Free online reading software

From the Marshall Memo #449

– In this Teaching Exceptional Children article, Nancy Stockall, Lindsay Dennis, and Melinda Miller (Sam Houston State University) recommend the following programs that incorporate the principles of universal design:

• http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/Home - learning tools to enhance learning for all children;

• http://bookbuilder.cast.org - enables users to create, share, publish, and read digital books for young readers;

• http://www.bookshare.org - accessible books and periodicals for readers with print disabilities;

• http://www.signedstories.com/index.cfm - books that readers can view in sign language and with subtitles, also in audio;

• http://www.mothergooseclub.com/index.php - nursery rhymes with child actors who animate the poems;

• http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/storymaker.swf - for creating, sharing, and publishing digital books for repeated readings; includes prompts to help children begin;

• http://www.wordtalk.org/uk/About - a text-to-speech plug-in for MS Word.

“Right from the Start: Universal Design for Preschool” by Nancy Stockall, Lindsay Dennis, and Melinda Miller in Teaching Exceptional Children, September/October 2012 (Vol. 45, #1, p. 10-17)