Beth Poss, M.A., CCC/SLP
SPED 646
Towson University
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Universal Design for Learning is based
on flexible and multiple modes of
engagement, presentation, and
expression
Productivity tools such as MS Office
enable:
▪ Presentation of materials in multiple ways.
▪ Multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning.
▪ Multiple ways for students to interact and make
meaning out of curriculum and materials.
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Is readily available on almost every computer.
Built in features provide flexibility for
students and educators.
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Highlight vocabulary words
Highlight the answers
Students use as a learning tool
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Click and drag over the text and select
highlight pen.
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Hold down CTRL/Shift  use the arrow keys
to select text  choose the highlight pen in
the toolbar.
Or use View Toolbars  Reviewing 
select highlight pen in toolbar drag across
desired text.
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Or: Go to Home  Find more  format font all “ai” vowel combinations
red 14 pt to help recognize certain vowel combinations
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Highlight word, change the font color.
Change anything throughout the
document quickly by double clicking paint
brush. It will hold the format.
Select the material by highlighting.
 HomeFormat Painter  go to new material
and “paint over it with the format painter.
Use font color to emphasize a word or
sentence instead of underlining.
 Underlining increases decoding difficulties.
Scraped changes the visual appearance of the
word.
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Rationale
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▪
Engagement
Text/Background Contrast may be helpful for some students
To demonstrate a student’s
overuse of a word: find and
replace the overused word with
the same word in a different
font color.
 To teach strategies to correct
the problem have the student
find each word and use the
synonyms to find an alternative
word.
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right click to bring up
Synonym tool
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Increase Font Size tool bar item. Or:
Highlight the text, ALT/Shift and use the
greater than or less than signs accordingly.
You can increase the view size of the text
on the screen w/o increasing the font.
 On the bottom right tool bar increase the
percentage in the zoom box.
 The text will print in regular font and size.
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So reluctant writers don’t get bogged
down every time they see the squiggly
line.
Tools  options  turn off check spelling
and check grammar.
Writers can then check spelling by running
spell check under tools or right clicking on
a misspelled word.
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Under select
Select Proofing
Check Readability Statistics
Run spell check when complete.
Will give you readability statistics and a grade
level.
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The thesaurus helps refine writing as well as expose
students to a multitude of new vocabulary words.
Review ribbon Thesaurus.
Students with learning disabilities can have great
difficulty looking up a word in a standard dictionary.
The Word dictionary provides an instant definition for a
highlighted word.
Review ribbon Research
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Auto correct automatically corrects certain
errors. It also auto corrects capitalization
errors.
Within the auto correct feature, a list of
common mistakes can be added to an
existing “error table” and the correction can
be inserted.
Under Word Options
You can add words and use for
abbreviated expansion. When you type
the acronym the program will
automatically fill in the words.
 Name, address, etc.
 Acronyms such as MVP- most valuable
player
 make sure the acronym you use would
not be used for something else.
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Create cartoons for students or allow them
to create cartoons.
Draw toolbar Autoshapes Callouts
Select bubble.
You can pair it with clip art cartoons.
The bubble is a text box.
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For emergent readers who need pictures with
text, the pictures can be inserted anywhere in
the document.
With the format painter, a word can be
replaced with a picture or picture and text.
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To add a picture: Insert picture or clip art.
To crop the picture—double click on the picture.
On the picture tool bar you can select crop tool.
From this toolbar you can also select the way you want
text to wrap.
To clarify information about a picture you can add text
box.
Research a topic and write a report.
 Copy and paste digital text into Word.
 Use the auto summarize feature (needs to be added
from Word Options).
 Experiment with the summary feature and choose
which percentage is most appropriate for the student’s
language level.
 You may have to alter some of the text to include all of
the information you want.
 For those needing additional writing support,
a teacher can provide structured writing
opportunities with templates than have
prompt questions.
 The students can then type their answers on
the template and save their file as a
document.
To create a template for
your class
 Go to
 new  blank
document  My Template
 Select Blank Template
 Click Template button, then
OK
 Key in information
 Save document
 (it is saved as template)
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Microsoft Word has many templates
available when opening a new blank
document including letter, fax, and report
templates.
Other educational templates including
report templates are available online at.
http://office.microsoft.com/education/te
mplates.
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Use the table feature in Word to create
specially lined paper for students with
handwriting challenges.
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Ruled lines could be added to a worksheet for
student who have difficulty writing on a
single line.
What is the fastest animal in the jungle?
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Under table in the Insert ribbon draw tableclick and drag diagonally for the size and
shape you want.
Select the line width. Using the pencil cursor
select the location of your line. Click drag and
release.
You can also select a broken line.
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Tables  Insert table  the number of
columns and rows you want.
Place titles in top rows.
Put the stimulus for writing on the left.
Students respond in other columns.
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A graphic organizer
Use Shapes and Smart Art on the Insert
ribbon
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Open document.
Before editing, click on Review ribbon 
Track changes  Highlight changes Select
track changes while editing.
Check the 1st box.
Check the 2nd box.
Click on options to explore.
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Review New Comment.
The comment is numbered and placed in a
separate comment pane.
Word then highlights the text where the
comment was placed.
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Microsoft Word is a powerful program.
The things you have seen here are just a few
ways that it can be used to support struggling
writers.
Microsoft adds new features each year that
can often be used by your students.