Are you using Google Workspace for Education?
If so, you may be aware of the ‘app access control settings’ feature, which enables you to control which third-party apps your users can sign into with their Google Workspace for Education Account, and the data those apps can request.
As a data protection measure, Google has announced that starting from October 23rd, 2023, users designated as under 18 won't be able to access third-party apps you haven't confirmed access settings for.
So, to ensure that your students’ access to the Clicker Apps isn’t interrupted, the Google Workplace Administrator for your organisation’s account will need to review your current settings in the Admin console before this date, and check that you have set each Clicker App to ‘Trust’.
If you’re not sure how to do this, Google has put together a handy video and step-by-step guide here.
A lot of the time, we can forget the most important part of the lesson: reflection.
This period is often found during the plenary aspect of a lesson once the main activity has been completed. However, due to time restraints, a plenary can sometimes be forgotten, and the children are expected to move to the next task of the day.
This was something I struggled with when I used to teach year 4. Having to stick to the compulsory 55 minutes per lesson, which needed to include engaging starter activities and enough time for everyone to understand and complete the objective, meant that plenaries were something that I couldn’t always plan for.
The great thing about Clicker is that we can utilise activity sets in several ways to create plenary opportunities. Lesson-appropriate activities only take a couple of minutes to plan and create but enable children to reflect on what they have learnt.
The first example of a great plenary builder is a Talk Set. Sometimes, we can over-rely on children physically writing their ideas on paper, rather than communicating with peers. Building a Talk Set allows children to share their ideas verbally, without you worrying about, “how will I show their progression if they haven’t put it on paper?” Because what’s great about Talk Sets, is that you can record ideas on the activity itself, so you don’t need to worry about losing them! Children can truly reflect and share ideas within their recordings, consolidating their understanding. This is a great way to round off a lesson.
The second example is a Connect Set. Although these are very useful for the main activities to support writing, using one at the end of a lesson would allow you to see if the children have understood the concepts covered, like fronted adverbials and expanding sentences. They could work in groups using whiteboards or even use an interactive whiteboard to create some sentences of their own.
You could even get the children to share some of their own ideas from the work they have completed in the lesson.
Plenaries are an integral part of the lesson: they allow us to consolidate understandings and reflect upon what we have learnt. They don’t have to be time consuming or overthought either; a simple retrieval activity or voice note recording can be the difference between all children demonstrating their knowledge at the end of the lesson versus only those who flourish with pen and paper.
Free ‘How to adopt Rosenshine’s 10 Principles with Clicker’ PDF!
Using plenaries is one of many pedagogical choices teachers employ in their classroom. For other examples of how Clicker can support teaching practices, our ‘How to adopt Rosenshine’s 10 Principles with Clicker’ PDF is full of handy tips and tricks to keep your children learning and engaged using Clicker.
Plenaries are an integral part of the lesson: they allow us to consolidate understandings and reflect upon what we have learnt. They don’t have to be time consuming or overthought either; a simple retrieval activity or voice note recording can be the difference between all children demonstrating their knowledge at the end of the lesson versus only those who flourish with pen and paper.
Free ‘How to adopt Rosenshine’s 10 Principles with Clicker’ PDF!
Using plenaries is one of many pedagogical choices teachers employ in their classroom. For other examples of how Clicker can support teaching practices, our ‘How to adopt Rosenshine’s 10 Principles with Clicker’ PDF is full of handy tips and tricks to keep your children learning and engaged using Clicker.
Getting students to write confidently within a range of non-fiction genres is no easy task. But our set of WorkSpace planners for DocsPlus on LearningGrids could be just what you’re looking for if you have students starting out or struggling with writing non-fiction text types. The planners are designed to help students organise what they want to say, within a framework that is adapted to the specific writing genre. What’s more, you can use our WorkSpace planners on Win/Mac and iPad/Chromebook, so your students can have access to this fantastic tool wherever they are in school.
Let’s begin by looking at the Discussion Planner. The framework is clearly set out to encourage the thought process involved – students are guided to list their title, key points on both sides (for and against) and a conclusion.
Once the ideas have been added – you might even want to use Voice Notes so students can record key ideas and prompts – the next stage in the process can begin.
Simply by clicking on the export tool, students can use their work as direct support for their own writing. They can send their planner to the document as an image or as text. They can even create a supportive Wordbar (a bank of key words/phrases) with the text from their planner.
This introductory video to WorkSpace is a brilliant tool to understand how to best support your students’ plan and organise their writing.
There is also a Discussion Frame Wordbar available on LearningGrids, which supports students writing an argument or discussion text on any topic, providing them with a writing frame, general words and phrases, link words and phrases, and a tab to add topic-specific vocabulary.
Find these resources – as well as a range of other planners and frames for different non-fiction genres, including explanation, procedure, report and recount – by typing ‘Planner’ into LearningGrids. And if you have any questions at all, our friendly team are here to answer them - email us at info@cricksoft.com or call us on 01604 671691!
Recently, we ran a training webinar focusing on how Clicker can be used in the Early Years.
We had lots of interest in different literacy topics, including vocabulary building activities, speaking and listening activities, and sentence building. As a former EYFS teacher, it was great to see how many resources there are available within LearningGrids that can be used in an Early Years setting! We explored Little Red Riding Hood as an example, but there are thousands more ready-made resources, linked to many other stories, themes and topics.
Vocabulary building
For vocabulary building, we started by looking at the Look and Read Matching Set. This resource is a great way to introduce learners to the key language they are likely to encounter in the story. Children can rehearse vocabulary by matching an image from the story to the corresponding word. This is a brilliant activity for children to complete independently after a teaching input, it’s such an engaging way for them to consolidate new learning!
