We have been playing the Nintendo Wii with children with special needs and have been having an amazing time.  Both for recreation and as a connection to the curriculum, it really is an amazing tool.  Seeing the virtual game worlds up on the big projector is pretty cool.  Our best integration is seen in a previous post about golf. There is much to share about the process we use, but for right now, one tip is to use tape or velcro to adapt the buttons.  Yes, if you have the $300 for the adapted controller, definitely check it out, but look for more posts on our adaptations.  We do some pretty wild stuff like swat at the controller, drop it, and use eye gaze to coridinate assistance.  Also, good luck getting one.  I was up very early at Best Buy on the Sunday morning we snagged ours!

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Check out the videos we have collected during our AAC writers camp. Below is pulled from the wikispace demo created as a part of the framework being developed.  http://otot.wikispaces.com/Writing+Setups

To reiterate:

1. You can so powerfully build background knowledge in the Guided Reading and Self Selected Reading Domains.
2. Videos are a powerful motivator in the writing process, especially for beginning writers

Writing Setups

Under Construction, Check Back Frequently for Updates: 5.29.08
More Videos and Directions Have Been Added (Thanks Team) 6.4.08

You are at Writing Setups—————– Alternative Pencil Directions ————–Get Lesson Directions

Chart Writing

Animals

• Dancing Dogs
• Talking Dogs
• Wild Horses
• Animal planet-pig performance
• Einstein the bird
• Very Smart Animals
• Penguin in Japan
• Big Spider
• Giant Tarantula
• A Bee Keeper’s Video
• Bee Brood
• Eating Insects
• Labrador Retriever Puppies-Siesta
• Chloe Licks a Popsicle (Chocolate Lab)

Art

• Sand art
• Animal Planet Sand Art
• Julian Beever Chalk Drawings
• Music Flipbook
• Sand Sculpture 2006 Austrailia

Books

• Leo the Late Bloomer

Music

• Blue Man Group
• High School Musical Bloopers
• High School Musical- Something New
• Beat Boxing Flute
• Chris Brown & Elmo
• Double Dutch Bus

Sports

• Awesome Cheerleading Stunts
• World Figure Skating 2008
• Awesome Gymnastics
• Tennis Fashion
• Slow Motion Tennis
• Wii Tennis
• Manhattan Beach Surfing
• How to play dodge ball
• Play dodge ball
• Wii Golf

Cooking

• Amazing Cooking!
• Disney’s Pass The Plate
• Pass The Plate- Spinach
• Pass The Plate- Mango
• LazyTown – Cooking by the Book
• The Wiggles – Fruit Salad

Nature

• Time-lapse hawaii flower blooming

Other

• Defective Robot
• Suite Life of Zack and Cody
• Mr. Bean driving on the roof of a car
• Cheeta Girls- Girl Power
• Step Up- Final Dance
• Dream Along with Mickey Mouse
• Hippo and Dog Dance- Think
• Lava Enters the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii
• Coke and Mentos
• The Original Human Tetris

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I have been posting frequently about a framework I am developing on building background knowledge and motivation using video.  Today was so inspiring in the camp I lead.  Seeing the students so interested in the videos made a huge impression on me. Here are the main benefits we are seeing:

1. You can so powerfully build background knowledge in the Guided Reading Domain.
2. Videos are a powerful motivator in the writing process, especially for beginning writers.
3. Just accessing and watching videos at this point in time, helps learners be “cool” in whatever way “cool” is to them.
4. Videos can be a powerful way to fuel the alternate portfolio process.

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