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Hi Rebecca, similiar to you, I worked with senior infants last year who struggled with phonics and literacy so I think ABC Phonics and Immersive reader would have been a great resource for them, They would enjoy the engaging games in ABC Phonics and starfall. It’s fantastic to know about the numeracy resources too.
I agree with you Emily that the SETT model is a fantastic tool that allows us to offer supports in a practical, student focussed way. I love the way it is so student centered.
To help students with special needs, we need to use technology carefully and understand each student’s specific strengths and needs first. We need to ensure that all students can learn and show what they know. The Inclusive Education Framework informs this process.
This response will focus on how technology, specifically Immersive Reader and ABC Kids Phonics can be integrated to support students in senior infants who are struggling with letter names and sounds and reading, referencing the principles outlined in the Inclusive Education Framework’s School Development Planning section.
Before implementing any technology, it’s crucial to understand the specific needs of the student or group. This involves a thorough assessment of their strengths, challenges, and learning styles. The Inclusive Education Framework highlights the importance of individualised planning and differentiated instruction.
Immersive reader would be helpful for these students who struggle with reading as it would:
· Read the text aloud
· Highlight one line at a time to help with focus.
· Show pictures for words to help with understanding.
The App ABC kids tracing and phonics would work help in conjunction with immersive reader as the phonic games and activities would focus on letter sounds, blending, segmenting, and sight words.
Kahoot would be an excellent resource for maths to create fun quizzes but at the same time assessing learning so that teachers can plan accordingly.
It is so important to carefully consider the student’s individual needs and if using technologies like Immersive Reader and ABC Kids Phonics adapt them accordingly e.g. change the reading speed in Immersive Reader or use the picture dictionary or change the difficulty level in ABC Kids Phonics.
By integrating them within a well-structured instructional plan guided by the principles of the Inclusive Education Framework, educators can create a supportive and effective learning environment for students with special needs.
I believe that the SETT framework offers an organised approach to understanding students needs and identifying appropriate AT solutions. When used in collaboration with the school support file, it can help teachers reflect on the student’s strengths and successes with AT and assess the student’s environment and the tasks the student needs to accomplish, and the tools that might support these tasks.
To use SETT with a School Support File, we must first focus on the student’s strengths, needs and skills. It involves gathering information about the student’s abilities and difficulties. This includes academic and social skills. Next, it is important to examine the environments where the student functions i.e. the classroom but possibly home too. Following that, it is crucial to identify the specific tasks the student needs or wants to perform. This includes academic tasks (e.g., reading, writing, maths), social tasks (e.g., communicating with peers).
Finally. AT devices and services that can support the student in achieving the identified tasks are explored. This includes a range of AT options, from low-tech to high-tech solutions.
Plan below in case link doesn’t open
Name: John
Age: 5 years old
Strengths: Enjoys hands on activities and working with other children.
Needs: Needs support in learning letter sounds, identifying letters, and beginning to blend sounds to read simple words
Current Skills: Can identify some letters 10/26 but can only write c, a and o,
Environment:
Classroom environment, sitting in a small group with three other children. Each child will have their own tablet. A SET teacher will work with the group.
Other Resources: Magnetic letters, whiteboards, flashcards
Tasks
Learning outcome: To learn the letter sounds, to focus on one letter sound a day and not to begin a new letter sound until the previous sound is known.
Access to a tablet with the ABC Kids tracing and phonics app installed, pencils, paper, and other supplementary materials (e.g., flashcards, magnetic letters).
Daily/ weekly assessments to track progress
Tools
Using the ABC Kids tracing and phonics app to trace letters, both uppercase and lowercase.
Matching letters to their corresponding sounds using the app’s interactive features.
Using flashcards, magnetic letters, and other hands-on activities to reinforce concepts learned in the app.
Reflection:
The SETT framework provides an excellent structure to integrate technology into phonics instruction. The ABC Kids tracing and phonics app would engage young learners and help them to develop fundamental literacy skills. The app’s features, such as letter tracing, sound association, and interactive games would engage a 5-year-old student who thrives on visual and auditory learning
Apart from using the app, the plan incorporates supplementary activities, such as flashcards and magnetic letters, to provide a multi-sensory approach. The child could sort an array of magnetic letters by sound and identify the letter on being shown a flashcard.
