Voice Typing is a skill that should be taught explicitly to children. Unlike adults who may suffer an injury an use voice typing, children have not developed their "author's voice." They will not naturally move from a struggling writer to a successful voice typer without instruction. Here is a logical procedure for moving from exploration or trial toward successful implementation to help reduce student frustration and experience success. If you have further ideas or feedback, please feel free to email me at mpress77@gmail.com
For most of our students, voice typing is used to get their ideas out on paper only. This means that the editing process can be completed by using the keyboard, limiting the number of commands that a student needs to learn. I recommend keeping commands to a minimum of:
Period, Comma, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, New Paragraph, and New Line. Each command does exactly what it says. Using just the basic punctuation allows the student to get out their ideas, but avoids a giant run on sentence which would create a lot of editing work to figure out where the original thoughts (phrases/sentences) ended.
Procedure:
Level 1 – Have the student read content at/below their current reading level into the mic. (have them review the content for accuracy. See if they recognize that punctuation only appears if they say it). If the student struggles with reading, you might use the text to speech feedback o listen to what has dictated. Make sure the speed is slow so they have enough processing time.
Level 2 – Teach the student the limited punctuation commands (period, comma, question mark, and exclamation point). Have the student read more content (within comfort level), drawing attention to the specific punctuation you taught them. Have the student review the content for accuracy.
Level 3 – Have the student answer simple questions about things they can see in the room, using a complete sentence and proper punctuation. E.g. What color is the book? The book is blue. Having the student answer questions about what they see allows them to practice dictation with punctuation.
Level 4 – Have the student answer simple questions about things that occurred in the recent past, using complete sentences and proper punctuation. Encourage them to answer the question with two complete sentences rather than just one. E.g. What did you eat for breakfast this morning. I had cereal for breakfast. I ate it with a spoon.
Level 5 – Have the student answer simple questions about things that are going to occur in the future, using complete sentences and proper punctuation. E.g. What are you going to do this evening? I am going to play sports with my friends. We are going to play soccer!
Level 6 – Have the student engage in highly motivating creative writing topics using complete sentences and proper punctuation. E.g. If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go? I would go to California. I love going to Sea World, the beach, and Disneyland.