Next, we looked at Clicker Books. These on-screen, speech supported books empower pupils of all abilities to read more independently. We began by exploring the Little Red Riding Hood Read a Book, which provides a more detailed version of the story combining images and text to engage your learners. To make this activity more accessible, children also have the option to hear the story read aloud.
We then looked at the Read it Yourself book. These books are designed for children to read the text themselves, using a simplified version of the story to encourage independence when reading. For additional support, this resource can be edited to include a read button so children can use Clicker to read the story to them. I always enjoyed nurturing a love of reading in my classroom, and Clicker Books are a great way of encouraging this! They make reading fun for your learners and allow them to access a range of books independently.
Speaking and listening
Next, we looked at how Clicker can be used to develop speaking and listening skills. We began by looking at the Little Red Riding Hood Keywords activity. Children can listen to core vocabulary from the story and record themselves saying these words aloud.
Once learners are familiar with the key vocabulary and plot of the story, they can use this Tell the Story Talk Set to orally retell Little Red Riding Hood. This resource includes images from the story in sequence, learners simply click a picture and record their ideas using the microphone button. When finished, children can listen to all the recordings to hear the story retold in their own words. This resource can be completed individually, in groups, or as a whole class!
Finally, we explored Clicker Boards. With this Describe the Characters activity, children can create profile mind maps of characters from the story. Children can type key descriptive words into text boxes and further expand on their ideas by recording a voice note. I would have enjoyed using this as a whole class activity with my Reception class, the children can contribute ideas whilst the teacher collates them on the whiteboard. This board can then be turned into a word bank to support learners further with their writing!
Sentence Building
For sentence building skills, we began by looking at the Clicker Sets available to support children of all writing abilities. First, we looked at this Sentence Set, which helps children to build a simple sentence word by word. This resource provides children with all the words needed to build their first sentence, with the words displayed in a random order. Learners click each word to bring it into the document and build their sentence whilst developing their understanding of sentence structure and word order.
If children come to a word or phrase they cannot decode, they can use the speech feedback to hear it read aloud. Once the sentence is finished and a period is added in, Clicker reads the sentence back to the children so they can listen out for any errors. For additional support when using the Sentence Set, children can look at the complete sentence to understand the correct sentence structure before having another go.
Next we explored a Connect Set to support children with retelling the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This resource provides children with a scaffold to support the writing process and encourages them to independently experiment with a wider choice of vocabulary and sentence structures. This activity contains images from the story, so learners can choose when and how they want to illustrate their writing.
It was fantastic to be able to share these ideas with so many of our customers. If you’d like more information on how you can use Clicker to support your learners in Early Years, you can:
- Watch our tutorials or book a meeting.
- Explore LearningGrids for resources on nursery rhymes, sentence patterns, positional language and thousands more!
With any scheme or technology that you implement in school, you want to know it’s having a positive impact on learning and you’re getting value for money.
Here are some of the aspects of your pupils’ writing that Clicker can improve and how you can use the software to monitor and track their progress.
Vocabulary
By using appropriate writing grids and the Predictor, children can confidently use a wider range of topic specific and more advanced vocabulary in their writing.
In Analytics, you can track their use of vocabulary by seeing which words were typed, chosen from Clicker Sets or the Predictor. By delving further into Analytics, you can even see whether children listened to the words for confirmation before adding them into the Document.
Over time, children will need the speech support less frequently, include vocabulary that they first used with Clicker Sets and have the confidence to use this vocabulary in their writing outside of Clicker as well.
Length of writing
Clicker can have a dramatic effect on the amount of work children can produce and how quickly they can produce it.
With access to planning tools, such as Voice Notes (voice recordings) and Clicker Boards (mind maps), children can plan their writing in the way that suits them best and will find it easier to stay on track during writing tasks as they can refer back to their ideas (as opposed to having to remember them as they write). With point and click access to key vocabulary, your class can spend more time concentrating on their writing content and sentence structure, and less time focusing on spelling individual words, which can often interrupt their thought process and the flow of their writing. This should encourage your pupils to write longer sentences as their ideas won’t be forgotten, and barriers to writing longer sentences (like spelling) are removed.
To monitor Clicker’s positive impact, you can track the average length of their writing over time through Analytics. By choosing Statistics in the Analytics ribbon, you can see the total number of words in a Document, the average sentence length and the number of paragraphs. This makes it quick and easy for you to track the progress your pupils are making!
Spelling and grammar errors
Clicker can help learners check their work more effectively and correct mistakes more easily.
The speech feedback that reads out sentences when they’re completed helps learners to identify misspelled words, even if the misspelling is a different correct word (for example, writing ‘sow’ instead of ‘saw’). Learners can also use the speech feedback to be sure their sentence makes sense. Using speech feedback alongside the Predictor and the Spell Check helps learners to correct their work more independently. For learners who need further help with aspects of grammar, we have a wide selection of Clicker Sets focusing on different grammar rules and homophones.
In Analytics, you can easily see where the Predictor and Spell Check were used in a Document. By selecting the tabs, you can see whether the child listened to the options provided before making a choice or correction.
Independence
Clicker supports learners in writing and correcting more independently, reducing the amount of help they require from an adult.
Pupils can use LearningGrids resources to research or refer to curriculum content independently. A recent Clicker success story included a lovely example of this:
“In ‘Choosing Time’ the pupils can decide what they’d like to do, and this one child really wanted to use Clicker to write about plants. This isn’t something we’ve covered in class, but she just went off to LearningGrids and found some writing sets on the subject and presented me with this whole page of writing about the different parts of a plant, how to look after them etc, it was amazing. They can just pick Clicker up and roll with it.”
