Pairing Picture Books and Apps
to Contextually Target Language
Objectives
TAASLP
October 2014
Sean J. Sweeney, M.S., M.Ed., CCC-SLP
The 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 CASLPA Communique.
Support for using Picture Books in the Literature:
Models for Pairing Books and Apps
• 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).
• 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.
• Clinicians can also select books that lend themselves to pre- and postreading 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).
• 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 timeconsuming 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). Create low-tech webs or
organizers, providing a context for topically-related webbing
and 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).
Criteria for Selecting “Out of Box” Apps?
Resources for Integrating Picture Books in
Therapy
SAMR Model of Technology Integration
(Puentadora, 2008)
Redefinition
Technology provides the opportunity for new,
previously inconceivable tasks.
Modification
Technology allows for significant task redesign.
Fairly
Priced
Interactive
Visual
Educationally
Relevant
Examples:
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Apps that provide simulation of removed
events.
Collaboration across groups.
Communication through tools such as Skype.
Examples:
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Creation of multimedia books/
projects, sharing products home.
“Speechie”
Augmentation
Technology acts as a direct tool substitute,
with functional improvement
Substitution
Technology acts as a direct tool substitute,
no functional change
Examples:
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Apps that keep data or record audio
Examples:
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Electronic flash cards or books
Thanks for coming!!!
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Find more at:!
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Pairing Picture Books and
Apps to Contextually Address
Language Objectives
Sean J. Sweeney M.S. M.Ed., CCC-SLP
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Resources Supporting the Use of Picture Books in SpeechLanguage Therapy
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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)
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Story Grammar Marker™ and Thememaker from Mindwing Concepts, Inc
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Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck, Margaret G McKeown, Linda Kucan
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Storymaking and More Storymaking by Robin Peura-Jones and Carolyn
DeBoer (Super Duper)
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The books4all blog at all4mychild.com
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Resources on Tech Integration
•
The FIVES Criteria by Sean Sweeney- see bit.ly/sweeneyfives
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Dr. Reuben Puentadora’s SAMR Model of Technology Integration- see bit.ly/
samrasha
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Sample Book-App Pairings
Post-Book Dramatic Play:
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 with Toca Train ($2.99), an interactive toy train app that can
be used to develop spatial concepts, sequencing, descriptive language and play
scripts.
!
Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey- a feline spin on the story told by the classic film,
containing much figurative language and a sympathy for the “monster’s”
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Questions? [email protected]
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perspective, paired with Toontastic (free, playsets at cost), an animation app that
contains playsets that can be used to create narratives about similar scenarios.
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Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney, in which a young llama has
difficulty with the problem of waiting for gifts, thus targeting problem solving and
social cognition, paired with Bag Game (1.99), which allows the virtual
“wrapping” of a picture gift, which can then be exchanged and opened in a
dramatic play activity targeting social behaviors around giving and receiving
gifts.
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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.
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Post-Book Art Activities:
Cloudette by Tom Lichenheld- a diminutive cloud worries that she will never
contribute much to the water cycle, paired with Educreations Interactive
Whiteboard (Free) or Explain Everything ($2.99, with more features),
“explanimation" apps that can be used to create animations about academic or
any topics by combining drawings, images and oral language.
!
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.
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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.
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www.speechtechie.com
Questions? [email protected]
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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). Pair app
with Doodle Buddy (Free) for addition of MUCH more detail (app-smashing)!
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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.
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Big Nate and Friends by Lincoln Pierce, a graphic novel about the social
misadventures of a group of middle schoolers, paired with Big Nate Comics By
U ($2.99), an app that can be used to put these characters in the context of any
daily event or targeted social behavior.
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Alphabet Rescue by Bruce Wood and Audrey Wood- a vacationing student
leaves “his alphabet free to roam to Alphabet City, where its members become
vital community helpers, paired with 2BME Firefighter ($1.99), an interactive tour
of a firehouse, and Buildo Rescue Stickerbook ($1.99), both apps that can be
used to target narrative, cause-effect relationships, and concepts.
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50 Below Zero by Robert Munch- a sleeping boy is awakened by the sound of
his sleepwalking father, whom he must chase all around the house in order to
keep him safe, paired with Custom Boards ($39.99), an app that can be used to
create categorical sorting and description cards.
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Post-Book Discussion/Webbing/Graphic Organizer Creation
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 the East vs. West) and responding to complex
questions. See also Popplet Lite/Full (Free/$4.99)
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Questions? [email protected]
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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 realworld uses of chemicals and lend themselves to additional webbing activities.
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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.”
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The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller- the story of the states’
decision to relocate yields rich associations with real geography and can be
paired with Geography Drive USA ($4.99, also see Geography Drive Arcade,
$2.99), contextual quiz apps that provide the opportunity to address the
language underpinnings of social studies content.
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John, Paul, George and Ben by Lane Smith- a humorous take on biography of
four key figures in the American Revolution, paired with Ansel and Clair Paul
Revere’s Ride ($4.99), an interactive exploration of the story of Paul Revere.
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Post-Book Story Grammar Cueing:
Several books exhibiting typical narrative structure useful for teaching story
elements will be presented, including This Is Not My Hat (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!
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Questions? [email protected]
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References:
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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.
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Davies, P., Shanks, B., & Davies, K. (2004). Improving narrative skills in young
children with delayed language development. Educational Review, 56,
271-286.
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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.
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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.
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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
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www.speechtechie.com
Questions? [email protected]
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Putnam, L. (1991). Dramatizing nonfiction with emerging read- ers. Language
Arts, 68, 463-469.
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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.
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Westby, C (1990). The role of the speech-language pathologist in whole language.Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 21, 228-237.
www.speechtechie.com
Questions? [email protected]
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