Creating“Bubble”WordsasaLiteracyToolforStudentswithCVI,UsingaCricutCuttingMachine

byDianeShelinestrategytosee.com

HavingthenewRomanWordBubblingtool(roman-word-bubbling.appspot.com)tocreate“Bubble”Wordshasbeenextremelyhelpfulforthoseofuswhouse“Bubbling”asastrategyforincreasingliteracyskillsinourstudentswithCVI.DevelopedbyDr.ChristineRomananddiscussedinherbook,“CorticalVisualImpairment:AdvancedPrinciples”,useofwordshapesinconjunctionwithothermoretraditionalmethods,oftenworkswellwhenprovidinginstructioninliteracy.Formoreinformationontheuseofthistechnique,seeDr.Roman’sbook(Chapter2)orlearnmoreaboutuseoftheroman-word-bubblingtoolonYouTubeat;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AXUkpokYI0

Oncethe“Bubbled”wordshapeiscreated,theprocessformeslowsdown.Thisisbecausethecuttingoftheshapesisoftentimeconsuminganddifficult(oftenneedinganX-actoKnifeandcuttingmat).WhenIheardaboutusingaCricutCuttingMachinetospeeduptheprocess,Iwasallin.ButIcouldfindnotutorials,orYouTubevideostoteachtheprocess.Aftermuchpractice(andruinedpiecesofpaper!),Ifoundawaytodoit.Pleasenotethattheseinstructionsmaynotbethebestwaytoachievetheendresult;theremaybeabetterwaytousetheCricutoramoreefficientlistingofsteps.FeelfreetoaddcommentstothispostandsharehowyouhaveusedtheCricuttocreateyour“Bubbled”words.MaterialsNeeded;Computer(IuseaMacBookAir)ColorPrinter(IuseaBrotherHL-4570CDW)CricutCuttingMachine(Iusea“CricutMaker”)8.5X11inchshippinglabels*8.5X11inchmagneticpaper*Black,cardstockweightpaper*WhenIworkwithmystudents,Icreatemy“Bubble”wordsonmagneticpaper,sothatIcanpresentthewordshapesonanAPHAll-In-OneBoard(thewhite,magneticside).TheAll-In-OneBoardsitsataslant,allowingthewordstobebetterplacedinthestudent’sbestfieldofview.SincemagneticpaperdoesnotrunthroughmyBrotherprinterverywell(themagneticsidestickstotheinside,metalpartsofthemachine),Ifirstprintoffthe“Bubble”wordsonShippingLabeladhesivepaper,thenpeeloffthebackingandstickthattothemagneticpaper,beforecutting.

Tobegin,createthewordshapesyouwanttocutontheCricut,byusingtheroman-word-bubblingtoolfoundhere(insertlink).Makesuretouseafontthatissimplewithcommonlyshapedlettersandmostimportantly,afontthatyourstudentisfamiliarwith.IprefertouseCenturyGothicBold.Sincethisfontisn’tonethatisofferedontheroman-word-bubblingtool,Ihaveitdownloadedasa.TFFonmycomputerdesktop.Icanthenclickon“Custom”atthepulldownwindownextto“Font”,browsetolocatethe.TFF,thenselectthatasmyFontchoice.

Onceawordiscreated(withthepreferredFontsize,GapWidth,OutlineWidth,andBubbleColor),saveacopyofitinafolderonyourdesktop.Youcansaveacopyofthewordshapebyeithertakingascreenshotoftheword(onaMacBookAir,thatsavesitasa.png)oronmyMac,Icanpress“command/shift/4”allatthesametimewhichalsotakesascreenshot(andagain,savesitasa.png).SinceIamintheprocessofcreatingWordFamilies,Ihavesavedmyexampleword,“sit”inmy“WordFamily”fileonmydesktop.

Ialsowanttosimplyhavethewordshape,withouttheletters,soIwillclickon“Removetext”,tocreateabubbledshape.

Ithenrepeattheprocessofsavingtheimageandplacingitinmy“WordFamilies”folderonmydesktop.

Note:forthesakeofsimplicity,Iwillgivemystepbystepprocessusingonlythese2-wordshapes.Sincethematerialsusedinthisprocessarerelativelyexpensive,youwillwanttousemanymorewordsthan2,tofillupyourpage(thiswillmakemoresenselateron).NowyoucanconnectyourCricuttoyourcomputeranddownloadtheCricutapplicationfromCricutDesignSpace.Createyourpersonalaccount,ifyoudon’talreadyhaveone.Thisisimportantasyouwillwanttosaveprojectsyouhavecreated.MovethroughafewsampleprojectsofferedbyCricuttogetanideaofhowthemachineworks.TherearealsosomegreatbeginnertutorialsonYouTube.1. OnceyouareatyourCricutDesignSpaceHomePage,clickon“NewProject”

intheupperrightcornerofthescreen.Ablank“Canvas”willappear.