Rather than needing to check the correct option in the Spell Check with an adult, learners can listen to the options provided with the speech feedback. They can also record their tasks or ideas into Voice Notes in the Document to refer to when they need a reminder of the task they’re completing. Pupils can structure their work before starting to write with Voice Notes or a Clicker Board, and using a Word Bank ensures learners always have point and click access to key subject vocabulary.
As Clicker boosts the class’s independence when writing, teachers will find that they can spend more time with each pupil as those who usually rely on teacher help to complete a task will require less adult support.
Alternate methods of recording
Finally, for learners who struggle to record their knowledge in writing, Clicker offers multiple options for alternate methods of recording.
Children can use Voice Notes to record their understanding orally before attempting to write it up. They could use the video recording function in Clicker Books to record their explanations as a movie book. Or they could use a Talk Set with pictures as a stimulus to express their knowledge.
By using Clicker’s alternative methods to record pupils’ understanding, teachers are able to track the learning progress of the children who struggle to demonstrate this in their writing. Talk Sets and recording functions also enable teachers to easily capture the voice of the child for speaking and listening evidence.
If you’d like to discuss using Clicker in your school in more detail, you can book a meeting with your Partnership Consultant. Otherwise, for further information you can always visit our:
We’ve got another exciting development to share with you this week…
Previously, the Clicker Board feature was only available to Windows/Mac users, but now it is also available within our Clicker Writer app for iPad and Chromebook!
Clicker Board is an incredible planning tool that helps pupils prepare for writing. Pupils can add text, images, and sounds to their planning whilst accessing all of Clicker’s support features including realistic speech feedback, word prediction and a talking spell checker.
Clicker Board now provides Clicker Writer users with many intuitive features that make planning an accessible task for all pupils, including:
Visual and audio support
Clicker Board utilises text, image and sound to ensure that every learner can plan their work in the way that suits them best. Images can be chosen from over 4500 curriculum pictures in the CrickPix library, or users can create their own using the painting tools. For strong verbal communicators, Voice Notes can be added to Clicker Boards to ensure they can capture their ideas, too.
Plans transform into structured writing support
When your pupils have completed their board, they can transform it into a word or picture bank that will sit at the bottom of the document as they are writing, providing instant touch access to key words, phrases and/or images. The bank intuitively mimics the structure of their board – which helps pupils to organise their written paragraphs and transfer their ideas to the page in a logical order.
Click here for a quick video demonstration!
Clicker’s integrated support features
All of Clicker’s support features are available while pupils create their Clicker Board. They can listen back to their text with the speech tool, use the predictor tool to help find the right word, and correct any spelling errors with the help of the talking spell checker.
Free access for current subscribers
Clicker Board is available now in Clicker Writer for all our current Clicker subscribers – simply update Clicker on your device(s) and Clicker Board will be ready to go!
If you require any further guidance, our support team will be happy to help.
Don’t have Clicker yet?
If you would like to explore how Clicker can raise literacy attainment and enjoyment across your school, we offer free 15-minute consultations where we’ll discuss your pupils’ specific learning challenges and objectives, and how Clicker can help.
You can choose the date and time that works best for you here.
We’ve also got lots more information about Clicker Writer and the complete Clicker package on our website.
We’re extremely pleased to announce that Clicker is a Bett Awards finalist in the ‘Primary – Digital Learning Product – Literacy and Language’ category.
The Bett Awards are a global celebration of the inspiring creativity and innovation that can be found throughout technology for education. This is the first year that Bett have included a literacy and language category, so we are very excited to be on the shortlist.
Over the years, Clicker has won nine Bett Awards – we really hope that this will be our chance to get into double figures. Last year, our founders John and Ann Crick were the proud recipients of Bett’s ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’.
Having been at the forefront of inclusive software development for more than a quarter of a century, John and Ann continue to help new generations of learners to experience feelings of pride and success in their writing. Their commitment to universal design and helping every child become a better, more confident writer has empowered young writers in thousands of schools around the world.
The winner for the ‘Primary – Digital Learning Product – Literacy and Language’ category will be announced during the Bett Show in March, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed until then!
We have thoroughly enjoyed supporting KidsAid over the last year through a range of fundraising activities.
Our mission was to help KidsAid refurnish and resource the therapy rooms that play such an important role in the support they provide for local children and their families.
Over the year, we have raised £2,565 for KidsAid with some memorable moments along the way – including our colleague, Celia, abseiling the National Lift Tower (a whopping 418ft!) to help our fundraising mission.
In December, we were lucky enough to visit KidsAid and see the incredible progress that’s been made with their therapy rooms over the year. They are looking brilliant!
BEFORE
AFTER
KidsAid recently shared the following on their website:
Our Partnership with Crick Software
With the support of Crick Software, we are excited to share that we have refurnished our therapy rooms and purchased new toys, creative materials, and therapy resources.
John and Ann Crick are passionate about helping young people in need and have made the decision to partner with KidsAid for another year! We are excited to continue working with them and could not be more grateful for their continued support.
We are also delighted to continue working with KidsAid in 2023 and are excited to support their fantastic work within the local community for another year!
Earlier this year, a BBC news item “Writing a Book in a Day” highlighted the work of a South African based charity called Book Dash that creates and publishes books for free, with the aim of enabling all children to “own a hundred books by the age of five”.
We connected with Book Dash to enquire about supporting the resources through Clicker on LearningGrids – and received an enthusiastic response from Director Dorette Louw, confirming that we could indeed use any of the books, ending her email with the words: “We adore seeing what happens to our stories once they’re out in the world!”
A huge appeal of the stories is the range of diverse representation. So we eagerly got to work looking through the available titles (there are hundreds!) and seeing which might work well with Clicker.
The stories – all beautifully illustrated and unique – are mostly aimed at early readers and include wordless picture books too.
