I’ve often struggled with the ‘when and where’ to add symbol
support during a lesson in a mixed ability classroom. I sometimes worry that the upfront presence
of symbol support might ‘steal attention’ from the focus on text.
I’ve finally arrived at a solution that I feel ‘covers all the
bases’ for the Animated Step-by-Steps.
Now when I add symbols to a page, I set up the file to automatically add
the symbol support after the page
animations have been completed. We are now
using the symbols as a final review of what we just read and saw, i.e., “Now let’s read the page using our picture symbols.”
Intuitively this makes sense as it allows you to focus first on
the literacy and comprehension components, then allows you to review what
you just read using the symbols. I also like the fact that it is a layered
approach and is less likely to result in ‘visual overload’. I’ve chosen to illustrate the time sequence
below, using SymbolStix (www.n2y.com) on a page derived from the free
download, Brownies (www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bloom).
In a previous post I discussed how to add symbols to your
Animated Step-by-Steps. Now let’s turn our attention to how we can make them
magically appear, after all the page animations have been triggered.
In the downloaded Animated Step-by-Step file, a chimes sound signals that all the page
animations are complete and it’s time to move on to the next page/step. In this
post you will learn how to replace this simple ‘chime sound/animation’ with an
animation that not only triggers a chimes sound but also causes the page
symbols to automatically appear on the page. Your version of PowerPoint might
look a bit different, but I’m hoping it will be similar enough to allow for an
easy understanding of the conversion process.
1. Don’t
forget you will need to convert your file from a .pps to .ppt in order to
edit the file.
2. Add
the symbols to the page. Size them (.8") and place them directly beneath their corresponding
text (See previous blog post, titled Adding Symbols!)
3. Hold
down the shift key and consecutively select each symbol on the page.
4. Group
the symbols (right click and select group or select group under Arrange on the
Home Tab)
5. Select
the Animation tab and open up the Animation
Order dialog box (there is a reorder button that will make it appear).
6. Delete
the animation called heart. This will remove the current chimes sound (I always use a heart shape that
dissolves in with a chimes sound off page; since it is off page you don’t see
it but you can hear it when it is activated in the animation sequence).
1. Select
your recently grouped symbols … select the animate tab … select fade in … under effects options select the sound effect chimes from the list … under
timing select start after previous … under speed select fast.
You have now successfully substituted the final ‘chimes
sound animation’ with a chimes sound accompanied by symbol support. After all
the page animations are complete, the symbols will automatically appear in conjunction with the
chimes sound. They are now available for ‘reading the page, using the symbols’ (“Now
let’s read the page using our picture symbols.” ). Obviously
this conversion process will need to be repeated for each page in the file.
A few notes on ‘reading with the symbols’
If you are using the interactive
white board to display your symbolated Animated Step-by-Steps, do not touch
the board when pointing to symbols. Touching the board will move you on to the next page.
If you are using a symbolated file on your iPad (using the Microsoft PowerPoint app) this is
not a problem. The motion to animate is a small swipe to the left. When you
touch the symbols it does not trigger the next animation. In fact, if you hold
down your finger it will make a small red dot appear. How convenient is that?
’til the next post …
© 2015 Carol Goossens’, Ph.D.
canadiangoosse@gmail.com