2. Nowclickon“Upload”,foundatthelowerleftsideofthescreen.Youwill

nowhavethechoicetoeitherclickon“UploadImage”or“UploadPattern”.

Clickon“UploadImage”.Thisnextscreenwillappear;

Locatetheimageofthebubbledwordyousavedinyourdesktopfolderanddragitovertowhereitsays,“Drag&dropfilehere”.NotethattheCricutprogramaccepts.png,.jpg,.gif,.svg,.dxf,or.bmpimages.Onceyouhavedraggedanddroppedtheimage,thescreenwillchangetothis;

3. Sincethisisasimpleimage,under“Selectimagetype”,clickon“Simple”and

thenon“Continue”.4. Thenextscreenallowsyoutoclickontheareasoftheimageyouwantto

remove.Sincewewanttoremovealloftheareaaroundthe“Bubble”,clickyourcursoronceonthatarea.Youwillseethattheareayouwantremovedturnstoawhiteandbluecheckerboardpattern.

Thenclickon“Continue”.5. Youhaveachoiceonthisscreentoeithersavetheimageasa“Printthen

Cut”imageorasa“Cut”image.Sincewewanttoprintoutthecolorimagebeforewecutit,savetheimageasa“PrintthenCut”image,makingcertainthatthe,“SaveasaPrintThenCutimage”isoutlinedingreen(asyourchoice),thenclickon“Save”.

6. Nowwearebacktoourrecentlyuploadedimagespage.Clickonyour

uploadedbubbledword(mineis“sit”),andthenonceoutlinedingreen,clickon“InsertImages”.

7. Youshouldnowbebacktoyour“Canvas”withyour“Bubbled”wordonit.

Don’tworryaboutthesizeofyourword.ItwillbeadjustedwhenallthewordsareontheCanvasthatyouwanttocut.

8. Nowisthetimetoinsertyournextwordorwordsbyrepeatingsteps2-6.

Youcanadjustthesizesofthe“Bubbled”wordsonceall“Bubbled”wordsareonthecanvas.Inthistutorial,weareonlygoingtoinsertonemorewordshapeandthatistheredoutlinedshapeoftheword“sit”withnoprintinit,soIwillrepeatsteps2–6togetitalsoonthecanvas.

9. Ifyourepeatedsteps2–6,youshouldnowhaveyoursecond“Bubbled”

wordimageonthe“Canvas”(or,repeatasmanytimesasneededifyouarecuttingmorethan2words).Youcannowadjustthesizeofthe“Bubbled”wordbyclickingontheimageandthenclick/holdingthediagonalarrowsatthelowerrightcorneroftheboxedimage.Alternately,youcanadjusttheheight(H)and/orwidth(W)byusingthe“Size”featureinthebarrunningacrossthetopofthe“Canvas”.Usingthebackgroundgridalsohelpswhensizing.Ihavemademyimagesbothapproximatelythesamesize.

10. Nowclickon“MakeIt”.Youwillseethattheprogramhasplacedtheimages

sothattheleastamountofpaper(orothermaterial)isused.

Nowisthetimetogetyoursheetof8.5X11-inchShippingLabelintheprinter(formyBrotherprinter,Iplacethelabelupsidedown,withthebackside,orpeelpart,facingupward).Nowclickon“Continue”.YourCricutcuttingmachinewillneedtobeconnected(pluggedintoyourcomputerorconnectedbyBluetooth)fromthispointonward.IfapromptshowsupaskingyoutoselectyourCricutdevice,clickonthedropdownwindowandclickonyourdevice.

11. Onthisscreen,youhavethechoicetoeither“SendToPrinter”or,“IAlreadyPrinted”.Sincewewanttheprintcopyofour“Bubbledwordstobecut,wewillclickon“SendToPrinter”.

12. A“Printsetup”windowshouldnowbeshowing.Selectthenumberofcopiesyouwant

printed(inourcase,only1)andthenclickon“Print”.

13. OncetheprinterhasprintedyourwordsonyourShippingLabelpaper,peel

offtheprintedsideandstickitontoyoursheetofmagneticpaper(stickysideofShippingLabeltowhitesideofmagneticpaper).Note;aligntheedgescarefullyandpressoutallbubbles.

14. Now,placethemagneticpaperontopoftheCricutLightGripmat,aligning

thetopleftcornerofthemagneticpaperwiththetopleftcornerofthegrid.

15. OnceyourShippingLabelprinted,yourscreenatCricutDesignSpaceshould

looklikethis.

