Special needs company Inclusive Technology has begun publishing News-2-You, a fortnightly online newspaper aimed at pupils who need extra literacy support.
The newspaper has 250 pages of current affairs, features, activities and stories with both speech and symbol support.
Each edition features a newsworthy story which is the focus for classroom activities. Recent topics include the Frozen Planet, Sports Relief Week, Animal Record Breakers and Star Wars - The Phantom Menace.
Future issues of News-2-You, which costs £99 for an annual classroom licence, but is available free until the end of June, will cover the Olympics and Paralympics.
Commenting on the launch, Martin Littler, Chairman and CEO, Inclusive Technology, said, “This will give many children the lasting full value of experiencing the London Olympics. It will also give teachers the chance to try out this brilliant educational resource.”
News-2-You is available in four different versions: simplified, regular, higher and advanced.
The simplified version gives a basic overview of the week’s key story with SymbolStix supported text, for young people with learning disabilities who cannot access conventional print.
The regular version offers more in-depth coverage of the topic. It has simple sentences and symbol-supported text.
The higher version has the same text as the regular version but is written in paragraph form.
The advanced level has more complex sentences and additional information as well as digital pictures.
In addition to the four different editions of the newspaper, there is also a text only version and all versions have a ‘speaking edition’. This means that the students follow the text as it is read aloud.
In addition to the newspaper, News-2-You schools can also access a world news section which brings breaking news from across the globe into the classroom.
http://www.news-2-you.co.uk/