SET-BC www.setbc.org -1- January 2015

Kurzweil 3000 v13 Overview

1. Reading Activity 1 Reading Docs Activity 2 Customize Toolbar Activity 3 Reading Toolbar

2. Importing Documents Activity 7 Kesi Virtual Printer

3. Studying with Kurzweil Activity 4 Studying with Kurzweil Activity 8 Using Bubble Notes in Kurzweil

4. Filling in Tests and Worksheets with Kurzweil Activity 6 Filling in Tests and Worksheets with Kurzweil

5. Writing with Kurzweil Activity 9 Writing with Kurzweil Activity 11 Creating a Brainstorm Diagram, Outline, Split Screen, and Review Checklist

6. About ARC BC (http://www.arc-bc.org)

7. E-Text, E-Books and Audio Books

For more training resources

• Help Menu in the program • SET BC Website: www.setbc.org o Learning Centre – PDF and video clips • www.kurzweiledu.com Tutorials o Scanner – Check for scanner compatibility on the

website. We know Canon LIDE V300 works.

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Activity 1: Reading Documents with Kurzweil

• Launch Kurzweil 3000 • Click in the red close box to close Tip of the Day

• Click the Open button on the Main Toolbar (red line) to open the sample document Time Travel. o Open Sample Documents Time Travel.kes

• The General Toolbar contains the following buttons. Experiment with each button in the Time Travel document and write a brief description of what it does in the function column.

Button Function Button Function

Back Synonym

Read Syllables

Forward Spell

Audible Help

Definition

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Activity 2: Customize Toolbar

• Let’s modify the Main Toolbar by removing the Spell icon and adding the Spell Check icon. o Menu Bar Tools Customize Toolbars

• The Customize Toolbars Window opens

save changes made to the toolbar.

Select the Spell icon and press the blue Down arrow to remove it.

Select Spell Check from Inactive Buttons and move it to Active Buttons by selecting

the blue Up arrow .

Press Apply to see your changes on the toolbar and then OK to

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Activity 3: Reading Toolbar

The Reading Toolbar contains the following buttons. Experiment with each button in the Time Travel document and write a brief description of its function.

Button Function

Reading Mode vs. Reading Unit

• Set the Reading Mode to Continuous and the Reading Unit to Word. What happens to the highlight colours? How does the function of the Back and Forward buttons change?

• Use the Open button on the General Toolbar to open the Sample Documents Folder and the document Diagramming Sentences. Which combination of Reading Mode and Reading Unit would you use for this document?

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• Use the Open button on the Toolbar to open the Sample Documents folder, the Language Arts and Writing folder, and the document Language Arts Test. Which combination of Reading Mode and Reading Unit would you use for this document?

Activity 4: Studying with Kurzweil

• Use the Open button on the General Toolbar to access the Sample Documents folder and open the document Time Travel.

• Set the Reading Mode to Continuous and the Reading Unit to Sentence and read the entire document. If it is too slow, increase the reading speed.

Highlighting Vocabulary Words

• Click the Yellow Highlight tool on the Study Skills Toolbar to turn it on.

• As you move the mouse cursor back onto the page, the arrow pointer should look like a marker.

• Highlight the following vocabulary words by double clicking or by holding the left mouse button down and dragging over the word with the marker:

o physicist o black hole o ergo sphere o gravitational

• Hint: You could also select the word first with the mouse. Then turn the Highlight Tool on to highlight it.

• Hint: You can find the words quickly by using the Find command under the Edit Menu (Control + F). The Find window opens at the bottom of the document.

• Note: It is important to remember to turn the Yellow Highlight off by clicking it again on the toolbar when done otherwise the marker will continue to highlight.

Study Skills Toolbar

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Extracting Highlighted Vocabulary to a New File

• On the Main Menu, go to File and choose Extract Extract Notes and Highlights.

• In the dialogue box that opens, make sure the radio button beside Highlights and the box beside Yellow Highlight are checked and click OK.

• The vocabulary words will be extracted into a separate file which can be saved for future study.

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Finding Definitions for Vocabulary

• In the new file, use the Definition button on the General Toolbar to find the appropriate definition for each word. Make sure that you highlight or move the cursor in front of the word to find its definition.

• Select the appropriate definition (with the mouse).

• Copy it to the Clipboard (Ctrl + C) and Paste (Ctrl + V) it into the new file beside each word.

