Magnetize your Barton tiles?

[BlsdMama]

Anyone done this?

 

When I had AAR/AAS I found it very handy to have my tiles on a magnet board.

 

To be honest, I'm trying to streamline my tutoring time - I've got three kids doing Barton and one starting LIPS this fall, then followed by Barton.

 

 

I'm open to suggestions.

 

Setting up and putting away is a pain.  I'm thinking of two BIG dry erase boards.  One to hold tiles by Level and another to work on with the child.  

 

I have two spaces I can do this in  - either my room or a huge walk in coat closet.  I'm leaning towards the closet.  It's about 6' x 12' and I'd hang them one above the other slightly above floor level?

(But this would be annoying because of holding the binder......  Suggestions here?  A narrow shelf?  A corner table?  

 

 

I'll be doing Barton for a long while yet due to up and comers so a dedicated space makes good sense, but because of the toddler, it needs to be away from the main area.

[PeterPan]

Have you tried the app yet?  I was getting pretty sick of the mess, the fiddling, the prepping, and the app solves all that.  It's a REALLY NICE app.  For me, I bought in at I forget what level, but it's easy peasy to go back and use it with older words.  It only displays the tiles they've learned up to that point (lesson 3 of level 4, whatever), so you can spell any previous words.  

 

I wouldn't buy like level 9, because then EVERYTHING would show.  But to me the app was definitely worth it.  And it's a small way to thank her.  The development costs were astonishing, and it's a slick, highly effective solution.

Edited July 5, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[BlsdMama]

Have you tried the app yet?  I was getting pretty sick of the mess, the fiddling, the prepping, and the app solves all that.  It's a REALLY NICE app.  For me, I bought in at I forget what level, but it's easy peasy to go back and use it with older words.  It only displays the tiles they've learned up to that point (lesson 3 of level 4, whatever), so you can spell any previous words.  

 

I wouldn't buy like level 9, because then EVERYTHING would show.  But to me the app was definitely worth it.  And it's a small way to thank her.  The development costs were astonishing, and it's a slick, highly effective solution.

 

 

The app is something like $30 for Android.  To be honest?  I'm sorry how expensive it was for her to develop,  but after dropping $$$ on the level, I think it is incredibly expensive times 10 levels.  

 

Plus,  the idea of doing it on my tablet (because I really can't justify the expense of an iPad for this) isn't attractive.  My tablet isn't that big and I love the wood tiles, though I admit I'm a very tactile person.  So, nope, trying to maximize my utilization of the tiles. ;)

[AnthemLights]

Agreeing with Elizabeth. I bought the tiles at the beginning of level 4 and think they are genius.  It makes everything so much easier.  I was worried that my boy wouldn't like it as much.  He is very sensory and loved working with the tiles. However, he likes manipulating the tiles on the app just as much. So no worries there.  At least for my kiddo.

 

One advantage of the app that was a big one for us was portability.  With the app you can work anywhere.  Even in the car.  I really appreciated that.  

 

Sorry, I am no help otherwise.  Not very creative here.   :tongue_smilie:

[AnthemLights]

Sorry, double posted.  My mouse is funky.

 

Edited July 5, 2016 by AnthemLights

[AnthemLights]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to work on an android either.  Hopefully someone else can get you some ideas for what you are looking for.  

 

I bought an ipod just this past year especially for my ds to deal with all his dyslexia stuff.  Special apps, audio books, set up especially for him.  I am trying to automate his school work more for this year.  Speech to text and text to speech. Digital textbooks. Stuff like that.  So for us it just really made sense to invest in an ipod.   

 

Not trying to be pushy or anything, but the app is only $20 (apple) for level 4.  You could teach up to level 4 with just that one purchase.  At least I think that's how it would work.  Someone can correct me if I am wrong on that.   :blush:

 

Good luck with everything. I hope you find a system that works.   :001_smile:

[Bookworm4]

I put magnets on mine last month. That said, we are only about to start level 3. Right now I have all three levels stored on a cookie sheet. My DD wanted magnets (as did I since I was tired of setting them up each time) and loved it when I added them and told me how much better they were than AAR tiles. I used sticky back 1" square magnets off Amazon. I am still trying to decide what to do next when we add more tiles. I have seen large metal pans (I think from an automotive section) used on a couple blogs with AAR tiles and they looked like they may work. The fold up set that comes advertised with some of the Barton levels looks nice, but I can't justify spending $80 on it.

 

As for the app, I thought part of the purpose of the app was not just the tiles, but also the prebuilt words for each level.

[kbutton]

Maybe something like this for the binder? I am sure you can find varous sizes and durability here and on other sites. We have some wire fold up stands that work for light books. (Fellowes brand)

 

http://www.staples.com/Staples-BookLift-Copyholder/product_515621?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:515621&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=515621&KPID=515621&gclid=CMLR4tvL3M0CFQcLaQod_OEIMw

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Magnetizing and using cookie sheets or a magnetized dry erase board for the tiles can be very helpful.  Have you seen this?:

 

http://www.timsmithonline.com/stackandgo.html

 

Very pricey but it seems well thought out.  Might give you some ideas even if you don't want to spend that kind of money.

 

 

All that being said, I must say using the App has been truly awesome.  DD is VERY tactile and visual so neither one of us thought the app would be a good fit but I tried it anyway with Level 4.  I got so darn tired of trying to set up the tiles and DD and DS were not working at the same pace so I had to keep changing everything out for each student.  Once we started using the app it made a HUGE world of difference in set up and the speed of the lessons.   I am so grateful she created this app.  And we are using an ANCIENT IPad.  Maybe looking for an old, used IPad might be an option?  To be clear, this is not just a bunch of virtual tiles.  This is the lesson in virtual form.  No set up needed by the tutor.

