Read and Write Demonstration Sample Items

Hover Speech Feature

1. Use Hover Speech to listen to this passage: 

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were: Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.

They lived with their mother in a sandbank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.

Click Hover Speech to turn the speech tool off again. 

Dictionary

2. Use Dictionary to define these words:   

Play Button

Open the dictionary, select the word, listen to the definition read aloud by clicking play 

Routine

Slender

Basic

Now open the picture dictionary, select each word above and look at the picture definition.
Screen Shot Reader
 3. Practice Reading the text aloud using the screen shot tool.  Select the Screen Shot Reader Icon.

(If this is the first time loading this function, another extension has to be installed in the browser has to re-launch.)  Use the screenshot tool to draw a rectangle around the text that needs to be read aloud.  Wait 2-3 seconds for it to process.

Screenshot Example
Play, Pause, Stop controls

4. Use the icons to activate text to speech for the following passage.  Select the passage first, then click play.  Pause the speech, and restart by clicking pause again.  Stop when you are finished with the passage. 

At Home with the Wizard of Oz

In his big brightly lighted laboratory back of the throne room, the Wizard of Oz paced impatiently forth and back, his hands clasped tightly behind him. Every minute or two he would glance at the clock or dart over to peer out to the already darkening garden.

"Are you sure you told them all, Jellia? Are you sure you told them tonight?" he asked, turning to the pretty little serving maid who was setting a table near the fire, for the fall evening was quite cool and frosty.

"Four—five—six—seven—." Jellia, counting places, nodded her head firmly to answer the Wizard's question, then stepped back to regard her handiwork with complete satisfaction. "Oh, doesn't that tiny house in the center look too cute and cunningish? Real smoke coming out of the chimney, too. How ever did you manage it, Wiz? And having those silver slippers at each place for nuts and candies is just, plain beautiful."

Stop control

Click STOP on the toolbar to reactivate your other Read and Write tools

Get more of the story for free at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55806/55806-h/55806-h.htm

Screen Mask tool
5. Use the Screen Mask tool to focus attention on this section of the screen.  Emphasize how it creates focus while you are instructing.
Translation Tool
6. Use the Translation tool to translate the following words:

Clone

Destiny

Awake

Play button

Use the button to play the translation aloud.  

Options function from the settings menu

 

Demonstrate the language choices on the options function from the settings menu. 

 

 

 

 

Highlighter Tools
7. Use the Highlighter Tools to highlight the following words using this code:
  • Highlight words that are animals in Yellow
  • Highlight words that are vegetables in Green
  • Highlight words that are vehicles in Blue
  • Highlight words that are the numbers in Pink
Select the word, then click on the highlighter.

duck  train  seventeen  carrot  giraffe  six  turnip  jet

Collect Highlights tool

8. Click Collect Highlights to transfer the highlighted information to a new word document.  Open the word document do preview the collected highlights.  How could you use this during instruction or for independent research tasks?

Vocabulary List feature
9. Now click the Vocabulary button.  Another document will open, preview the Vocabulary List feature.  How could you use this during instruction? As an intervention resource for students who are struggling? 
Clear Highlights tool
11. Now that you gathered highlights and vocabulary, watch this short video to learn how to Clear Highlights from a webpage or document.   Then clear your highlights above. 
 
Simplify Page tool
10. Click Simplify PAGE.  A new tab will open with this page in it, observe how the page changes.  
 
Practice Reading Aloud tool
11. Select the following link, and then click Practice Reading Aloud.  
Play button
Stop icon
Practice Read Aloud tool
After you click Practice Read aloud, click start recording. Click Stop when you've finished collecting your sample.  Listen to your sample to see how you did by clicking Play.  
Send to Teacher function
The Send to Teacher function does not currently work on our version of Read and Write. 

This feature still allows the student to rehearse and listen back to his or her reading and practice fluency.  When send to teacher is operable, we'll let you know!

Speech Recognition Function
12. Demonstrate Talk and Type. Make sure you point out how the microphone has to be allowed the first time and the red spot by the tab.  There's a small lag between when you speak and when the text shows up, this is the time it takes for the server to decode your speech and convert it to text.  That's normal.
Tips: 
  • Demonstrate how to dictate punctuation by saying a sentence then saying period, question mark or comma.
  • Discuss that students still need to learn the conventions of writing like capitalization and correct word choice.
  • If you work in a Spanish or French immersion school, change the language to Spanish or French and let someone try the talk to type in that language, it's pretty good! 

Word Prediction tool
13. Switch to Office 365 and open a new Word Document.  Demonstrate Prediction. Demonstrate the read aloud function by hovering over the word and click to select.  When a word is selected, the next word will relate to previous word.  
14. Show the settings available in options.  
Resources and References:
  • Updated by T. Johnson 4/25/2023