Dr. Peet’s PictureWriter
By Dannehl, Louise; ConnSENSE Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3Publication Date: February 2002
Article describes Dr. Peet’s PictureWriter, which is a software program for young students who are just beginning to read and write, or who already know that they don’t like to read or write. The program is designed to enable young writers to create, edit, save, and print simple sentences about topics of interest to them. Two levels are featured, which are exactly alike except for the picture content. Level one is for younger, newer writers, while level two is for older writers. The student is given a choice of one of three activities: (1) 123/ABC, (2) Picture Words, and (3) Things I Like. 123/ABC gives the student the opportunity to explore and practice upper and lower case letters and number words. When the upper case screen is displayed, the student can produce the corresponding lower case letter by clicking the letter on the display. Picture Words allows the user to explore pictures and their spelling from picture word banks. The pictures say and produce the spelling of the object that is displayed on the screen. Things I Like provides the user with a screen that provides picture/word options and structure for sentence production. Up to 12 sentences can be written in the text box, while pictures in the subject column may be renamed using a child’s family or friend’s names. The author contends that the program is effective in encouraging novice, discouraged, and beginning writers.
Assistive Products Discussed: DR. PEET'S PICTURE / WRITER
Published by: ConnSENSE (Connecticut's Special Education Network for Software Evaluation) (Website:http://www.connsensebulletin.com)
NEAT (New England Assistive Technology) Marketplace (Web Site: http://www.neatmarketplace.org )
A.J. Pappanikou Center for Developmental Disabilities (Web Site: http://www.uconnucedd.org )
Connecticut Tech Act Project (Web Site: http://www.cttechact.com )
Link to text: http://www.connsensebulletin.com/picturew.html
