth Coleman-Martin, OI Teacher
Speaking Dynamically Pro (SDP) is a
versatile software program which is used frequently with students in classes
for children with orthopedic impairments. This program can be tailored
to individual needs from preschool to adult. SDP is a Mayer-Johnson
product which is available in Macintosh and Windows platforms. The
Windows version has only been released this year but it has some great
short-cuts compared to the older Macintosh versions with which I was
familiar. SDP was developed as communication software but it is
flexible enough to be used for a wide variety of academic activities.
SDP works in conjunction with Boardmaker software. Boards are
created using the button drawing tools and graphics from Boardmaker.
Each button can then be programmed to perform a variety of functions (speak
message, type message into a separate window, change board,
perform functions such as shift, tab, print, etc.) One
of the features which allows for flexibility is the use of variables.
Variables can be assigned to specific words so that SDP will perform a
certain way for that word. For example, variables can be assigned for
different verb tenses which will match the subject. When
"you" is selected with "go", SDP will say the message as
"You go." However, when "he" is selected
with "go", the program will say, "He goes."
This feature not only allows for correct spoken grammar, but for creating
boards with different functions such as quizzes. Another great
option provided in SDP is scanning. This allows access to anything that the
program can do with the use of a single switch. Files can even be
saved by a single switch user by using the scanning and onscreen keyboard
options.
While SDP does require some
training/practice for both the person who will make boards and the user, it
is not a difficult program to use. The manuals which come with the
program are thorough and programming can be self-taught. Training is
recommended, though, because training sessions often provide great ideas of
how to use the program. Individuals who will use the program will need
instruction in how to move "dynamically" through boards. I
had two 5th grade students who were able to program some buttons with
minimal guidance after being shown the first few. They each used this
program to give a report to their mainstream classes. Following, I
will present a few ideas for using Speaking Dynamically Pro for academic
activities. Given the diverse nature of most classrooms for students
with OI, these activities can be changed to meet individual student needs.
Reading Activities
Programmed Books
One way which allows for students to
have independent access to books is to program the book into SDP. This
can be done in two ways depending on the skill level of the student. One
of the sample boards which comes with SDP is a book called "Fat
Cat". This provides a template with a picture of an open book which
graphics from the student's actual story could be scanned and placed into.
Text can then be placed into a message window which will read the text when
the student clicks on the page. Message windows allow text to be read
with highlighting so that each word is highlighted and spoken separately. The
process of importing the graphics would be quite time-consuming; however, if
this is the only way a student could access the materials, the time spent
would be well worthwhile. I, personally, still feel that there is
nothing like the actual book and would use both with the student. This
is why the second option is simpler to program. The text on each page
(or each section of a page for higher level materials) is programmed onto a
button. A message window could accompany several buttons on each board.
This way, the student could use the actual book on a slant board or using a
page turner and could practice reading the text independently in the book and
with highlighting and speech on the SDP board. This is a great way for the
student to receive supplemental practice after adult instruction has taken
place. In addition to the text from the book, vocabulary words or other facts
can be programmed for the student to independently access and practice.
Reading Comprehension
One way which reading comprehension
is assessed using SDP is through boards with pictures of topics which appeared
in the story. Students can be asked questions about things which
happened in the story and they can provide their answer by selecting the
corresponding choice. This type of board requires very little teacher
preparation time and is a great option for younger or lower-level readers.
Another option is to use variables to create a multiple choice quiz.
Using this option, buttons can be created for the quiz question and the answer
array. Variables can be programmed so that the last choice the student
selects after each question is saved and transferred to a message display
later in the quiz. Students can hear each question and answer choice,
make selections, move through all questions of the quiz, and then have all of
their answers appear in a message display. This can then be printed and graded
just like any other quiz.
Story Sequencing
One way to see if a student
understood the sequence of a story is to have a board with some events from
the story programmed on buttons. By using the spoken preview option,
students can hear the button text of each event and then place the events in
the correct order by activating the buttons and having the text sent to a
message display. They could then see and hear the whole sequence which
they put together. This could be scaled down to two or three choices
with pictures or scaled up to a series of individual sentences to be
sequenced.
Onscreen Keyboard
For students who do not have
handwriting skills, SDP has several sample keyboards which can be used for
onscreen word processing. One sample keyboard which is provided has the
letters in alphabetical order with groups arranged for row/column scanning.
A spoken preview of each letter is heard as the student moves the cursor
across the letters (or as they are scanned). There are options for word
prediction, speaking the text, saving the message, and even for printing.
There are buttons for shift, space, enter, backspace and punctuation just like
a keyboard. These keyboards can be used with scanning or students can
directly select buttons with a mouse, joystick or trackball.
