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Getting started

Introduction

Rainbow Stories set 1 are retold versions of popular nursery rhymes and stories. Each story is fifteen pages long, with three lines of text on each page. The tales are told at two levels of difficulty:

There are five or so animations on each page, waiting to be discovered. Switch users just need to press a switch to start their interface.

A quick run through the controls

The cursor will give you information on clickable items:

Standard pointer	Click here	Please wait

There are six Configuration icons which allow you to set the program up in six different ways (see Configurations editor for details). Choose a Configuration:

Then choose a book:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5	Little Bo Peep	The Crooked Man	Jack and Jill	Goldilocks

Mouse will help you move through the program, waiting politely while you choose a book:

Go back	Close	Choose	Start

When the book is open:

Start reading	Stop reading	Turn on	Turn back

You can also click on any line to have it read. Click the book icon to close the story and return to the front menus.

Rainbow Stories is a Talk·2·Talk program. This means that you can add further languages to support additional language learning. If your Configuration is set to have two languages at the same time, there are additional icons:

Change language	Read in Language 1, then Language 2	Stop reading

Mouse Operation

When you have opened a book, the mouse buttons will operate in the following way:

Left Button - click on an animation hot spot to play the animation. Click on a line of text to read that line only.

Right button - click on a character to show additional conversation in a speech bubble. This is an option that is set in the Configurations editor.

Switch control

Single switch access is always available. Switch users need only press a switch and the cursor will automatically scan between icons. When switch access is activated, the story is read when the page is turned.

The mouse can also be used at any time, with switch control resuming after a short break.

Switch control settings can be adjusted in the Configurations editor.

Teacher keyboard shortcuts

CONTROL + F1	This opens the About box. Use this shortcut to update your serial number or to check your licence details.
CONTROL + F2	Configurations editor, used to change the settings of the program.
CONTROL + F3	Rainbow Stories is a Talk·2·Talk program; you can add other languages to support EAL and MFL.
CONTROL + F5	Toggle the cursor on and off. This can be useful when using the software with a whiteboard or touch-sensitive monitor.

Printing

You also can print out the stories by pressing Shift + Control + P while on any story page. The print routine prints what is displayed: if you have turned text off in the Configurations editor, the story will be printed with only the pictures. You will be offered the options of printing one or two pages to an A4 sheet and a range of pages.

To interrupt any activity, press ESCAPE to get back to the main menu.

Configurations editor

Open the Configurations editor with CONTROL + F2 on any main menu page. The editor lets you change the settings of any of the Configurations - the top six icons on the left - or the global settings for the program - the lowest icon.

Show on title page

Any Configuration can be disabled by clicking this box: the relevant icon will not appear on the main menu pages

Speech

If speech is turned on, each line of text at the top of each page will be highlighted and read when clicked. Clicking the Start reading button will highlight and read a line at a time.

If the speech is off, the lines will still highlight when clicked, focusing attention on that line, but will not be spoken.

When the Auto speech feature is on, text will be read when the page is turned. This feature is activated automatically when switches are used.

Animations

There are four or five animations on each page. If Click animations is selected, they will run when clicked: the cursor will change when hovering over an animation.

As you would imagine, setting Random animations will run the animations at random intervals.

Text

The Page text at the top of the screen can be turned off, giving you the opportunity to get children to talk about the pictures and the story in their own words, either before they've seen the whole story or after.

Many of the characters have things to say that can only be found by right-clicking. Speech bubbles will appear if Pop up text is set.

Sound effects

There are Sound effects associated with many of the animations and with the buttons. If these are intrusive, turn them off with this control.

Available books

There are five book in Rainbow Stories set 1 and each book can be turned on or off.

The stories are told at two levels:

Notes for network users

Because all configuration data is kept on the server, all changes to Configurations will be available on all workstations. Please note that, on some networks, only Administrators may make changes to Configurations. If you are having difficulties, please consult your network administrator.

This also means that all switch users who are connected to the network must also have the same keyboard mapping for their switches. If different users require different mappings, consider installing Rainbow Stories on separate workstations.

CD resources

As well as the five talking stories, you will find a number of additional resources on the CD.

All the stories in text files for you to use in the classroom can be found in

  Rainbow Stories Resources\Stories. 

