Tips and Resources

After you have typed some text, go to the spellchecker button, located on the far right of the "Add/Edit Text" toolbar. Use the "down arrow" to select your language, and then click on the "abc" button to activate spellchecking. Any words underlined with a red wavy line may be misspelled. Click on each misspelled word to see and select alternate spellings, or re-type the word yourself. To turn off the spellchecker, just click the "abc" button again.

Book Builder's Spellchecker supports writers allowing them to focus on ideas rather than the mechanics of typing or spelling accuracy. With the focus shifted to thinking and expression, creative ideas can really flow!

UDL Guideline 5.2: Options in the tools for composition and problem solving

When you begin your book, select up to three of the coach characters on the "Book Information" page. Choose one of the animated Book Builder characters and select the voice, and change the name if you would like. You may also upload a picture to create your own coach. You will need to digitally record what you want this coach to say, and from the coach authoring window upload this audio recording to Book Builder. As you write your book, you "activate" each coach on a page by adding information into each coach authoring window. If you do not add information for a coach, the coach will not appear on that page.

Because you might not be able to sit next to every child who reads your online book, Book Builder's coaches can provide students with support right when and where they need it, individualizing instruction for each learner. When used effectively, coaches can support student background knowledge, highlight important content and skills, and prompt readers to think about and engage in the book content. Use the coaches consistently yet flexibly, recognizing that not every reader nor every page of a text requires a coach. Try to avoid using coaching prompts that require a simple yes/no answer, such as, "Do you like this book?" or "Does the character have a problem?" Rather use the coaches to engage students, provide students with supports that draw them into the text, images, or audio or images and help them think critically about the content.

UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing

You can activate the TOC feature by choosing "Table of Contents" as you build your book.

• The TOC layout page creates an interactive Table of Contents for your book. To activate the "Table of Contents" feature, add a new page and choose the TOC layout.

  

• You can edit the title of the Table of Contents page by clicking the Add/Edit button.

  

• You will now see a "Table of Contents" authoring box at the top of every page of your book.

  Click the Add/Edit button to create and/or edit the TOC entry for each page. Enter the information you want to appear in the TOC for each page.

  

• In the pop up entry window check the box "Include Page in Table of Contents" if you want to show the current page in the Table of Contents. If you reorder or delete pages, the Table of Contents will automatically update with the new page numbers.

  Click save.

  

• As you add pages to the Table of Contents, you will see the contents grow on your TOC page. Page numbers in the Table of Contents are hyperlinked to the pages of your book and will automatically update if you move pages. You can also use preview on this page to view how your TOC will look to your readers.

  

A Table of Contents shows your audience how you've organized your information, and it helps your readers search and navigate to key information in your book. Making a TOC can also help you keep yourself organized as you build your book!

UDL Guideline 6.3: Options that facilitate managing information and resources
UDL Guideline 6.4: Options that enhance capacity for monitoring progress
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy

• Highlight a word you want to include in your glossary, then click on the "link to definition" icon at the top of the Add/Edit box.

  

• Click "save" to "Add word to glossary list to be defined later."

  

• When you are ready to define your glossary words, click "Edit Glossary" at the top of the "Create and Edit My Books" page.

  

• You will see a list of the words you have decided to include in the glossary. Click "View/Edit" next to a word to add a definition.

  

• You can add text, an image, and audio as parts of any glossary entry.

  

Recent research confirms that building vocabulary is essential for comprehension. Book Builder's built-in glossary feature helps you support readers' understanding with definitions of important terms right when they need them—in the book. The most effective vocabulary development reaches beyond the classroom to focus on words that occur frequently—in and out of school. When you create a glossary, make sure to include words that occur frequently outside the classroom, are somewhat difficult, and are important to know for a rich vocabulary.

For more information and ideas on effective vocabulary development, explore this resource for information on building vocabulary: Building Vocabulary the UDL way

UDL Guideline 2.1: Options that define vocabulary and symbols
UDL Guideline 2.3: Options for decoding text or mathematical notation
UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing

Your audience can use the TextHELP (TTS) toolbar to read aloud any page of a Book Builder book. Readers highlight the text they want to hear, click the green "play button" on the TextHELP toolbar. Click on the red "stop button" to stop the read aloud.

Struggling to decode words is a barrier to understanding text. Using text-to-speech can support decoding and let readers 'dig into' the meaning of a book. And for many students, hearing text read aloud is much more engaging than reading the words on the page.

UDL Guideline 1.1: Options that customize the display of information
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy
UDL Guideline 7.3: Options that reduce threats and distractions

You can enable the Student Response Area as you edit any page of your book.

• To start, click "Add/Edit" next to the Student Response Area box.

  

• Check the "Include Student Response Area" option.

  You can also type in a prompt for your readers. Click "Save" to enable the Student Response Area for this page. Do this for each page on which you want a response area to appear.

  

Enabling the student response area and inserting a prompt encourages and engages readers in reacting to and extending their thinking about a text. Use prompts to engage students, provide information processing supports that draw them into your book and help them think critically about the content.

UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing
UDL Guideline 8.1: Options that heighten salience of goals and objectives
UDL Guideline 9.3: Options that develop self-assessment and reflection

You must choose a page layout before you begin to enter content into Book Builder. After you enter your Book Information, and each time you add a new page, choose a page layout by clicking on a page design icon. After you enter content, you can select "Preview" at the top of the page to see how the content displays in your chosen layout. You can change the layout at any time, even after you enter content to the page.