Sentence Building
There are numerous ways to set up
sentence building for communication or academics. One way which is
provided as a sample board is through the use of popup boards. Popup
boards are smaller boards which "pop up" and cover a portion of the
original board when a button is chosen. For sentence building, a main
board contains buttons for people, actions, places and things. When the
people button is selected, a popup board with choices of people appears.
On the sample board, there are a few choices with pictures of the actual
people. People can also be selected from the Boardmaker libraries by searching
for "woman", "boy", "girl," etc. Of
course, pictures are not necessary and, by not using them, more choices can be
placed on each popup board. This type of popup board is created for each
button on the main sentence building board and a message display is provided
so that the sentence can be seen and spoken when complete. The user
activates a button for a person ("My mom"), action ("likes to
go"), and thing or place ("to the park").
Another way to have students do
sentence building is to create a board with columns for articles, subjects,
verbs, and objects with various choices under each one. An example of
choices a student might make going across would be, "The"
"girl" "has" "a" "blue"
"ball" "." to form the sentence, "The girl has a blue
ball." in the message display. In this way, students who are
beginning writers can create a variety of sentences using left-to-right
directionality and punctuation. Additionally, the concept of parts of
speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives) can be addressed.
Story Fill-Ins
As previously mentioned, variables
can be assigned to words or phrases to create different functions.
Boards can be created where students make choices which will be filled in to a
programmed story. Students could select characters, settings, and events
to create serious or silly stories - depending on the teacher's objective.
One sample which is provided with SDP is a series of story fill in boards
where students choose a character and a few phrases to be plugged into a story
created with some random nouns and verbs designed to simulate "Mad Libs".
Stories come out being very silly ("Kim is a silly bug who likes to climb
telephones...") and students really enjoy doing them. Every time,
the story is different so the work spent in assigning variables is worthwhile
in the number of times these boards can be used. This can give students
with limited writing skills some experience in writing their own stories -
whether silly or not.
Rotating Boards
Rotating boards can actually be used
for a variety of activities. One way which I have used them for math is
for assessing and instructing number recognition to students who cannot say
the numbers. Buttons in SDP can be programmed to change from board to
board. This makes it possible for several boards with the same
information but in a different order to be linked. For example, if the
student is working on numbers 11 through 15, a button for each number can be
created. On the first board they might be placed in the order: 13,
11, 15, 14, 12. On the next board the same buttons would be moved around
to a different order: 12, 14, 15, 13, 11. This eliminates the
possibility that the student learns the position of the number rather than
learning to discriminate the number itself. I have used rotating boards
frequently with sight words as well.
Flash Cards
A sample board which is supplied with
SDP is one for math flash cards. These are buttons with math facts which
provide a spoken preview when the mouse cursor is placed on them. When
the student chooses the button, the answer then appears in the button.
This is a way which students could independently practice math facts by trying
to figure out the answer and then self-checking their answers.
Games/Puzzles
On Fridays, I typically give spelling
and sight-word quizzes and then we play instructional games. Games are also
used in many general education classrooms. However, several of my kids cannot
roll dice nor move their game pieces. Kids who are verbal and can ask
someone else to roll and move for them can participate in the game (we also do
hand-over-hand when possible for dice and game pieces). However,
students who have limited speech are very limited in their game participation.
One of the sample boards which comes with SDP is a "games" board.
This board has a picture of two dice which roll and will randomly place a
number in the display window for the student's roll. This board also
contains game phrases such as, "Your turn," "This game is
fun," "Let's play again," etc. Boards can also be
programmed for specific games just like for any academic activity. For
example, a board could be created for students to mark their card in
Sight-Word Bingo. One other sample board which comes with SDP is a
puzzle. Students are shown a piece and must select the button showing
where that piece goes. This would be a way that a younger student could
complete an onscreen version of a puzzle which the rest of his or her class is
completing. The picture from the puzzle box could be scanned and saved
and then puzzle shaped buttons could be drawn and programmed.
Pizza Ordering
This is more of a functional than a
traditional academic skill, but it has been very rewarding for my students who
are AAC users. Boards can be programmed with all of the information
required to order pizza ("This is for delivery", "I want a
large...", "My phone number is....") and can be used with a
speaker phone. One important thing to make sure is the first button on
the board is one which says something like, "I am a person with a
disability. I am using my computer to talk. Please do not hang up
and please be patient." Additionally, this board should include a
button for "yes" and "no" and one which says, "Please
ask me a yes or no question." Each time I have done this, I
have called the pizza place before to tell them that my students will be
calling. This isn't a necessary step, but helps insure success and
builds confidence for the student.