The first two of these books have now been published on LearningGrids:
How Do You Sleep?
This story is beautiful, and the images are really engaging and appealing to young children.
The Reading Book has strong repetition and the graphics are so much fun – my personal favourite is definitely the owl page … and yes baby owls really do sleep on their faces! When creating the book, we could have used the images without the text, but we wanted to stay as faithful as possible to the original, especially as we felt the layout of the text was such an important design feature.
As well as making the book available for readers online, we also wanted to offer additional supporting activities where possible and relevant. For this story, we have created a Make a Book activity (where children can write about the story using beginnings/middles/endings).
There’s also a Sentence, Connect, and Talk Set to enable differentiated levels of response according to individual needs. A Board Set allows children to organise ideas about how the animals in the story sleep and about how they sleep.
Goldfish Genius
Another fun title, and one of Book Dash’s wordless stories. To distinguish this from our usual "Read a Book" sets, we called the stimulus story book a "Picture Book". Wordless picture books like this are important early reading resources as they help children learn to infer what is happening in the story – since there no words, they have to figure out the story using the pictures and their imagination. This is vital in helping to develop not only comprehension but also an overall understanding of story structure and plot.
To support this story, we also have a Make a Book activity, a Talk Set and a Clicker Board so children can record – through writing, captions or speaking – their own interpretation of what is happening in the text-free story.
We hope to add more Book Dash stories and supporting resources to LearningGrids in the future. We are so grateful for this opportunity and super excited to share a more diverse range of stories and characters in our Story Corner category on LearningGrids.
With the new school year well underway, Support has been super busy with enquiries regarding managing apps licenses. So, let’s look at what it’s all about!
How do I manage them?
The Apps Subscription Manager function allows authorised individuals to manage the allocation of licenses that are used on iPads and Chromebooks. Whether allocating licenses for the first time, keeping track of current licenses or reallocating licenses, this tool keeps it simple!
Who can access the portal?
Those identified as Subscription Managers that also have an existing Google/Apple account.
What’s the benefit?
Schools are always busy, so it’s important that you can log in and manage your licenses at a time that suits you. We are always happy to help of course, but here are some simple instructions if you choose to manage your licenses yourself.
Where to start?
- Sign into apps.cricksoft.com with your Google Account or Apple ID.
- Click the subscription's Manage button to see a list of activated iPads/Chromebook users.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to:
- add Chromebook users
- add iPads
- remove current Chromebook users / iPads
Is adding a Subscription Manager complicated?
No, simply provide the existing Google or Apple account of those you wish to add along with your Organization ID. These can be submitted to us by emailing support@cricksoft.com or using our support form. You will then receive an email confirming your request has been actioned.
REMEMBER:
Don’t forget, if you have a Flexi-license subscription, all Chromebook users should be licensed automatically (the apps should launch with no messages). If this isn’t happening, please contact Support to provide us with your Google domain.
If you need any advice or assistance with managing your subscription, or any element of our software and apps, please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@cricksoft.com or call us on 01604 671691.
Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death and takes place on November 1st and 2nd each year in Mexico. The holiday has roots back to rituals honouring the dead in Ancient Mesoamerica.
In our recent Mexico Clicker Sets on LearningGrids, we explore this tradition, as well as other cultural and geographical features of the country. The collection of resources includes Read a Book and Read It Yourself Clicker Books and a range of related speaking and writing activities.
Depending on the needed level of support, children can use the Sentence Set, Connect Set, or Word Bank to help them write about Mexico.
Or you can provide children with an alternative means of expression by using the Talk Set, where they can record information about Mexico. Don’t forget that you can increase the number of recorders for each picture to allow children to record their ideas in bite-sized chunks. They can then listen to all their recordings on the start page – great for class presentations!
Be sure to visit LearningGrids for more Mexico resources, including a Word Bank and Clicker Board about the ancient Mayan site Chichén Itzá.
When our students find something difficult, or lack interest in it, or have an inbuilt fear of doing badly or indeed, failing; a very common anticipatory reaction is to avoid it. Constant struggles to achieve, despite working harder than others, often results in a wide range of avoidance strategies such as attendance issues; behaviour issues and limiting the fear of failure by choosing the simplest, most straightforward option.
Common transition pressures for SEND students
For students with SEND, this is often seen during and after transition to secondary school where there are so many challenges to their security - routines; expectations; new people; new spaces; new sensory inputs and an overarching thought that they are in ‘big’ school; they are ‘grownup’, and more is expected of them. So much pressure!
Let us add to this picture the pedagogical tendency to ‘chunk’ information and output expectations in order to make learning more accessible. Whilst this has clearly been shown to be effective in many learning activities, it does make it more difficult when we require students to extend and create a longer piece of work, with a level of independence. Of course we can scaffold and support via a different ‘chunking’ technique to introduce extended writing, however this does remain an area where many struggle – and this is evidenced for example by some Universities and Colleges offering induction courses in research techniques, essay writing and effective editing.
Why independent extended writing is important for all learners
So why is the ability to produce extended pieces of writing independently important? Elizabeth Bowling’s blog, ‘Beautiful Writing across the curriculum’ suggests:
“We know that clear and confident written expression is key to both academic success and success in later life. Jennifer Webb expresses it brilliantly when she says that “those that can successfully communicate have the power to change things and to show their worth”, and those that can’t are effectively disenfranchised from society (Teach Like a Writer: 2020). Written communication is necessary for self-expression, self-esteem and social empowerment.”
In all four modes of communication i.e., listening, speaking, reading and writing, our students may be challenged and yet success in learning and life is often influenced by and dependent on ability in these. Consequently, it is really important to support our students with literacy challenges, of whatever form, to understand why extended writing is going to be useful for them and then, use strategies to make success achievable for them.
