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 MS PowerPoint Talking Books “Read ‘Em and Weep” Connie Gray, Itinerant Resource Teacher in Special Education, Simcoe County District School Board  Thousands of MS PowerPoint Books are being created by teachers and students. Many of these books are talking books and can be accessed by visiting online sites with collections to share. These books will entertain, educate, inform and engage even the most reluctant readers. Use the available online books or create your own or better yet, have your students create and share their own talking books. No special equipment or specialized software needed; just widely used MS PowerPoint program and a headset with a microphone. At the AT4ALL workshop this summer, a vast collection of books will be viewed. The profiles of the many students that would benefit from the various books will be discussed as it relates to the student's strengths and needs, emerging readers of all ages, low literacy level adolescents, enrichment opportunity seekers, and so on. Differentiated instructional strategies in the area of Reading, Writing and Oral Presentations, taken from A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction and Education for All, to maximize comprehension, aid in the organization and planning of writing process and create an effective oral presentation, will be interwoven in the presentation.

The latter part of presentation will be hands on for the participants for an opportunity to create their own talking books. Participants can bring their own visual files and information to use in making books or use the files provided by the presenter. If participants have their own headsets with microphone, they are welcome to bring them; otherwise a small quantity will be available for sharing. Bring a flash drive if you want to download a talking book.