The backgrounds and many of the characters are in

  Rainbow Stories Resources\Artwork

The graphics can be used in most paint programs or in newer Clicker grids.

They can also be used as Stamps in Albert's Paintbox. Copy the Rainbow Stories folder to:

  Program files\Alberts Paintbox\Resources\Stamps

All the backgrounds are 670 x 450 pixels and all the characters will fit comfortably in this area, just as they do in the Stories.

Using the Rainbow Stories in the Classroom

Introduction

All of the stories are presented at two levels. The simpler level uses the present tense and straightforward sentences. The harder level uses more varied vocabulary and a variety of tenses and sentence structures.

Here are some suggestions for using the stories in the classroom. You will think of many others. Don't forget, you can just read the stories for fun. The animations in particular give plenty of scope for surprise and enjoyment. (They can also be turned off - see Configurations editor.)

Predicting the story

Children can be asked to predict what will happen in the story when they have seen the title screen and/or the first page.

They can also be asked to do some page by page prediction. "What do you think will happen on the next page?" Even those who know the story will not necessarily know what happens on the following page. Try it yourself and see.

Depending on the background of your pupils, some (perhaps most) will be familiar with the story but by no means all. Those who know the story can tell others. Those who do not, or who are unsure, can listen and then repeat what they have learned or tell another listener.

A variation would be to show the pages without text (see Configurations editor) and discuss what is happening and what words might be used.

These are primarily oral activities but can, of course, be writing activities too.

Retelling the story

This can be an oral activity organised in groups or as a whole class. In groups, pupils might divide up the story into smaller parts and then rehearse a retelling to the rest of the class. It is rehearsing that language is reworked and discussed so do not under-emphasise this aspect. Similarly, do not underestimate the power of mime: it makes children think in different ways.

The stories can be printed out without the text so that children can write their own versions.

Children can also be encouraged to tell their own versions or extensions of a story. Some may need 'pump-priming':

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

What happened the next time the porridge was too hot?

Where did Goldilocks go after she left the Three Bears' House and what did she get up to?

1 2 3 4 5

Tell the story from Old Harry's point of view.

Did Edward ever go fishing again. If so, what happened?

Make up a version of the story in which he does catch the fish. What does he do with it? Perhaps he catches something else . . .

Jack and Jill

"Well," says mother, "I still don't have any water. Off you go Jill - and be careful this time!" What happened next?

Little Bo Peep

What if the sheep didn't come home? Where are they? What will Bo Peep do?

Bo Peep was always losing things. The next day, she lost her . . .

The Crooked Man

One day the Crooked Cat woke up and looked out of the window. Meow! There, outside was a big Crooked Dog . . .

Sequencing

Sequencing is an activity which makes children think. It also makes a good task to share with a partner. Using Rainbow Stories, you can print out the pages (with or without the text) and ask pupils to arrange them in a good order. (There may be more than one sequence which works.) You could also take the lines from part of the story and rearrange them. The text is provided, so all you have to do is jumble up the lines, print them and cut them out. If pupils have access to a computer they can do the sequencing on screen - much less work for you, and easier for them, too. Try it yourself . . .

'Help!' shouted Edward, twice as loud.    'Help!' shouted Edward.    'Old Harry bit me! I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding.    Edward dangled his finger in the water.    Edward looked at his finger.    Edward shook it and shook it and shook it!    His teeth were really sharp!'    It was a delicious finger.    Old Harry bit it and bit it and bit it!    Old Harry fell back into the water with a plop.

Sorted! Text, also from Resource Education, is a program specifically designed to present this type of problem.

Looking at language

Word level

The vocabulary for each story is provided in alphabetical lists. Words which recur more than twice are shown in bold.

Given that the text for both levels of the stories is provided in electronic format, it is easy to create gap-filling tasks. For example:

The sheep were tired now. It was a good game. Now it was time to go _____. So they went home, _____ their tails behind them. Where was Bo Peep? She wasn't in the _____. The sheep were _____. They wanted some love, that's all. Bo Peep was _____. She dreamed about _____. She dreamed about good sheep that do not get _____. 'Baa!' said Molly. Bo Peep _____ her eyes. There were her sheep, standing next to her bed. 'Naughty sheep!' she said. But she was VERY pleased to see them.
disappointed	home	asleep	sheep
lost	garden	wagging	opened

If pupils are given electronic copies to work on, they too can create gap-filling puzzles for other members of the class. They might be given free choice ("Take out the ten most important words.") or asked to removed verbs or nouns, for example.

