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  • FREE Resource for Parents and Students
    Chisago Lakes has invested in a powerful resource to help all students access their educational content, Kurzweil 3000.

    Kurzweil 3000 is an assistive technology, text to speech, learning tool that supports the concept of Universal Design for Learning with a suite of powerful reading, writing, test-taking, and study skill tools that makes the curriculum accessible to all students. It is particularly appropriate for students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, those who require reading intervention, students struggling with reading comprehension and writing, and English Language Learners (ELL).

    No two students learn in the same way. In every classroom, there is a broad spectrum of abilities and learning styles. Students benefit from the multisensory presentation of information as well as from an extensive set of tools that allow self-expression and that offer opportunities to become independent learners.

    All students in the Chisago Lakes District have a login username and password, which can be accessed by contacting Holly Erickson at Chisago Lakes Middle School. Once you have a log-in name, simply download the program from the link below onto your home computers and use all the tools that Kurzweil has to offer.

    Kurzweil Download
    http://www.scred.k12.mn.us/cms/one.aspx?objectId=8468792


    How to use Kurzweil 3000 Videos
    http://www.kurzweiledu.com/how-to-videos-kurzweil-3000-v11.html

      Firefly by Kurzweil
    Anytime, anywhere access to digital, text-based content, supplemented by powerful literacy tools that enable individuals with the cognitive ability, but not the literacy skills, to achieve their academic or personal goals.

    Key Features

    • Read text by word, line, sentence, or paragraph
    • Customize reading to continuous, word by word or self-paced
    • Increase or decrease the size of the display
    • Look up definitions of words
    • Translate Text
    • Customize Reading Speed
    • Choose from 4 different high-quality voices
    • Choose the location of the toolbar
    • Cloud storage for digital files
    • Flexible user management system

    Key Benefits

    • Anytime, anywhere access via the Internet
    • Elimination of installation, maintenance, and upgrade hurdles
    • Operates equally well on Windows® and Macintosh® platforms
    • Modern and engaging user interface
    • Constantly improving solutions with routine, hands-off updates
    • Education-focused functionality set
    • Accessible to students with physical limitations
    • Access the same content with the right support tools for each learner
    • Address high to low incidence needs with the combined use of firefly and Kurzweil 3000
    • Individualize interventions easily
    • Deliver access to instructional materials anytime and anywhere
    • Customize the level of support
    • A shared license management system with Kurzweil 3000 makes implementations seamless

    Accessing Firefly
    1. Navigate to firefly.kurzweiledu.com
    2. Login using your Kurzweil user name and password

    Navigating Firefly to Access Textbooks/Class Materials
    1. Click on "Library Home" under the blue "Users Directory" bar
    2. Click on the "Chisago Lakes Middle School/High School" folder
    3. Click on the "Public" folder
    4. Click on the folder of the teacher whose class book you would like to access
    5. Click on the class/book folder, if there are folders within the teacher's file
    6. Click on the name of the book or section/chapter of the book to open it  (this sometimes takes up to a minute)

    Navigating the Text within Firefly
    1. Click on the green button at the top of the screen to begin reading
    2. The left and right arrows on either side of the green button are used to move the cursor forward and back
    3. The arrows to the left and right of the book pages are used to turn the pages forward and back
    4. Under the options tab, you can adjust speed, voice, and reading mode
    5. Highlight tools are available under the select text arrow on the toolbar
    6. The zoom tool is located at the plus sign on the toolbar
    7. The dictionary tool on the toolbar can be used to find definitions.  Place cursor in front of the word you want to be defined and then click the button.  

    For assistance in obtaining your child's login information, please contact your child's case manager or
    (Middle School) Holly Erickson at 651-213-2449 or  herickson@isd2144.org
    (High School)  Leah Taylor at 651-213-2581 or ltaylor@isd2144.org