The expectations for extended writing tasks
What do we mean by extended writing? UNSW in Sydney offers an explanation of why they use extended writing tasks and what they consist of:
“Extended writing tasks are text-based assignments that involve:
research and critical reading from multiple sources of information and ideas, and
the development of a sustained and well-substantiated argument or point of view.
These tasks are usually set to be undertaken within extended time frames. Students must engage in high-level reasoning and problem-solving as they generate their own creative response to the problem posed. With extended writing tasks, students can engage in deep learning, gain insights into multi-structural connections and relationships among concepts, and develop critical and creative reasoning skills.”
Three considerations for SEND learners when completing extended writing
So, extended writing is a complex structure of writing creation and production which ultimately should be produced by the student themselves. Of course, for our students there are three considerations:
- Firstly, ‘chunking’ of the various elements that will combine to form the final written version is important as the task as a whole will seem overwhelming. However, the end result should always remain in sight.
- Secondly, using assistive technology is perfectly acceptable and can support the precise needs of the individual student. It is not cheating. (I am not scribing this on a wax tablet with a stick and hopefully, the built-in spellchecker is doing its work!)
- Thirdly, if we make this activity accessible and achievable then our students will actively engage with it and instead of being a task that causes anxiety, our hope is that enjoyable engagement, and greater output, will result.
Overcoming barriers to extended writing with DocsPlus
So, if we are using technology, how can we support our students to understand and use the building blocks, then create their own piece of extended writing? There are many options available luckily, however I am going to focus on using the excellent DocsPlus by Crick Software. The reason for this is that it is a one-stop shop and within one software solution, many elements can be supported and made accessible, thus reducing the need to move between solutions. For a student who struggles with cognitive transitions, this supportive learning landscape offers safety.
| Barrier to writing | How DocsPlus can help… | |
| Unsure about how they will tackle the task | Anxiety is often caused both by the task itself and the workflow to respond to it. | DocsPlus offers a clear, structured working environment which is predictable and consistent. |
| Understanding the task | To achieve in extended writing, it is vital to understand and answer the question. Many lose marks for not linking their answer to the set task. | Copy the question into DocsPlus and listen to it as often as you need to. Break down any sub sections as these can be used for structuring the answer. |
| Difficulty getting started | The key to getting started is simply having something to say, therefore the curation and research part of an extended writing task is crucial. | Use the integrated DocReader in DocsPlus to quickly read and highlight key points. Voice Notes can be used for easy thought collection. |
| Organisation and sequencing ideas | Getting this in place supports workflow when writing a logical response to the question. This reduces anxiety as it is then clear what has to be written and in what order. Poor working memory is supported by multimodal information chunked so that each section can be quickly referred to when needed. | Use WorkSpace to add ideas which can include text, pictures and even Voice Notes. These can then be moved around and organised, perhaps linked to the sub sections of a task question. Everything in WorkSpace will transform in a single click to Wordbars for writing support. |
| Spelling | Great anxiety about poor spelling often leads to choosing simpler vocabulary and avoiding richer or more complex words. | Use the integrated word predictor and grids with core and task specific vocabulary. Finally, utilise the customisable spell checker. |
| Writing fatigue | For students with literacy barriers, extended writing tasks demand a huge amount of cognitive energy and it can become overwhelming. It is helpful to be able to take a break and return with all the planning and writing in place and accessible. | Chunk the learning process through DocsPlus features, including: WorkSpace for planning, Voice Notes for easy note taking, and structured writing frames to aid writing for a specific topic or sequence. |
| Editing work | This is often problematic and when rereading work the tendency is to skip ahead and thus miss mistakes. Being able to hear the text read and follow along makes it much easier to spot errors. | Use DocsPlus’ Text-to-Speech output to have your writing read back to you. Adjust font type/size to ensure easy reading. |
| Illegible handwriting | Many students have poor handwriting, which can lead to both an unwillingness to produce written work by hand, and if they do, an inability to read what they have written. | Clear print output gives a legible end-product to be proud of. |
| Fear of failure | By working in a structured way, using an organised, stepped approach, small successes can be achieved to foster a positive attitude to complete the whole task. | WorkSpace offers a safety net of ideas and structures allowing reassurance and guidance at any point in the process. Output is clear, easy to read and ‘looks good’. |
| Accessibility | For those who require additional accessibility support, DocsPlus offers a range of options that are ready to use. | DocsPlus’ comprehensive range of proven multisensory accessibility options include: iPad use, SuperKeys, switch, eye-gaze and touch screen. |
Extended writing is undoubtably a challenging task and yet mastery of this offers success in many areas. A structured, accessible, and most importantly, achievable approach facilitates success, and this achievement will really establish a student’s confidence. The transition to secondary school demands greater depth and content in written tasks and so managing these increased demands in a way which supports rather than inhibits is so important. Technology can not only support this, but with the right choices, provide a student with the tools to use whilst in secondary education but also to take with them to support them in their future.
Carol Allen is an Education Advisor specialising in ICT and inclusion, with decades of teaching experience in both mainstream schools and schools for students with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties. She was named one of the top ten educators for 2018 in the field of educational technology for her inclusion work. Carol is also a headline speaker and workshop leader at education events across the globe.
We are delighted to share some lovely entries from our Summer Story Share competition!
The whole team have thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories that have been sent in, and we were blown away by the imagination, attention to detail and enthusiasm shown in all of them. Thank you to everyone who entered!