• Students can use their own vocabulary and definitions list to study for the upcoming Quiz.

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Activity 5: Vertically Tiling Text and Worksheet/Test

• Use the Open button on the General Toolbar to open the Sample Documents folder. You will be working with two sample documents Time Travel and Time Travel Quiz.

• For this activity you will need to Tile Vertically the two documents. • Open the Time Travel document. • Open the Time Travel Quiz. • The documents open in full screen. You will need to shrink these to half the screen. This can

be automatically done. From the main menu, Main Menu Window Tile Vertically.

• The reading text and the quiz can be viewed on the same page.

• Note: You need to scale down the size of the font on both the text to be read and the quiz. Click anywhere on either document that is open and click on the Zoom tool on the Reading Toolbar and resize accordingly.

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Activity 6: Filling in Tests and Worksheets with Kurzweil

Filling in the Blanks using Text Notes

Open Time Travel Quiz.

• On the Study Skills Toolbar, click the Text Note button . • Bring the mouse cursor down to the Name line and click to create a text note. • Type your name in the text note. • Enter the date in the same way. • If it’s not lined up very well, move the mouse cursor to the corner of the text note until you

see a pair of crossed arrows. Then hold down the mouse button and move the note.

Text box

There is a quicker way to create text notes. On the Main Menu , choose Tools Fill in the Blanks . Orange rectangular boxes appear on each line. These are text

notes . Click on any orange box and it changes from a solid orange

box to a box that is outlined with blue. When you see the blue outline you can type inside the box.

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• Hint: You can use the Tab key to move from note to note as you fill in the answers to questions 1 – 6 (Shift-Tab to go backwards).

Highlighting the Correct Answer

• On the Study Skills Toolbar, click the Yellow Highlight button. • Drag the highlighter over the correct answer for questions 7 and 8. • Turn the highlighter off when you are finished to avoid making a big highlighter mess.

Dragging and Dropping the Correct Answers

• Go to page 2 of the Time Travel Quiz. • Answer questions 9 – 14 by selecting each answer and dragging it to the correct blank. • The easiest way to select an individual word is to double click. • Hold the mouse button down over the word and drag it. • You should see a little box next to the pointer that represents the note being moved. • You could also copy and paste or use a text note. • What problems would you encounter if you were a student who needed to have questions 15

– 19 ready by Kurzweil?

Activity 7: Kesi Virtual Printer

• The KESI Virtual Printer is a utility that is built into Kurzweil 3000. It does not actually print anything to paper but will convert Word .doc, docx, PDFs, HTM, HTML, etc. and opens them in Kurzweil 3000.

• When the document is converted to a .kes file the student will have access to all the Reading and Writing features of Kurzweil.

• Let’s convert a file from the internet to a Kurzweil file. Go to Literature Websites http://www.mce.k12tn.net/links/literaturewebsites.htm (rather than type the URL just Google Literature websites and look for the URL above and double click to open it).

• Select Reading Units. In this website there are numerous Novel Studies. They are arranged alphabetically.

• Scroll down the list until you see the novel ‘Hatchet’. Open it. • Click on Chapters 1-2 Comprehension and Constructive Response Questions. A new

window will open. Under Reading, click on Sample Comprehension Quiz for Chapters 1-2 including Constructive Response Question.

• At this point this is a Read Only file (PDF file). Save the file on to the Desktop. • Open the file you just saved on the Desktop.

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• Go File Print Select Printer. From the list of printers select Kesi Virtual Printer. • In this example, the file is converted from a .pdf to a .kes file. Have your student answer

questions using Text Notes, Voice Notes, Drag and Drop, etc.

Activity 8: Using Bubble Notes in Kurzweil

• From the Sample Documents open Time Travel Bubble Notes.

• There are Bubble Notes embedded in this document.

• Answer the questions by double clicking on the purple question marks

• Try creating your own Bubble Notes. Click on the Bubble Notes icon on the Study Skills Toolbar. The Bubble Notes window opens.

• Change the appearance of the Bubble Notes from a Balloon to a Cloud. • Try creating True/False, Multiple Choice or Text Answer Questions in the document.

.

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Activity 9: Writing with Kurzweil

• Click the New button on the General Toolbar to open a new blank document. • Type a few lines of sample text. • Try the Reading, Definition, Synonym, Syllables, and Spell buttons on the General

Toolbar with your typed text. Do all the buttons work with your text?