Book Builder's layouts allow authors to customize books for a range of ages and subject areas. When used effectively, page layout can highlight critical features and relationships, and create engaging and varied environments that facilitate learning. Choose the page layout that will be most effective in conveying what you want to communicate: if you want to focus on an image, select the layout with just an image placeholder; on the other hand, if you want your audience to focus on text and use an image in a supplementary role, chose a layout that displays text and image adjacently. The important thing is to consider how layout impacts the message you want to communicate, and to use it purposefully.

UDL Guideline 1.1: Options that customize the display of information
UDL Guideline 3.2: Options that highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships
UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing

Step-by-step instructions:

• As you edit text, highlight a word or phrase (this is the "anchor") and click the "Insert/edit link" button.

  

• Enter the url (this is the "target") to which you want to link.

  

• Select "Open in a new window"

  

• Click "Insert"

  

• Click "Save"

  

Adding hyperlinks can make your Book Builder book even more dynamic as you leverage the resources of the Internet to achieve your learning goal. Hyperlinks can be used to build background knowledge, guide readers with additional support, or provide options for further exploration to increase readers' understanding and engagement.

UDL Guideline 3.2: Options that highlight critical features, big ideas and relationships
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy
UDL Guideline 8.2: Options that vary levels of challenge and support

You can add up to two audio files to each page of a Book Builder book. You can record your own audio file or use one that is in the public domain. Ideas for audio include oral reading of the page, sound effects, audio prompts, and more.

Broaden your book's reach by adding audio 'read alouds,' sound effects, mood-setting music, and/or audio prompts. Audio files make your book accessible to a wider range of readers by representing information in non-textual ways. In addition, when used effectively audio is a powerful tool to engage your audience with your book.

UDL Guideline 2.2: Options that clarify syntax and structure
UDL Guideline 3.1: Options that provide or activate background knowledge
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy

• "Alt Text" should be a short descriptor of the item and no longer than 100 characters;
• "Source" information should include the bibliographic information a reader needs to find the item themselves;
• "Caption" should highlight the salient ideas for your audience, and the
• "Long Description" and "Sound Description" should describe the important aspects of the sound or image that your audience needs to make meaning from the item. You can also use captions and long descriptions to provide additional background knowledge for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Providing Image and Audio information is important in helping your audience make effective use of the media you embed in your book. Including image and sound information helps make these media items accessible to all users. For vision impaired or deaf learners, image and sound information provides a proxy description of the image or sound. For learners with information processing challenges, this feature reduces barriers to understanding by focusing on your purpose for including each piece of media.

UDL Guideline 1.2: Options that provide alternatives for auditory information
UDL Guideline 1.3: Options that provide alternatives for visual information
UDL Guideline 3.1: Options that provide or activate background knowledge
UDL Guideline 3.2: Options that highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships
UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing

When you have finished editing a book, you have the option to "Share" or "Publish" it. Go to the "Create and Edit My Books" page and find the book you want to share or publish.

To Share: Click "Share" and then invite specific people to view your book by entering their email addresses into the box provided. Click "Submit" to send the invitation.

To Publish: Click "Publish" and confirm that you want to add your book to the Public Library by clicking "Publish to the Public Library."

Note: If you edit a book you have already published to the public library, you will need to re-publish that book.

Sharing a book with a specific group invites just those people to look at your work, and is a great way to get feedback from a trusted group of peers. Publishing to the Public Library shows your book to the Book Builder community and allows you to get feedback from a wide group of Book Builder users. Whichever you choose, sending a book out for others to see provides you with valuable feedback, an authentic audience, and an engaging purpose for building your book.

UDL Guideline 6.1: Options that guide effective goal-setting
UDL Guideline 7.2: Options that enhance relevance, value, and authenticity
UDL Guideline 8.1: Options that heighten salience of goals and objectives

When you open a book, coaches will automatically be displayed. To hide coaches, click "Hide." Coaches will be hidden on all pages.

To display coaches after hiding them, click "Show" and coaches will display on all pages.

Coaches on each page provide support for your audience. However, not all of your readers will need or want this support, and for some readers the coaches can be a distraction. Therefore, for maximum support, leave the coaches displayed on each page. To reduce scaffolding for readers who get distracted by the coaches, prompt them to hide the coaches and let them work on their own.

UDL Guideline 1.1: Options that customize the display of information
UDL Guideline 3.3: Options that guide information processing
UDL Guideline 5.3: Options in the scaffolds for practice and performance
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy

Keep track of your favorite books using filtering and sort tools built into the Public Library.

1. Filter By:
   • Search Terms: Use the pull down menu to search by title, author, etc. Press the Go button. You can also type your own search terms into the text box and find books that match your criteria.
   • Featured book and Grade Level: Use the featured book or Grade Level check box to find books that CAST has featured or books for a certain grade. Press the Go button.
   • Content Area and Genre: Use the pull down menu to search by relevant content or your favorite genre.
   • Tags: Search using tags. You can add your own tags in the "Book Information" column, then your tags appear under the "Filter By" feature.
2. Sort By:
   • Sort by: Use the pull down menu to select categories to arrange your library books in the order you prefer.
   • Mark books as favorites by clicking on the star in the first column (clicking again will unmark them. After you have marked some favorite books, you can easily find them by using the "My Favorites" tag in the "Filter By" area.

Sort by any criteria to make your own 'customized' Book Builder library display. Search for a favorite topic, look for books written for a particular grade level, or keep track of what your favorite Book Builder author is doing. Filtering and Sorting lets you make more effective use of the growing Book Builder Public Library.

UDL Guideline 6.3: Options that facilitate managing information and resources
UDL Guideline 7.1: Options that increase individual choice and autonomy
UDL Guideline 7.2: Options that enhance relevance, value, and authenticity
UDL Guideline 8.1: Options that heighten salience of goals and objectives