Let’s take a look at some of the sensational stories you’ve been working on over the summer:
Athena, age 8: The Forest Cat
Athena’s story grabbed our attention from the very first page and we were instantly hooked into whether Katy would get to go to the forest or not with her friend Ginger. We were impressed by Athena’s huge plot twist and were all wondering what would happen next! Thankfully, Athena’s brilliantly detailed writing led us to the resolution. The final cliff hanger was an excellent touch. Well done, Athena.
Franky, age 9: Jeffery Nibbles and the Secret Garden!!
Franky’s title instantly made us smile – the name Jeffery Nibbles is original and captivating so we were desperate to find out what he got up to. The Curriculum team were really impressed by Franky’s use of images throughout his story – including inserting photographs, using Clicker Paint and the Crick picture library! We had some lovely feedback from Franky’s mum. She shared that Franky really enjoyed creating his Summer Story and his writing confidence has blossomed ready for his return to school. He feels incredibly proud of what he’s created, and we do too! Well done, Franky.
Jacob, age 7: George and the Wizard School
Jacob has written a brilliantly structured story and has features that show he is a wonderful author! We loved Jacob’s use of fronted adverbials to start his sentences and to add some variety and interest to his work. It made his writing enjoyable and easy to read! Jacob did an excellent job of keeping us on our toes and we thought he wrote a great ending for the mischievous goblin by leaving it in a jar at the top of a castle tower in the form of a toad! Well done, Jacob.
Marieanne, age 9: If I could go anywhere
Marieanne has masterfully combined fiction with non-fiction in her story If I could go anywhere. We were amazed by her knowledge of India and how she weaved it into a detailed narrative. Our Curriculum team enjoyed If I could go anywhere’s fairy tale atmosphere and that Marieanne included an enticing blurb to set the scene! A great job, Marieanne, well done.
We will be emailing the schools that have won our book token prize draw over the next couple of weeks - many thanks to everyone who entered!
If you’ve ever read your class a nonsense narrative like Julia Donaldson’s Room on a Broom or Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, you may recall everyone smiling from ear to ear thanks to their silliness, fun and charming rhymes. Stories with catchy wordplay and nonsense plots can safely transport readers into a world of imagination and wit. Research by education specialists shows they can help children develop important communicative and coping skills. They also suggest that sharing nonsense with friends encourages social bonding in the classroom. In a post-pandemic environment, a writing genre that develops communication, coping skills and social bonding could be high on many teachers’ agenda.
So, my question is: How can Clicker support children when writing nonsense narratives and wordplay to unlock their social and emotional benefits?
Clicker can help transform your class’ imaginative ideas into writing and scaffold the learning for children who “don’t know where to start”. As a teacher, I found planning, writing and sharing original stories to be a daunting process for many children.
So, this is how I would use two of Clicker’s many writing tools to ensure lessons are accessible to every child and remove the learning barriers often associated with story writing.
1. Create and edit a Sentence Set to overcome writer’s block
I would start by building a Sentence Set to support children writing sentences that include wordplay. This could be pre-prepared to encourage independent writing during the lesson, or collaboratively built to capture everyone’s ideas in one place. Sentence Sets provide safe learning boundaries for the nervous writer, and you can easily create personalised learning journeys for each child. For differentiation, you can colour code the sentences to their sentence type. I’ve used blue to show simple sentences, and pink to show a complex sentence!
When creating your Sentence Sets, the possibilities are endless: you could use extracts from your current class book, work together to capture the children’s ideas, or create your own.
I would incorporate nonsense words into my Sentence Sets to ensure all children can confidently write using this element of wordplay. As a result, Clicker’s Sentence Sets enable every child to enjoy nonsense narratives and write sentences that even the BFG would be proud of!
2. Create a Clicker Book to encourage story sharing
After writing their sentences, I would use the next lesson to transform each child’s ideas into a Clicker Book. I love this tool because Clicker’s picture banks always bring the children’s stories to life, and Voice Note recordings can evidence them reading their work, too.
Starting with a blank canvas can be a nerve-wracking experience, so creating a picture bank can help your class fill their books with colour and content, provide a stimulus for writing and build their confidence.
Lastly, I would add a nonsense-filled word bank for my class to use in their Clicker Book. Think crodsquikled, buzzlepop, woozles, wizzles and heffalumps! The word bank can include nonsense words from your Sentence Sets, and you can provide the opportunity for your class to add their own nonsense vocabulary. Just ask them to sound out their unique words and add them to the Clicker Book’s word bank before they start writing. I organised my word bank to encourage accurate syntax, even though the words are nonsense!
The features I’ve explored here are just a small sample of the many easy-to-use tools and resources available in Clicker to support children with story writing. Visit our tutorials for further ideas and don’t forget to share your nonsense wordplay with us!
Clicker is a great tool in supporting learners at all stages of their literacy journey. With lots of recent talk about cognitive load theory and its implications on learning, I wanted to explore some ideas about how Clicker can help.
First the science …
Children are often bombarded with information and ideas when they are learning new topics, and not surprisingly, this can be overwhelming! Often, they grasp some of the learning, but not quite all – and this impacts not only the present but also future learning outcomes.
It’s all to do with our “working (short-term) memory” and how it can only deal with a limited amount of information at any one time. Too much and the result, according to educational psychologist John Sweller, is “cognitive overload”. When we exceed the capacity of our working memory, our learning is impeded.
There are strategies to reduce the load on short-term memory, and many of these are well supported and facilitated by Clicker. Essentially, children need to build up a secure store of knowledge in their long-term memory – so they can draw on it when they meet new topics and don’t rely solely on (and overload) their short-term memory. The trick is making sure that the knowledge has been processed and fully understood in the children’s working memory first – if it has, it will be transferred to their long-term memory to support future learning.
Activating prior knowledge before starting work on new learning, encourages children to pull what they have previously learned (from their long-term memory) into their working (short-term) memory. They can then take the new information, building it onto what they already know, to create a more developed body of knowledge to store in their long-term memory for future learning.