Adjusting Typing Echo (hearing words as they are typed)

• On the Main Menu, go to Tools Options and click on General at the left. • Under Speak as Typing, check the boxes for Whole Words and Whole Sentences. • Click Apply and OK. • Go back to your document and type more text. • You should hear the words and sentences echoed as you type.

The Writing Toolbar

The following buttons, located on the Writing Toolbar, behave the same as in an ordinary word processor. Experiment with each button on the text you have typed and write a brief description of its function.

Button Function

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Activity 10: Using Colour Highlighters to Create Column Notes

• Open “A Place Called Hearbreak” from the Sample Documents folder. Save As “Heartbreak Highlights” on the Desktop.

• In “Heartbreak Highlights” go to page 9.

• Click the Yellow Highlighter button . In the document, highlight “the Cherry Family”. This will be the main idea.

• Click the Green Highlighter button . Highlight the following as details: o “The head of the Cherry family always had at least two jobs” o “They were trying to improve the whole family’s chances for success”

• Click another main idea. Click the Yellow Highlighter button again and highlight “All the children were expected to pitch in”.

• Add details. Click the Green Highlighter and highlight the following: o “You did what you were supposed to do, you did it well, and you didn’t complain” o “expected to study” o “help with the chores”

• Save the Heartbreak Highlights document. • Go to the File menu and Extract Extract Highlights to Column Notes. • By default, yellow highlights will be placed in the first column, and green highlights in the

second column. Make sure that only the yellow and green highlights are checked. Click OK. • In the Open Column Notes dialogue that appears, select Open a new notes file. • Save this file as ‘A Place Called Heartbreak’ by clicking the x symbol at the top right corner. • You will note that the third column is empty. You can use this column to get your student(s)

to list the source for the notes. • Give yourself a quick quiz. Right click on the middle column to Cover the 2nd Column and

try to recall the Supporting ideas. Right click again on the middle column to Show the 2nd Column when done.

• Try adding the Extract Highlights to Column Notes icon to the Study Skills Toolbar.

• Note: When you assign a research topic to your student(s) that require your student(s) to use multiple sources they can save the highlighted information into the same Note File rather than opening multiple Note Files. This is a wonderful new feature in Kurzweil 3000.

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Activity 11: Creating a Brainstorm Diagram, Outline, Split Screen and Review Checklist

Brainstorm

• Close all open Kurzweil files.

• Click the Start Writing button in the Writing Toolbar to start a new Brainstorm Web. When the New File Options window pops up, select New Brainstorm and Blank and click OK.

• The Main Idea bubble appears in the document. Replace the Main Idea text by double clicking the text and type in a main idea. In this example, type the word Vacation.

• Click the Vacation bubble. A small square will appear in each corner. • Click the Quick Takes icon on the Brainstorm Palette.

• A red lightning bolt arrow appears to the right of the word. This lets you know that the Quick Takes is active.

• Type additional thoughts related to Vacation: o Type Hiking next to the red lightning bolt arrow and press enter. o

Type Camp next to the red lightning bolt arrow and press enter. o Type Farm next to the red lightning bolt arrow and press enter.

• Click on the text of Camp to add a subtopic. Click Quick Takes and type o Bitten by wasps o Rode horse

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• Click the Arrange button in the palette to organize the thoughts.

• Change the subtopic information to different shapes and colours.

o Click Hiking. From the palette click the Rectangle button to change the shape. o Click the Fill Colour palette button to change the colour.

• Click the bitten by wasps bubble and select the Note button from the Brainstorm Palette. A blank Note Window opens.

o Type “five bites, lots of swelling, spent three hours in the hospital”.

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Outline

• After the student has completed brainstorming ideas for the topic they can switch to the

Outline. From the Writing Toolbar click on Outline . Any topics, subtopics or notes from Brainstorm are moved into Outline. You can see from the following example that the notes are organized in a hierarchical fashion.

• The Outline Palette opens when you are in Outline. The Outline Palette allows you to make changes to the type of numbering (prefix label), topics, subtopics or add notes.

• Note: Any changes that you make in Outline will also be changed in Brainstorm.

Split Screen

• Brainstorm and Outline are part of the pre-writing process. In Split Screen View, students begin the drafting process. This is where the hard work for the student begins.

