Text-to-Speech

When someone is writing, regardless on the purpose, it is meant to be comprehended. No one writes to not be understood. When words are written, or in today's time, typed, the sole purpose is to get a point across and make a connection with the reader. With computer-based programs, the Text-to-Speech (TTS) function has been added. A writer can type words into the program and have the words read aloud to them and the reader. Another form of text-to-speech are eBooks, published literature in all genres that are read aloud. Not all books have been formatted to have this function but the eBook library is continuously growing and becoming quite common. Making a connection to Text-to-Speech would be captions on television, movies, and video games.

My personal feelings on text-to-speech are simple: it is a fantastic feature that helps all, students and adults alike. In my classroom, I have not used this feature as much besides in read alouds that highlight words as it is being read by a narrator. Never realizing the benefit of the narrator and the one-to-one correspondence, I would like to use this feature more often in my classroom! "The TTS capability in eBooks allows students to hear fluent readers" (Gonzalez, 2014). Besides myself reading for my scholars, having multiple titles read by even a male's voice could help students comprehend and connect with a text more. In this course, I am reading/listening to two different eBooks while reading an eBook without the Text-to-Speech component. So far, I am enjoying the difference. I am hoping that by the end of this course I can merge my personal learning with eBooks and the goals I would like to set for my personal learning environment.

 Gonzalez, M., Dr. (2014). The Effect of Embedded Text-to-Speech and Vocabulary eBook Scaffolds on the Comprehension of Students with Special Education. International Journal of Special Education, 29(3), 10. Retrieved January 31, 2016. 

Session 4- Paperrater.com

Using the site paperrater.com, a piece of my writing was submitted to review the following elements: grammar, word choice, spelling, style, and vocabulary. Once the paper has been reviewed, a grade is given to the piece to show how it could be graded. From the grade, it is expecting you to go through and make the necessary changes to give a better grade. Attached below is my review from the site!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17cExhUwX_0VoeKh0yoiDhCV0OWX363RrH9L_UTib5Xc/edit?usp=sharing

Low Tech Writing Tools

I went to Publix and Target to get some ideas for writing tools. Many of the items I found have to be used with paper or dry erase.

These markers can be used by using sheet protectors and card stock. Simply put the card stock in the protector to create a sturdy surface. Use a cotton ball or felt to wipe clean!

These cut out letters and shapes can be used to make words. I was somewhat hesitant to pick these simply because it did not come with lower case letters.

Scissors are a great tool to use when there are left over magazines and newspapers around the home that can be cut to make words. Only thing missing here is glue :-)

Almost everyone likes to add a splash of color to their writing!

Paint can make writing fun!

Adapt Paper

For this assignment, I created this sheet for my daughter, Kennedy, who is five years old. She knows how to spell her name but not necessarily on this type of paper. I gave her quite a few dots to spell her name with. It was cool watching her stop at the ripples in the paper.

Reading- DailyLit

I have chosen to receive short readings each day of the week from DailyLit, a website that give small "doses" of readings on your own time. Having 15 minutes of reading completed each day seems like something I can handle. The text I will be reading over 127 installments is titled Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Audiobook

Using my Jacksonville Public Library card, I was introduced to Hoopla, a website and app that allows you to rent books online. I got on my computer and signed up which was very easy! Once your account is created, you can use your device (cell phone or tablet) to download the app. I am assuming that with the JPL you have 21 days to read the book, just like a standard checkout time. Once you are in, you have a variety of books to pick from. I will be reading Hood as my first audio book experience! I am very excited.

