Pairing Picture Books and Apps to Contextually Address Language Objectives Sean J. Sweeney M.S. M.Ed., CCC-SLP Resources Supporting the Use of Picture Books in Speech-Language Therapy

• Books are for Talking, Too! by Jane Gebers (Pro-Ed) • Contextualized Language Intervention: Scaffolding

PreK-12 Literacy Achievement by Teresa Ukrainetz (Super Duper)

• Conversations with Conjunctions by Catherine Harkins May (Pro-Ed)

• I Get It: Building Social Thinking and Reading Comprehension through Book Chats by Audra Jensen (Think Social Publishing)

• Story Grammar Marker™ and Thememaker™ from Mindwing Concepts, Inc • Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck, Margaret G McKeown, Linda Kucan • Storymaking and More Storymaking by Robin Peura-Jones and Carolyn DeBoer

(Super Duper) • Visualizing and Verbalizing® by Lindamood-Bell • Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis • The books4all blog at all4mychild.com

Resources on Tech Integration

• The FIVES Criteria by Sean Sweeney- see bit.ly/sweeneyfives • Dr. Reuben Puentadora’s SAMR Model of Technology Integration- see bit.ly/

samrasha

Sample Book-App Pairings

Post-Book Dramatic Play: Acting out elements of or related to a story can be used to target sequencing skills, sentence formulation and overall story comprehension, and enhances children’s ability to explain ideas (Putnam, 1991). Apps can provide visuals that scaffold language and sequencing during the process of play. Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet, by Kelly DiPucchio, a story providing context for exploring mental state verbs, paired with Dr. Pet Play (Free/$2.99), which turns the iPad into a visual support for role-playing a dialogue between a pet owner and veterinarian. Night Train by Caroline Stutson and Catherine Tillotson- a young boy experiences an evening ride on a train through vibrant descriptions related to the five senses, paired

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with Toca Train ($2.99), an interactive toy train app that can be used to develop spatial concepts, sequencing, descriptive language and play scripts. The Group Plan (Part of “The Incredible Flexible You” Program, v.1) by By Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Nancy Tarshis and Michelle Garcia Winner, which details the social-cognitive concept of a shared plan for play or tasks, along with Paper by Fifty-three (Free) which can be used to create visual “play plans” corresponding with the schema of the book. Post-Book Art Activities: Reading picture books interactively with students can provide a context for drawing or creation within similar contexts, and models within books can influence the content and language use of students while creating a visual response (Bartelo, 1984). Apps provide an avenue to target language while creating visual artworks simply and quickly and omitting some of the time-consuming aspects of drawing or crafting. The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater- a can of paint dropped onto a roof by a seagull inspires an entire neighborhood of people to transform their houses to suit their dreams, as paired with Draw A House (Free), an app that can be used to target categories and descriptive language through the creation of houses from building blocks (walls, roofs, doors, backgrounds etc). “App-Smash” with an app such as Drawing Desk (Free), allowing you to draw additional elements (waterfalls, etc) on top of photos. Beach Day by Patricia Lakin and Scott Nash, a book with minimal text, prompting much language about the materials needed and used in the narrative settings of a park and beach, paired with Pic Collage (Free), an app which can be used to add many pictures to a background image in order to describe associations between a setting and its key elements. Shoe La La by Karen Beaumont and Leuyen Pham, a rhyming narrative in which young girls in search of the perfect shoe employ much descriptive language, paired with Toca Tailor (Free “Fairy Tales” version, also standard $2.99 app) an app allowing for the creation of a clothed character with selection and description of specific details during the process. Come Down Now, Flying Cow by Timothy Roland- a cow decides to fly off on a tour in a hot air balloon, obvious to the havoc she is causing, paired with Strip Designer ($2.99), an app that allows you to add word and thought balloons to snapshotted or saved images in order to visualize perspective taking in comic book format. Post-Book Discussion/Webbing/Graphic Organizer Creation: Visual diagrams can be used to map elements of a text or topic to develop categorization and association skills; webs can also be employed to have students respond to higher-level evaluative questions (Alverman, 1991). Apps use a touch-screen interface to create visual webs, and also can provide a context for topically related webbing and discussion. Gila Monsters Meet You At the Airport by Marjorie Sharmat and Byron Barton, in which two boys experience anxiety about moving East or West, respectively, and imagine exaggerated problems about their new homes, paired with Kidspiration Maps (Free to try, then $9.99), a tool for constructing visual maps for categorizing (e.g. problems in

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the East vs. West) and responding to complex questions. See also Popplet Lite/Full (Free/$4.99) 11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter, a description of hypotheses, materials, steps and results of humorous experiments geared toward the use of expository language, paired with Toca Lab ($2.99) and goReact (Free), two apps allowing for the interactive combination of chemical elements and viewing of results. These apps promote the understanding of real-world uses of chemicals and lend themselves to additional concept mapping activities. Encounter by Jane Yolen- a native boy’s perspective on European colonization, paired with European Exploration: The Age of Discovery (Free), a simulation in which, from a different perspective, students select explorers and sequence their routes in order to accumulate geographic and other categorical “discoveries.” The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups by David Wisniewski- hilariously silly “explanations” for parental rules provide an engaging way to target expository text structures, paired with Popplet or Kidspiration Maps for fun visual ways to organize language in enumerative, sequential, descriptive, comparative, or cause-effect structures. Post-Book Story Grammar Cueing: Teaching students story elements such as character, setting, initiating event and conclusion has been shown to improve narrative comprehension and formulation (Davies, Shanks & Davies, 2004). Several books exhibiting typical narrative structure useful for teaching story elements will be presented, including I Want My Hat Back (Klaussen) and Wow, City! (Neubecker), and paired with apps geared toward teaching story grammar cueing, including SGM® (Story Grammar Marker, $24.99), Kidspiration Maps and Popplet (mentioned above), and Look and Find Our Big City ($2.99) for presentation of an action sequence narrative similar to the book Wow, City!