• Click the Split Screen View icon in the Writing Toolbar. • Note that the screen is split in two. The outline notes are on the left hand side. You cannot

work with these here. You will need to highlight them and drag them to the right side of the screen so that further editing can be done i.e., adding capitals, punctuation, additional thoughts, creating full sentences etc.

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Review List (Editing)

• For a variety of reasons editing can be very difficult for students. Kurzweil 3000 has a totally customizable Review List that students can use to complete the final editing process. With

the Split Screen View go to Main Menu Write

Review or click the Review Writing icon

• Once each step is complete on the Review Checklist the student can check it off. This acts as a great visual reminder as well as making your student independent in the writing process.

• The Review Checklist is completely customizable. In the Main Menu, select Tools Options Review Items.

in the Writing Toolbar .

A Review Checklist opens to the left of the Outline in the Split Screen View .

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• Try adding a new item, deleting an item, renaming an item and moving locations of an item (up or down).

• Click Apply to save the changes and OK to exit. • The updated Review Checklist will not appear until you close the old list and open the

Review Checklist from the Write Menu. Close the Review Checklist window by clicking on the black x on the blue divider.

• Click the Review Writing icon again to make the checklist appear.

Activity 12: Using Floating Word Lists in Outline or Draft and Word Prediction

Students who experience difficulty with the writing process often have difficulty generating ideas. Kurzweil 3000 comes with a standard set of the Word Lists or they can Setup Word Lists. They can be created to help students generate ideas or vocabulary that is related to the topic.

Word Lists

• While working in the Draft View click on the Word Lists button on the Study Skills Toolbar.

• The Edit floating word lists window opens. All the available word lists are listed on the left hand side.

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• Choose the word list that will work for you student i.e., Action Verbs. Choose either Add As Required (your student(s) is required to use all the words in the list) or Add As Optional (your student(s) selects the word he/she wants to use to write). You also have the option of clicking Highlight Used Words or Speak the Word When Clicked. For this example, select both.

• Click OK to close the Edit floating word lists. The Floating Word Lists window will open.

• Type a couple of sentences using some of the words from the word list. The words from the list that have been used will be highlighted.

• You can add additional word lists at any time by clicking on the Edit Word Lists… button located at the bottom of the Floating Word Lists window. The Edit floating word lists window opens.

• Select the word list that you want your student to

use and choose either Add As Required or Add As Optional. • Note: If you select Highlight Used Words, the word will be highlighted once it is used. This

gives a nice visual reinforcement to the student.

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Setup Word Lists

• With the Draft View go to the Main Menu Tools Setup Word Lists…

• To create a new word list click on the New… button on the Word Lists window.

• A New Word List window opens. You can choose to either create a new word list or create one from the text file. Choose Create Word List from what I type. Click Next>>.

• The New Word List window opens. You are prompted to type a word in the Word field and continue to add words to the list by clicking the Add button. Add the following words:

o Physicist o Time travel o Ergo sphere o Einstein

• You can also add definitions for the words that you selected. Add a definition to one or two of

the words. When students use the Floating Word Lists and are unsure of a word they can click on the word to see the definition.

• Click Next>> when you have finished adding words. • The Save As window opens. Give your word list a name i.e., Time Travel. Type it in the File

name field. Click Save. Your newly created list now appears in the Word Lists list.

o Gravitational

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• Open the Floating Word Lists and retrieve your word list. Try using the words in a sentence.

• Note: These lists are directly related to word prediction.

E-Text, E-Books and Audio Books

• PRCVI e-text: http://www.prcvi.org

The Provincial Centre for the Visually Impaired has already converted many of the recommended textbooks and novels to e-text. These are available free of charge in text or Braille format to students with a visual impairment. The same materials are also available to any student designated as having a print disability for a handling charge. These are text versions only and contain no graphics, so the sighted student still needs a copy of the textbook to access pictures, charts, maps, etc. Click on the Print Disability link to check the

Word Prediction

To turn Word Prediction on go to Main Menu Tools Word Prediction .

Open a New document and try typing in a sentence or two to see this feature.

Word Prediction brings up a selection of words based on what the student initially types. The student can click on the word to hear it, and then click on the corresponding number to insert that word into the sentence.

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definition of print disability and download the designation forms at this site. You can also search their catalog online.