 

 

Pros of the app:

 

• Set up is virtually instantaneous.
• Words don't have to be set up by the tutor since they are already pre-built in the app.  It is the lessons themselves set up virtually, and in the order presented in the TM.  You can move forward and backwards through the lesson as needed but it will automatically go to the next word needed when you need it to.  Just press a button.
• You can have multiple words stay on the screen for comparison. No need to clear off an old word so you have the tiles you need for the new one. (DD loves this because she often wants to compare).
• You never have to worry about not having enough tiles.  The tiles are limitless.
• The student can play around with the tiles, experimenting with the words, without making a huge mess or running out of needed tiles.
• Although the system has a bit of a learning curve it is easy to learn and has some great features.
• You can have multiple students set up in the system so each one will start wherever they left off.  For instance, Student 1 may be doing Level 4 Lesson 3 and Student 2 is doing Level 3 Lesson 12.  No worries.  Just log in with the correct student name and boom, the lesson/tiles are ready to go for that specific lesson.
• System is very portable so you can do a lesson virtually anywhere.  
• Clean up is just powering off and putting away the TM/Notebook.  Soooo much shorter.
• You can always pull out specific tiles for something you think they need to be more tactile but still use the app for the rest of the lesson (I do this with DD for something particularly tricky).

 

The bottom line is that the app is a very sophisticated piece of software that is easy to use and saves a HUGE amount of time and effort, especially if a tutor has multiple students.

Edited July 5, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, and have you checked out imagine.more's blog?  She might have some great ideas there for you...

 

http://readingtherightway.blogspot.com/

[PeterPan]

Yup, you don't need all the levels of the app unless you're using them to tutor.  I like using it without the words, as sort of a big magnet board.  So the level 4 app is enough to teach everything prior to 4.  We'll buy the level 5, etc., but really a $30 here or there, you blow that on ice cream, kwim?  And if you already own level 9 or 10 or whatever, then buy that level in the app.  You literally might not care about having ANY of the others.  Or if you do, you could stagger them.

 

And yes, I'm on an ipad, not android.  I despise my mother's samsung tablets.  My ds' kindle fire would be too small.  Actually, he's wanting the ipad pro.  If you're gonna dream, dream big, lol.

Edited July 5, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh, if you are going to magnetize the tiles, make sure the magnet isn't too strong or it is a pain in the rear to pick up and move around.  Try out different ones before you commit to a whole bunch of them.  

[imagine.more]

I put magnets on mine ages ago and am so glad I did! I'll post more info when I can get to my laptop

[City Mouse]

I bought a roll of sticky back magnet from a craft store and cut it into small pieces, then stuck it on the back of the tiles (level 2&3 only). I used a cheep cookie sheet to hold them. Some of the magnet pieces were cut too small and come off the tiles, but I just stick them back on.

I started using the app with level 4.

[bodiesmom]

We are only on level 6 but I magnetize our tiles on a large white board. It works well for us and is easy to just grab the white board with the lesson book and travel anywhere we may need to to do a lesson. As OneStep mentioned, do make sure your magnets aren't too strong so that moving the tiles becomes cumbersome.

[imagine.more]

Okay, so the way I did it was to buy the flat magnets that go on the back of business cards. (you can buy these on amazon). Simply cut them to fit on the back of the tile and glue it on with Gorilla Glue so it doesn't fall off. I have a moderate sized magnetic whiteboard that I keep them on in a certain order. Two rows of the consonants (doubles of each). Then below those are the digraphs. To the left are four rows of suffixes divided into 2 rows of vowel suffixes and 2 rows of vowel suffixes. Below that are the vowel teams arranged as Susan Barton recommends in a long- A, E, I, O, U pattern. Below those are the units in 5 rows. 

 

This keeps things tidy and even works for traveling to tutoring students. It also leaves me with the bottom right hand of the board for writing words or moving tiles to spell with. For a student that particularly struggles with executive functioning or ADHD you can even section off a large part or individual boxes to slide the tiles into. I did that with one student who was extremely ADHD and it really helped her to have the 3-4 boxes already marked out so she knew where to slide the tiles to so they were close enough to one another and in a line to make an easy-to-read word. 

 

I have a picture that shows a bit of how I have my main Barton board set up here: http://readingtherightway.blogspot.com/2016/01/barton-level-4-practice-and-review.html

Edited July 7, 2016 by imagine.more

[PeterPan]

That's what the app does, putting the extra tiles (units, multi-letter, etc.) in little fly wings that you can open and close.  It's REALLY slick.  Super, super, super love the app.  I finally have a way to stop tile throwing, playing, etc. and just keep it focused on spelling.  And it's so much FASTER that he can finally be creative!  Today he spelled "Yelp for help!" Too adorable.  It's a phrase from Paw Patrol.  

 

The other thing I like about the app for ds is that it's reinforcing alphabetical order.  We've worked and worked and worked on it, but the sequencing is really hard for him.  So with the app, no matter how many of a letter he pulls down, the letters are still there, visually reinforcing the order.  

 

Really, if you own a very late level and wanted to, you could in theory buy just the level of that in the app and give it a whirl.  

 

Anyways, that's my plug again for the app.  I'm really liking it!  :)