References: Alverman, D. (1991). The discussion web: A graphic aid for learning across the curriculum. The

Reading Teacher, 45, 92-99.

Bartelo, D. M. (1984). Getting the picture of reading and writing: A look at the drawings, composing, and oral language of limited English proficiency children. Plymouth, NH: Plymouth State College. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 245 533)

Beed, P.L., Hawkins, E.M., & Roller, C.M. (1991). Moving learners toward independence: The power of scaffolded instruction. The Reading Teacher, 44(9), 648-655.

Davies, P., Shanks, B., & Davies, K. (2004). Improving narrative skills in young children with delayed language development. Educational Review, 56, 271-286.

Hoggan, K.C. & Strong, C.J. (1994). The magic of "once upon a time": narrative teaching strategies. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 25, 76-89.

www.speechtechie.com Questions? sean@speechtechie.com � 3

Beck, I & McKeown, M. (2003). Taking advantage of read alouds to help children make sense of decontextualized language. In A. VanKleek, S. Stahl and E Bauer (Eds.) Storybook Reading. Mahweh, NJ: Erlbaum.

Puentedora, R (2008, December 22). TPCK and SAMR- Models for Enhancing Technology Integration. As We May Teach: Educational Technology, From Theory Into Practice Podcast. Science @ NASA Podcast. Podcast retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/as-we-may-teach-educational/id380294705

Putnam, L. (1991). Dramatizing nonfiction with emerging readers. Language Arts, 68, 463-469.

Sweeney, S (2010). The FIVES criteria: For evaluating and integrating simple technology resources in speech and language interventions. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/44503715/Fives-Booklet.

Westby, C (1990). The role of the speech-language pathologist in whole language. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 21, 228-237.

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Pairing Picture Books and Apps to Contextually Address Language Objectives

WSHA Convention February 2015Sean J. Sweeney, M.S., M.Ed., CCC-SLPThe Ely Center/speechtechie.com

Disclosures

• Receive royalties for 5 apps developed with Smarty Ears Apps.

• Contractual relationship with Mindwing Concepts, create blog content related to products such as Story Grammar Marker, receive honoraria.

• Employed by Ely Center, LLC (Newton, MA)

• Presented for various local and national organizations on tech integration, including Social Thinking®.

• Nonfinancial: creator of blog SpeechTechie, contribute columns for ASHA Leader and SAC Communique.

Support for using Picture Books in the Literature:

• The act of reading books aloud interactively and using scaffolding to support children’s use of more advanced syntax, vocabulary and critical thinking is itself an activity which addresses clinical objectives (Beed, Hawkins, & Roller, 1991).

• Clinicians can also select books that lend themselves to pre- and post-reading activities that extend the context of the story. These can include such strategies as art activities, story generation, discussion webs, and dramatic play (Hoggan & Strong, 1994).

• Using books in therapy supports discourse comprehension and production for narrative and expository text (Westby, 1990), as well as building metacognitive strategies such as recognizing text structure (Beck & McKeown, 2003).

Models for Pairing Books and Apps

• Post-Book Dramatic Play- Acting out elements related to a story can be used to target sequencing skills, sentence formulation and overall story comprehension, and enhances children’s ability to explain ideas (Putnam, 1991). Apps can provide visuals that scaffold language and sequencing during the process of play, or rehearse low-tech play.

• Post-Book Art Activities- Reading picture books interactively with students can provide a context for drawing or creation within similar contexts. Models within books can influence the content and language use of students while creating a visual response (Bartelo, 1984). Apps provide an avenue to target language while creating visual artworks simply and quickly and omitting some of the time-consuming aspects of drawing or crafting.

Models for Pairing Books and Apps

• Post-Book Discussion Webs/Graphic Organizers- Visual diagrams map elements of a text or topic to develop categorization and association skills; webs can also be employed to have students respond to higher-level evaluative questions (Alverman, 1991). Also create low-tech concept maps or organizers, providing a context for topically-related discussion.

• Post-Book Story Grammar Cueing- Teaching students story elements such as character, setting, initiating event and conclusion has been shown to improve narrative comprehension and formulation (Davies, Shanks & Davies, 2004).

Resources Supporting the Use of Picture Books in Therapy (See Resource List)

Criteria for Selecting “Out of Box” Apps?

Fairly Priced Interactive Visual Educationally

Relevant “Speechie”

Redefinition Technology provides the opportunity for new, previously inconceivable tasks.

Modification Technology allows for significant task redesign.

SAMR Model of Technology Integration (Puentadora, 2008)

Augmentation Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement

Substitution Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, no functional change

Examples:

Electronic flash cards or books

Examples:

Apps that keep data or record audio

Examples:

Creation of multimedia books/projects, sharing products home.

Examples:

Apps that provide simulation of removed events. Collaboration across groups. Communication through tools such as Skype.

Fun book with“Speechie”

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Aligning “old” and “new” visual tools

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