Cloze activities in Clicker are a great way to revisit key concepts and assess children’s knowledge and understanding – as well as identifying any “gaps”. Satisfyingly quick and easy to create – simply add any text into a Cloze Document and remove keywords to check knowledge.
Say for example, we are learning about how plants grow in science. Before we begin reading our Plant Life Cycle book, we might want to do a quick recap on the names and functions of plant parts, as these will be terms revisited in a new context. So we could create a quick retrieval practice Cloze activity (I used the text from the Clicker Book About Plants – Read a Book). Prior knowledge is consolidated, and we are ready to move onto the new learning about how each these parts grow as part of a plant’s life cycle.
Other types of low-stakes retrieval exercises – such as Matching or Talk – also provide valuable extra practice, reinforce memory and ascertain what children do (and don’t) know. You could also use a Clicker Board at the start or end of a lesson and/or topic to create a mind map to summarise previous knowledge and understanding. Get children to use Talk Sets to orally demonstrate knowledge. They could research a topic for 10 minutes and then record an information podcast about 10 key points. Many of our Reading Books are linked to complementary Talk Sets, so this is often an activity on LearningGrids that is ready to go!
Research shows that providing frameworks and models can also support learners. The frames act as a prop, freeing up working memory capacity which then builds onto their long-term memory. The models can be gradually “faded” (removed) to encourage more independent working as learners’ knowledge and confidence grow, so they get the right level of support at each stage.
Continuing with the plants theme, we might start with a Sentence Set which offers a clear model to write simple sentences about parts of a plant. The next stage might be a structured writing frame with a lot of information, like our Connect Set on the same topic. This could be followed by a “frame” in the form of a Word Bank with less structure and information, although vocabulary is still arranged in topic tabs for a softer level of guidance. The ultimate goal is that learners are able to work without a writing frame, although we could still offer vocabulary in an A – Z format which requires much more independent application.
These are all great features of Clicker which can help with memory capacity and retention. Search on LearningGrids for a range of activities, including Sentence Sets, Connect Sets and Word Banks.
LearningGrids is one of Clicker’s most popular features – teachers love having instant access to a free library of curriculum resources – at the time of writing there are over 3000 available!
However, I am sometimes asked when training schools – “What if there aren’t any resources on my topic? Is it difficult to make your own?”
Well, the simple answer is ”No - it’s really easy!”
I was recently asked how Clicker could be used to support a Year 6 class studying Romeo and Juliet.
To start with, I’d suggest a class discussion on the character traits of Romeo and Juliet. Create a Clicker Board from one of the pre-made templates by selecting New Clicker Set > Planning Boards from the Quick Start screen in Clicker 8.
You can add your own pictures as a stimulus or even drag-and-drop images from search engines:
As a class group, discuss the character traits of Romeo and Juliet, filling in the cells on the Clicker Board:
Bridge the gap between planning and writing by transforming your mind map into a word bank - just click on the Export button and select ‘Create Word Bank’. Save this to your school’s cloud storage system (such as Google Drive) and it’s instantly accessible to support your class on their devices as they write!
I then searched the web for a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ synopsis – there are lots of websites that summarise the play for children in a few sentences:
I copied all the text and pasted it into Clicker (Clicker Set ribbon > New > Sentence Set). I added a couple of extra grids so I could split the longer sentences to simplify them and keep them under 12 words.
Choosing ‘View & Copy’ provides children with a model as they build their sentences.
You can use the exact same text to create an activity for your more confident writers – in the Clicker Set ribbon, select New > Word Bank, paste in the words, choose alphabetic grids, and filter out high frequency words.
And there you have it – accessible curriculum resources in a flash!
If you need a little help with creating your own Clicker Sets, take a look at these excellent short tutorials from our training team: Clicker 8 - Tutorials | Crick Software. For some one-to-one support from a Clicker Education Consultant, you can book a free Customer Care meeting here: Customer care meetings | Crick Software.
Here at Crick, we’ve all been working hard to get ready for the launch of Clicker Books for iPad and Chromebook. Now it’s here with beautiful illustrations and a huge range of resources, I can’t wait to share what’s in store for you and your learners.
Clicker Books makes lesson content more accessible and engaging for children of all abilities. Watch your pupils’ reading confidence and topic comprehension grow as our talking books bring the primary curriculum to life. Alongside Clicker 8 and Clicker Writer, this latest addition to the Clicker Apps family is available to everyone who has a current Clicker subscription.
“We’re using the pre-made Clicker Books to introduce topics on a one-to-one basis. In the new academic year, we plan to use them on the interactive whiteboard for whole class work. I’m really amazed by how much there is in LearningGrids – the scope and variety of resources is incredible.”
- Anita Clarke, SENCo at Cringleford Primary
New app, new resources
As many of our staff members have worked in education, we understand how short on time teachers are. That’s why our new app comes with hundreds of age-appropriate books available for immediate use.
Whether you’re looking for timeless tales like Jack and the Beanstalk or non-fiction resources to introduce the stages of the water cycle, our LearningGrids portal gives access to an extensive collection of creative stories and curriculum-based books.
Plus, our wonderful curriculum team will be adding exciting new titles regularly.
Build independence in your readers
Clicker Books offers the fundamental reading support that we love on the PC version of Clicker. Features like speech feedback and word highlighting provide instant visual and aural reinforcement, which is so powerful for early or struggling readers.
One of our most important aims for Clicker Books is to boost confidence in our users, so we have included a simplified “Read It Yourself” version with many of our book sets. Specifically created to encourage children to access the content unassisted, these resources help pupils explore words they’re unsure of independently and build a greater sense of personal achievement.