Autosummary

Using the website, Text Compactor, I summarized a portion of Moby Dick. The website was pretty easy to use. I liked how the website gave you an option of how much text you would like to keep. Doing this, I asked for 60% of the text to be kept in the summary. The original piece I copied consisted of 472 words. When it was summarized, the word count went down to 298 words! The content was still there but it was drastically shortened. Check it out below:

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ygz8MIb7lj-DsCw14tfFCXu1fjvzi1oknZv0H0puEfo/edit?usp=sharing

Spellchecker

Spellcheckers are meant to be used along side with electronics and forming words to express content. In today's time, you can find spellcheckers on your word processing systems, Internet browsers, even products such as tablets and cellular phones have some variation of a spellchecker. Being an Apple product owner, I love having the opportunity to choice from a variety of words to help correct my errors. Unfortunately, the corrections may not fit what I am trying to relay. "In ordinary use, a spellchecker is called upon to check whole passages of text, in which the misspellings will occur in context" (Mitton, 2008).

The acronym which was given with this week's reading (CHECK) was a very efficient piece to add in the classroom setting. This could be charted and of course taught to scholars over and over as to how this could benefit their reading and writing. I would see this best in an elementary school setting where phonics and phonological awareness are stressed or in an ESOL setting to help ensure proper spelling. My personal stance on spellcheckers is simple: They are always going to be around in all elements of technology. In my current classroom, my students are barely writing 6 sentences and putting them on the computer to publish a piece of writing is a long way away. I would definitely incorporate this CHECK strategy in my classroom. It helps students cover all the possibilities of how to spell the word before they reach out their hand for my help.

Reference

Mitton, R. (2008). Ordering the suggestions of a spellchecker without using context. National Language Engineering, 15, 173-192.

Template

For some reason, my Microsoft Word will not let me register my blog to upload from there. I had to create this Template and upload it to my Google Doc. The link below should show my template created.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z0Iq9TIfHi7Ko6L1taX1wWUKpAiOtDVC9rBxAgwsXIs/edit?usp=sharing

Handwriting Font

Today I created my own font using myscriptfont.com I am super excited!

Reading Ease

One of my favorite seasons is Spring. I love to see the leaves grow back on the trees. The flowers begin to bud and bloom, bringing beautiful colors to grassy fields. As the sun shines bright on the Earth, a cool breeze touches your cheek. The weather is not too cold or too hot. It is just right.


 One of my favorite seasons is Spring. I love to see the leaves grow back on the trees. The flowers begin to bud and bloom, bringing beautiful colors to grassy fields. As the sun shines bright on the Earth, a cool breeze touches your cheek. The weather is not too cold or too hot. It is just right. 


One of my favorite seasons is Spring. I love to see the leaves grow back on the trees. The flowers begin to bud and bloom, bringing beautiful colors to grassy fields. As the sun shines bright on the Earth, a cool breeze touches your cheek. The weather is not too cold or too hot. It is just right.


One  of  my  favorite  seasons  is  Spring.  I  love  to  see  the  leaves  grow  back  on  the  trees.  The flowers  begin  to  bud  and  bloom,  bringing  beautiful  colors  to  grassy  fields.  As  the  sun  shines bright  on  the  Earth,  a  cool  breeze  touches  your  cheek.  The  weather  is  not  too  cold  or  too hot.  It  is  just  right.

Original readability analysis for Paragraph 5:

One of my preferred seasons is spring. I admire to see the leaves grow back on the foliage. The flowers begin to bud and bloom, bringing lovely colors to lush fields. As the sun gleams bright on the Earth, a tranquil breeze touches your cheek. The weather is not too cold or too hot. It is just right.

Altered paragraph with thesaurus: 

What is literacy to me?

Literacy, by my personal definition, is the ability to read and write with comprehension being the key to fully understand and demonstrate. Of course reading and writing tend to go "hand and hand" but literacy cannot be accomplished if comprehension does not play a vital role.

Initial

Hey guys!
My name is Janay. I am from Jacksonville, Florida. This blog was created somewhat for a course that I am currently taking while pursuing my Master's degree. My degree is in Elementary Education with a concentration in literacy. If I continue this path, crossing the stage with another degree will take place in the Summer of 2017. Maybe this blog will continue to flourish! Who knows! However, I am super excited to have you along for the ride :-)

via GIPHY