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Tag: digital accessible books

Transitioning from High School to College – Students with Disabilities

By Guest Blogger Jean Ashmore, President, Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). This article was originally published on www.disability.gov. It’s the time of year again when yellow school buses are on the roads, uniforms and school supplies are everywhere, and students and parents alike are excited and anxious about a new school year. Those years when a student switches schools are particularly salient, with much to be learned and encountered in the new school. This is especially true when a young person transitions to college. All college students bring along academic and social experiences and lots of expectations and…

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Will Correy Crawford Win the Contest?

This summer, eight-year old Correy Crawford read more than 114 digital accessible books through the Bookshare Summer Reading Roadtrip Contest, a reading program developed for children with print disabilities.  Correy was one of 350 youngsters and teens who participated in the contest.  He is dyslexic and finds it difficult to decode words, especially vowels.  He can read digital accessible books from Bookshare, an online library with over 90,000 books, because the free Bookshare software he uses to read highlights words and reads them aloud simultaneously. This multimodal combination of letters and sounds helps with decoding. Laurie Crawford, Correy’s mom, feels…

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What We’re Reading {September 17 2010}

This week in “What We’re Reading” we’re sharing Fiction & Literature Classics that are regularly included on high school required reading lists. Download these books today; they’re fantastic reading! I would also like to ask you to please share your required reading lists with us. And be sure to take a minute to let us know what you think about the weekly “What We’re Reading” feature. We love to hear from you! Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story of growing up, discovering, and embracing one’s true self. Janie, in her attempt to find love, navigates through…

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Parents In The Know! Where Are the Accessible Textbooks?

“Good morning students, let’s begin by opening our textbooks to page 1…” Has your child been welcomed to a new school year with a greeting like this? Were they ready with an accessible version of their textbook they could read? For many students with print disabilities, traditional textbooks are not an option. Accessible versions, like digital books, now provide a promising alternative. Accessible textbooks allow students to listen to words being spoken, read words on the computer screen, look up word definitions and much more. Until recently, getting accessible textbooks has been difficult. Parents have alerted teachers of their children’s…

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Want to Make a Difference? Become a Bookshare Mentor and Make a Difference, One Teacher at a Time.

Teachers who are using Bookshare in the classroom tell us time and again that Bookshare makes it easier for their students to keep up with their peers, that their students are reading better, writing better, and are more actively participating in classroom discussions. Would you like to see every qualified student in your school and district benefit from Bookshare? Sign up to be a Bookshare Mentor today and you can help make that happen! Bookshare Mentors can significantly impact their schools just by teaching their fellow teachers how to use Bookshare with their qualified students.  If you have a Bookshare…

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What We’re Reading {September 3, 2010}

The Bookshare team reads a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions; sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! This week our recommendations come to us from our tweens! All books are appropriate for grades 5…

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What We’re Reading {August 27 2010}

The Bookshare team reads avidly. And we read a lot of books every week. And so do our children, friends and families. Among those, there are always a handful of standouts — the shortlist, the books with buzz–perfect for children, tweens, teens, college students, and young adults. “What We’re Reading” brings you picks of the most interesting recent reads, along with short descriptions; sometimes we’ll even include candid comments and notes from the team. We’ll be bringing you “What We’re Reading” every Friday, be sure to look for it and download some great books! Mockingjay (The Hunger Games Trilogy #3) by Suzanne Collins – Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has…

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Collaborative Philanthropy: Deepen Your Commitment to Bring Social Change to Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods and Rural Communities

By Marcy Guttman, Summer Associate for Corporate Philanthropy Wisdom can often come from unexpected places.  I remember a message that I read when traveling in the New York City subways: “kindness is contagious, and it begins with you.”  Huddled in the crowded masses of people, holding on to bars and handles touched by thousands of other travelers, I generally tried to avoid “catching” anything.  However, reading those seven words made me realize that kindness is something that I not only wanted to “catch” but also desired to pass on to others. The gratification of doing something kind for another consistently…

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