I wanted to share a really cool piece of technology with you that we have access to at LCPS.  Our students can also access this technology for home use through LCPS as well.

It's called Read & Write Web.  This technology, through TextHelp, allows students to have the computer read an article on the web aloud.  The students can highlight difficult vocabulary and the program will create a list of these words along with pictures to illustrate.

This program is available for all students in our district.  It's a great way for parents to help their children at home by installing it on home computers.  For example, if there child is responsible for doing a current event for their social studies class, the child can look up the article on the net, click the tab with Read & Write web application, and listen to the article being read to them.  Once the student clicks on the tab, the icon bar appears and allow the student easy access to the program.  The voice can also be changed to read in an Spanish accent, by choosing 'Spanish Paulina' on the dropdown menu.

The reading isn't perfect and numbers are read exactly as they are written, but the main idea comes across.

Below is a screen shot of an article I found on lobotomies.

(The really cool part of this technology, is there is an app for Google docs too.  I'm working on getting this temperamental Mac to cooperate with this installation.)