Character words - some suggestions

How can we describe Goldilocks? Which is the best word? Arrange the words in order of suitability: (greedy/foolish/adventurous/‚brave . . .)

How does she eat? (Greedily/quickly/messily/noisily . . .)

How does the Crooked Man walk? (Stiffly/creakily/carefully/slowly/awkwardly/quickly/painfully . . .)

Can we find another word for walk? (He shuffles/strides/marches/stumbles . . .)

We can use some more difficult words to describe Edward before he tries catching Old Harry, such as hopeful/optimistic/confident. What others?

What words could we use to describe Old Harry? (fierce/large/angry/clever . . .)

Jack and Jill are always doing things in a hurry. How many synonyms can we find? (Quickly, fast, rapidly/swiftly . . .)

Try using a thesaurus; how many of the suggestions are actually appropriate? There are fewer antonyms; can you find any apart from slowly?

What feelings does Bo Peep display? (Worried/upset/cross/sad . . .)

What words can we use to describe the sheep? (Naughty/playful/adventurous/woolly . . .)

Comparing and contrasting - some ideas

At the beginning of the story the Crooked Man is: unhappy/alone/poor/crooked, but at the end of the story he is happy/not alone/rich/straight . . .

At the start of the story, Daddy Bear is hungry. Later he is angry.

Edward is foolish/timid but Old Harry is clever/fierce.

At the start of Bo Peep's story the sheep are happy to run away but at the end....

Jack starts off .... but he ends up ......

Adjectives

These are some of the adjectives in the harder version of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: clever deep delicious famous fast glass little loud old poor sharp shiny strong tall wriggly young.

Questions that might be asked:

Who is clever? Who is tall? What is sharp? What is wriggly?

Now get pupils to make up their own questions using adjectives from the story.

Use the same technique in other stories. Pupils could make the list of adjectives themselves.

Sentence level

Having read the simple level text how would pupils extend the language and give more detail? What additional words could they insert into some of the sentences? Which words could they swap for better, more interesting ones?

For some pupils it will be appropriate to read some pages of the simple version, then the same pages in the harder version. Having read some more of the story in the simple version they can try to write or say their own more complex version of a page or two.

If each page had four lines of text instead of two, what might be written on the extra line of each page?

Advanced work: Speech and Thought bubbles

Many of the characters have a speech/thought bubble attached. This can be seen by right clicking on a character. It is not spoken and is intended to give each individual's viewpoint on what is happening. Once you have shown this facility, children can be asked to say what they think characters are saying or thinking on other pages.

You can extend this into a writing activity or a speaking and listening activity.

For the latter, pupils either:

Everyone in the Rainbow Stories lives in the village of Rainbow's Edge. What stories could be created if characters from different stories met up?

Advanced work: Letters

Write a letter from any of the Bear family to Goldilocks' parents. What would you say? Make up a surname for Goldilocks - or is Goldilocks a nickname? Perhaps her real name is something different?

Write a letter of apology from Goldilocks, or a letter to the Three Bears from her mum or dad.

The Crooked Man gets an invitation from his friend the Crooked Inn-Keeper to go and stay. He must write back and explain that he now has his cats to look after. Perhaps he will invite the Crooked Inn-Keeper to stay with him?

Advanced work: Summary

For an introduction to the rather daunting skills of summary, pupils can try writing one sentence to describe what happens on each page of a story.

Advanced work: Drawing

Draw a strip cartoon or storyboard of any of the stories. This is a task which can be done in pairs or small groups.

Using Rainbow Stories in two languages

Rainbow Stories is not intended as means of directly teaching another language. It is intended as a way of interesting children in another language and helping to familiarise them with some vocabulary and general features of tone and accent. The stories are intended to be interesting in their own right; they are not part of a reading or language teaching scheme.

For children whose first language is not English the program works the other way: giving them a familiar starting point and then helping them to pick up some aspects of English.

In either case, the teacher can decide how directive to be. Sometimes it will be appropriate to allow the users to explore for themselves; at other times, you may wish to pose a particular task or question.