How Kurzweil 3000 can be used to
support the learning needs of a particular student.
I have never used Kurzweil in my class but I have seen it being used in my school for individual students. Hence, I am going to focus on how Kurzweil is used to support the reading needs (in the area of fluency)of a particular boy (KM) who is in grade 7 but is reading at a grade 2 level. I sat in the learning room with him last week and observed him using Kurzweil.
KM was very excited to show me what Kurzweil was all about and proceeded to tell me what a cool technology it was and how it was helping him read! I only observed him for one 30 minute session. His class teacher was using differentiated instruction to support KM in his reading. His teacher said that KM lacked fluency in his reading, together with comprehension and inability to focus
KM was reading an A to Z levelled reader on Kurzweil. He logged in independently and knew which book he was choosing to read. He reads haltingly and has difficulty grouping words into meaningful grammatical units. Like other skills, fluency could improve with practice. Some of the ways that Kurzweil was helping him build fluency included:
-focusing on chunks of words by breaking text into segments
-decreasing the number of words on the screen
-text to speech software helped him bypass the task of decoding words.
-highlighted individual words as the text is read aloud helped with sight word vocabulary.
-reading settings like speed to guide him through reading fluency
-syllables tool for decoding words
-picture dictionary support for learning word meanings
- By changing the reading rate, the mode of reading such as, by sentence or paragraph, and the character of the voice, there was the opportunity for close and careful reading and this enabled him to focus on the content, instead of decoding.
We did not get to the comprehension section as KM wanted to point out all the neat features of Kurzweil. He said he enjoyed using the Kurzweil to read and is now a very good reader! He also went on to say that he is not too tired when it comes to reading as the machine does it all for him! His teacher pointed out that KM can now concentrate on reading for longer periods of time and appears less stressed out. He has made strides in reading, despite reading at a grade 2 level.
I did not get a chance to see him use the Kurzweil in Writing but he assured me that he is a very good writer!
I have never used Kurzweil in my class but I have seen it being used in my school for individual students. Hence, I am going to focus on how Kurzweil is used to support the reading needs (in the area of fluency)of a particular boy (KM) who is in grade 7 but is reading at a grade 2 level. I sat in the learning room with him last week and observed him using Kurzweil.
KM was very excited to show me what Kurzweil was all about and proceeded to tell me what a cool technology it was and how it was helping him read! I only observed him for one 30 minute session. His class teacher was using differentiated instruction to support KM in his reading. His teacher said that KM lacked fluency in his reading, together with comprehension and inability to focus
KM was reading an A to Z levelled reader on Kurzweil. He logged in independently and knew which book he was choosing to read. He reads haltingly and has difficulty grouping words into meaningful grammatical units. Like other skills, fluency could improve with practice. Some of the ways that Kurzweil was helping him build fluency included:
-focusing on chunks of words by breaking text into segments
-decreasing the number of words on the screen
-text to speech software helped him bypass the task of decoding words.
-highlighted individual words as the text is read aloud helped with sight word vocabulary.
-reading settings like speed to guide him through reading fluency
-syllables tool for decoding words
-picture dictionary support for learning word meanings
- By changing the reading rate, the mode of reading such as, by sentence or paragraph, and the character of the voice, there was the opportunity for close and careful reading and this enabled him to focus on the content, instead of decoding.
We did not get to the comprehension section as KM wanted to point out all the neat features of Kurzweil. He said he enjoyed using the Kurzweil to read and is now a very good reader! He also went on to say that he is not too tired when it comes to reading as the machine does it all for him! His teacher pointed out that KM can now concentrate on reading for longer periods of time and appears less stressed out. He has made strides in reading, despite reading at a grade 2 level.
I did not get a chance to see him use the Kurzweil in Writing but he assured me that he is a very good writer!