Youshouldhavealreadysetyourmaterial,nowyouneedtoclickonthetypeofmaterialyouarerunningthroughtheCricutsothemachineknowshowdeeptomakethecut.Sincewewillbecuttingmagneticpaper,wecangototherightsideofthescreenandclickon“BrowseAllMaterials”.Theverylastcategorytolookthroughis“Other”.Under“Other”,thereisachoiceofMagneticSheet–0.5mmorMagneticSheet–0.6mm.Ifyourmagneticpaperis0.5mmor0.6mminthickness,clickontheappropriateoneandthenon“Continue”.However,IuseAverybrandPrintableMagneticSheetsandwhenIclickon0.5mm,thecutgoesnotonlythroughthemagneticsheet,butalsoslightlyintothemat.Therefore,Iclickon“CerealBox”weight(inthe“BrowseAllMaterials”category)andthenclickon“Done”.“CerealBox”thicknessseemstoworkwellwithoutleavingcutmarksonthemat.Yourscreenshouldnowlooklikethis.

16.

YourCricutcuttingmachineshouldnowhavethefirstbuttonontheleft(justunderthePowerbutton)blinking.Thisisthebuttonwithanarrowpointingupwardanddownward.Placethematwiththeprintedmaterialstuckonitintothe“feed”feet,thenpresstheblinkingbutton.Whenpromptedonyourcomputerscreen,pressthe“Go”button(themiddlebuttonwitha“C”onit).

17. Whenyourcomputerpromptsyouwith,“100%”and“UnloadMat”,thenpresstheblinkingdoublearrowbuttonagain.TheCricutwillpushoutthecutproduct.Nowclickon“Finish”onyourscreen.

18. Carefullypeeloffyoursurroundingpaperandthe“Bubbled”wordsfromthemat.Congratulations!Remembertoclickon“Save”soyoucangobackandcuttheseBubblewordsagain,orsharewithothers.

19. Donotthrowouttheleft-overmagneticpaper.Ifitisalargeenoughpiece,youcanuseitforfuture,smallercuttings.Inaddition,youcanusenarrowstripsofthemagneticpapertoglueonthebacksofsolidblackwordshapesandtheircorrespondingpuzzle-likeshapetheyfitinto.

20. Tomakeasolidblackpuzzle-likeshape,startclickingon“NewProject”andfollowthesamesteps,uploadingagaineitherthesameimageoranewimage,butatstep#5,whereyouhavethechoicetoeithersavetheimageasa“PrintthenCut”imageorasa“Cutimage”,makingcertainthatthe,“SaveasaCutimage”isoutlinedingreen(asyourchoice),thenclickon“Save”.Nowclickon“Shapes”(intheleftsidecolumn).Nextclickon“Square”andasmallsquarewillpopuponyourCanvas.Iexpandmineto6”X6”insize.

NowclickonUpload(backonthelowerleftside),clickonyour“SavedCutImage”andthenclickon“InsertImage”(lowerright-handcorner).Yourimageshouldnowbeontopofyourblacksquareonyourcanvas.

Nowadjustthesizeofyourimageinthesamewayyoudidinearlierstepsandadjusttheplacementoftheimageintothecenterofthesquarebydraggingit.Note:ItrytomakemyImagethesamesizeasmypreviouslycut“Bubble”wordssothattheytoocanalsobeusedwiththispuzzle-likebackground.Thisnextstepisimportant;clickon“SelectAll”onthebaracrossthetopofyourCanvas,thenclickon“Attach”whichisatthelowerrightsideofthescreen.Inthiswayyouwillhavethetwoattached.Placeablackpieceofcardstockonyourstickymatandclickon“MakeIt”.Placethecardstockunderthefeedfeetonyourmachineandclick“Continue”.

Nowclickontheweightcardstockyouareusing(LightCardstockorMediumCardstock)andpresstheblinkingarrowsonyourCricutmachine,thentheblinking“C”whenprompted.

Onceyourblackwordshapeandpuzzle-likeshapeitfitsintoiscut,peelitoffofthestickymatcarefullyandattachmagneticstripstotheback,sothatitadherestoawhitedryeraseboard,suchasanAll-In-OneBoard.Remembertoclickon“Save”beforeleavingthisCanvas.Learnmoreabouthowtousetheseblackpuzzle-piecewordshapesinconjunctionwithyourotherliteracymaterialsandactivitiesinDr.ChristineRoman’sbook,“CorticalVisualImpairment:AdvancedPrinciples”,Chapter2.FeelfreetoaddnotesintheCommentsectionifyouhaveadifferenttechniqueormethodwhichworkswell.Thistutorialwillalsobepostedthisatmywebsite,strategytosee.Diane

Threesetsof“Bubbled”WordFamiliescutontheCricutCuttingMachine.