Helping readers become writers
As your pupils grow in confidence, Clicker Books also provides a creative way to show how much they’ve learnt.
Unleash your children’s artistic flair by helping them write their own stories using our ‘Make a Book’ sets. With customisable writing support and the ability to add in their own photos, drawings and videos, creating a book that’s theirs will get even the most reluctant of writers excited about literacy again.
Take Clicker Books anywhere
Of course, no application would be complete without the ability to seamlessly transfer from device to device and continue where you left off. For those with a Clicker Site Licence, children can continue work at home on their own devices too.
Free access for current subscribers
We’re excited to welcome Clicker Books to the Clicker Apps family and can’t wait to update you on some other new additions we have planned for later this year.
Clicker Books is completely free to access for our Clicker 8/Clicker Writer subscribers - these easy-to-follow support guides will help you get started.
Don’t have Clicker?
If your school doesn’t have a Clicker subscription and are interested in finding out how it can benefit you and your pupils, we offer free 15-minute consultations where we’ll discuss your needs and how Clicker can help.
Contact us here and a member of our team will be in touch to find a time that suits you best.
Earlier this term, my daughter brought home a list of Year 1 common exception words that her school would like us to practise spelling with her.
Whilst we have spent some time writing these out, we realised during lockdown that she engages more enthusiastically with tasks like this when we approach it in different ways and bring Clicker into the mix!
First, I created a quick Matching activity where she could listen to the target word and then try to match it with the correct choice from the list. She really enjoyed being able to work her way through this independently.
Next, I opened LearningGrids and selected the ‘Word List One A – Z’ resource - a speech-supported Word Bank containing common words that early learners are likely to meet during their reading, including common exceptions.
For each word, my daughter started off by trying to find it in the Word Bank. If she got stuck, she was able to have Clicker read the choices out to her. Once she’d found it and had a look at it, we minimised the Word Bank and she attempted to spell it out using Clicker’s lowercase onscreen keyboard. Every time she completed a word, Clicker read it out to her, offering an opportunity to check if she was correct. This also encouraged her to attempt the next word.
Young emergent writers (particularly left-handed ones like my daughter and myself!) can find the process of physically writing quite arduous at times. Clicker enabled us to strip the activity right back and focus purely on the core learning objective of reading and spelling target words. It’s also a lot easier to go back and change things when you make a mistake, which is particularly useful for my child as she gets frustrated when she ‘spoils’ her writing with crossing out or smudges.
Most importantly, she was really proud of what she managed to achieve, was eager to practise her spellings again the next day and is making great progress.
I think that’s one of the best things about Clicker – you can take any topic or learning objective and in a matter of minutes watch a child experience real success as they access it at a level that’s just right for them, in a way that they find fun!
At the start of every year, we take a company-wide vote to decide which of the many worthy organisations in our local area will be the Crick Software ‘charity of the year.’ We then spend the next 12 months baking, quizzing, running, and undertaking all manner of other fundraising challenges to make as much money for them as we can!
This year, the runaway favourite was KidsAid – a charity born out of the realisation that there was a considerable lack of provision for young people in the community who had suffered trauma.
Why KidsAid?
According to the NHS, 1 in 6 children and adolescents have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Of those, less than 1 in 3 get access to NHS care and treatment. KidsAid is on the front line of this growing mental health crisis, with referrals to their team more than doubling since the start of the pandemic. The past few years have highlighted more than ever the importance of mental health to the wellbeing of our children, and the team felt strongly that this was the cause we wanted to pour our efforts into during 2022.
Their work
KidsAid provides early intervention in the form of creative therapies to help young people lead healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. Through the mediums of art, dance, drama and play, their fantastic team of therapists support children struggling with bereavement, illness, neglect, bullying, abuse, family breakdown, and other traumatic circumstances.
Our team were particularly impressed by the way KidsAid also provides assistance to the child’s support network. They offer extensive joint/attachment sessions with caregivers in order to give them the best possible chance to break intergenerational trauma and move forward with their lives.
Where we come in
We have lots of fun activities planned to ensure that 2022 is our most successful fundraising year ever, including a company marathon, cake-off and bring-and-buy auction – as ever, we’ll keep you posted via our Facebook and Twitter channels.
If you’d like to find out more about KidsAid or support the vital work that they do, you can visit their website here.
Last year, I shared some information about the great Clicker resources Call Scotland created with the Scottish Book Trust. As I said, each November, Bookbug gives every Primary 1 pupil in Scotland a free bag of books and resources to inspire a love of stories and encourage reading for pleasure.
Our curriculum team also created some additional resource ideas to support children who are just starting school that I thought I’d share. These are linked to one of this year’s featured stories – the beautifully illustrated Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep by Catherine Rayner.
The message of the story is one of gentle mindfulness. Arlo is exhausted but he simply cannot get to sleep. Luckily, a little owl teaches him some tricks to help him drift off to a peaceful sleep.
Use Clicker Board to get children thinking about what we might do when we can’t sleep.
Create a Sentence Set to help children retell the story in simple steps. Use the pictures in a Talk Set to retell the story orally.
When Arlo can’t sleep, he uses adjectives with the adverb ‘too’ to explain what is making it difficult for him to sleep. Use a Connect Set to recreate these sentences.
Or look at adjectives – like “tired” in the text – which can be replaced by powerful or wow words like “exhausted”.
Collect a handy selection of key vocabulary from the story, which children can use in their own writing – don’t forget, with Clicker you can use Picturize to illustrate your Word Banks too!
Clicker is such a versatile program that can be used across the school – and with children presenting so many differing needs after disruption to learning, a program like Clicker, which can be so uniquely personalised to their individual requirements, is a fantastic investment.