As students watch video, they will see the spoken words displayed on the screen, strengthening their reading ability. Use a new computer with DVD drive to show captioned DVD movies by connecting the computer to a large television or projector. Word Processing Whether the teacher is using word processing software to prepare materials for students, or the students are word processing to improve their writing skills, a few simple steps can add value to any word processing in the classroom. Many word processors include Readability Statistics, enabling the grade level of a document to be determined automatically. In Microsoft Word, the Tools menu, offers Options, including Show Readability Statistics as part of spelling and grammar checking.
Text is always more understandable when clues to meaning are added.
Highlight or emphasize important words. Add clip art or images from a digital camera to aid with word meanings. To enable students to spend more time doing their own writing, consider a low-cost keyboard word processor like AlphaSmart. These battery-operated keyboards have a small text display, and hold hundreds of pages of text. When it s time to edit or print, the keyboard connects directly to the computer or printer, and sends the text in seconds.