Like any teaching plan, the success of this plan relies on consistent implementation, ongoing assessment, and making the necessary adjustments based on the student’s progress. Regular monitoring of the student’s performance is vital and regular consultation between the SET and classroom teacher. The use of technology, such as the ABC Kids tracing and phonics app, can make phonics instruction more enjoyable for young learners. The use of the SETT framework ensures that the technology is used effectively to support the student’s learning.
Hi Megan,
I really liked how your activity incorporated a multi- sensory approach, the child would be able to see the sentence, listen to it and also have the visual pictures so it would suit all learning styles. Well done!
I was very impressed with immersive reader. I particularly liked the picture dictionary option which would be fantastic for EAL learners. A high proportion of the children in my school don’t have English as their first language. I also liked the translate options. I will definitely use it next year as it is very user friendly. Through immersive reader, all children in the class regardless of their reading level could access the lesson so it would be so inclusive.
Previous to completing this module, I was unaware of how many built in accessiblity features are readily acvailable. These could be the game changer for children with SEN amnd EAL children. Simple changes like changing the background colour and size of fonyt could make them so much more accessible. I loved the all the keyboard shortcuts that again I was unaware of. I thought the trackball mouse wasan excellent idea as last year I had a child who had a tremor in his hand and find the normal mouse difficult to navigate so this mouse would have been perfect for him.
Like you Megan, I hadn’t used immersive reader before and I can see what a great asset it would be for any child who is struggling with reading. The read aloud option would be wonderful for them and they could track the words on the page. This would make it less daunting for the child and also allow them to listen to fluent reading and if the piece was at their reading level, they could try to read it themselves afterwards.
I agree with you Emily, I think the SETT framework is a very effective way of matching AT to the student’s needs. It is very child centred which is of upmost importance so it would be an extremely valuable framework for both SET teachers and mainstream teachers.
Part 2: Using the SETT Framework with a School Support File
I think the SETT framework could be easily used in conjunction with a student support file. As the SETT framework focuses initially on the students strengths, this could be in the area of reading or maths before focusing on the learning environment. When working on a student support file, it is important to look at the Tasks that the class are expected to do as highlighted in the first T in the SETT model before examining the tools that can be used to help the child. The SETT framework is an excellent framework for schools to employ and use and one that I look forward to using in the future.
I found this module really beneficial and it highlighted to me the great potential AT has. It was fantastic how it was broken down into low, medium and high tech tools. This was reassuring for me as there were examples of low tech tools that I was using already like magnetic letters. I previously would have thought of AT to be specifcally related to actual devices like an ipad or tablet but it is so much broader than that. I was also introduced to the SETT model too in this module which I found really interesting.
The standard that struck me the most from the Digitial Learning Framework was ‘Student engagement and motivation.’ It is essential that students actively engage with digital technology to enhance their learning but equally important is that the students are motivated to learn. Without these two components, learning will not take place.
This year I worked with a child who had huge difficulty with their fine motor skills and he found handwriting very difficult. I thought the Hardwriting without tears template that was shown would give this child good guidance and how to form his letters and help him to keep his handwriting in proportion. I found a similar free template online which I will share here:
The dotted line would show the child the height a small letter like ‘s’ should be. Initially I would allow the child to copy a word that I would write, then I would extend this to a sentence.
Part 2:
Teachers are certainly life long learners, CPD is so important as new research and ideas are being developed all the time. I trained as a reading recovery teacher 17 years ago and we still get 6 CPD days every day which is invaluable. CPD gives teachers new ideas to explore with the children while allowing for professional autonomy, one of the principles highlighted in Cosan, so that teachers can choose the learning experience that best suits the individual needs. While engaging in CPD, it is important to acknowledge that teachers learn in various ways and in diverse contexts which is another principle outlined in Cosan.