• ARC BC: http://www.setbc.org/setinfo/arcbc

The Provincial Centre for the Visually Impaired and SET-BC are cooperating to create e-text versions of novels and textbooks in text and Kurzweil format. The Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia is a BC Ministry of Education funded response to the increasing demand for digital or alternate format alternatives to print in BC classrooms. The goal of ARC-BC is to provide BC students with perceptual disabilities and the educators supporting them with high quality digital alternate format materials based on the BC K-12 curriculum. Attending a 1-hour training session is required to access the digital resources. For more information, please check http://www.arc-bc.org.

• Publisher Provided E-Text

Many publishing companies will provide a free electronic copy of textbooks purchased from their company. When placing textbook orders, request a CD copy or electronic file. The electronic copies, if available, are provided for any student with a designated disability. The textbooks must be for classroom use, and the school must have purchased a print copy for each student. Most companies have permission request forms. The four companies listed below do provide electronic copies.

o McGraw-Hill Publishing: http://www.mhhe.com/catalogs/cust_serv/electronic_education.mhtml

o Nelson-Thompson Publishing: http://www.thompsonrights.com/permissions/action/start

o Pearson Education Publishing: http://www.pearsoncanada.ca/permissions_school.html

o Nelson Science Probe electronic copies of Teacher’s resources: http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/science/bcscienceprobe/otr.ht ml

• Kurzweil Classic Literature CD: http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/classicliterature.pdf

The Kurzweil Classic Literature CD ships with Kurzweil. The CD contains over 3,000 titles of books which are now in the public domain. This link contains the index to the CD. These titles are also available online at sites such as Gutenberg, but using the CD saves having to download them. You can import these to Kurzweil using the KESI Virtual Printer. It is recommended that you bookmark the chapters for ease of use.

• SET BC Accessible Books Collection: http://www.setbc.org

Go to the Learning Centre Learning Centre Home and then “A” for Accessible Books. Here you’ll find over 500 popular children’s books that have been converted into electronic form and narrated by live readers. Most are in PowerPoint form and can be played with PPT Player if you don’t have PPT. If you live in BC, you can request these books on CD free of charge if you have a hard cover copy of the book in your school library and are using the CD for students with access issues.

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• Wikijunior Books: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior

This is a collection of free open-content non-fiction textbooks suitable for K-7 students. They have titles such as Solar System, Big Cats, Dinosaurs, and Ancient Civilizations. You can view these online or download them as .pdf files.

• CAST Bookbuilder: http://bookbuilder.cast.org

This is a collection of free and downloadable texts that users have created using the CAST Bookbuilder. Options include the ability to add avatars to guide student reading. In the Explore Shared Books library, check out David Rose’s retelling of the Hare and Tortoise.

• CAST UDL Editions: http://udleditions.cast.org

The CAST UDL Editions are a set of free public domain novels that have been engineered with UDL principles. They contain leveled supports for text-reading, vocabulary and comprehension as well as story elements such as character and setting. These interactive texts are also linked out to other web-based resources including maps and background information which help the student understand the story.

• Thinking Reader: http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=THITHI&Subject=LanguageArts

Thinking Reader is a series of novels (for purchase) in electronic form that were created using UDL principles. The program can read the novel to the student and also prompts the student to use reading strategies such as summarizing, clarifying, visualizing, reflecting, questioning, predicting, and feeling. Students can keep a reading log, and teachers can monitor their progress. Thinking Reader titles are pricey but fabulous. Teachers who used Thinking Reader in year one of the UDL project reported that that comprehension skills transferred over to other reading materials.

• Don Johnston’s Start to Finish Books:

http://www.donjohnston.com/products/start_to_finish/index.html

The Start to Finish Books are interactive books (for purchase) that have been modified for high interest and low vocabulary readers. Each set includes the text copy, the audio cassette, a CD version, and teacher resources. Students can have the story read to them and then complete cloze or multiple choice questions. The complete title listing link is in the left sidebar. Also check out the SET BC demo and suggestions for using these books: http://www.setbc.org/setbc/topics/topics_startfinish_resources.html

• Librivox Audio Books: http://librivox.org

Volunteers at Librivox have produced human voice recordings of many of the classic literature titles in the public domain. These are available for free download.

• Robert Munsch Audio Books: http://robertmunsch.com

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Why not have Robert Munsch himself read books to your kids?

• Natural Reader: http://www.naturalreaders.com

This free Windows-only application will read e-text on the web or on your PC.

• Tar Heel Reader: http://tarheelreader.org

Tar Heel Reader is a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens.