Method and apparatus for preparing customized reading material

• US 6,683,611 B1
• Filed: 01/14/2000
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Playbooks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Playbooks, Inc.
• Inventors: Cleveland, Dianna L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US09/483,445
• Time in Patent Office: 1,474 Days
• Field of Search: 345/901, 345/956, 345/961, 345/705, 345/730, 345/776, 345/471, 434/178, 434/367.R, 434/169, 434/157, 434/322
• US Class Current: 345/471
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 1/00 Books or other bound products match books A24F27/12; picture books with additional toy effects A63H33/38; indexing features B42F21/00; educational or demonstration appliances G09B, e.g. textbooks for teaching foreign languages G09B19/08
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 17/00 Teaching reading teaching lip-reading G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/003 using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/901 Electronic book with display

Abstract

A presentation of textual material is provided in a “role-play” reading format which has text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters in order to facilitate reading aloud in a group. The text for the dialogue of a plurality of characters is presented in a different indicia throughout substantially all the presentation. Preferably the indicia is color so the dialogue for each character is in a different color. The text for each character is also selected and presented at a level corresponding to the reading level of the reader selecting or assigned to read each character. The text is preferably selected from among a plurality of texts pre-written at substantially different reading levels. The reading material can be presented on paper, or on media suitable for display on an electronic screen. The text for each character is in a size and font suitable for the reading level of the reader selecting or assigned to read the dialogue for the character. A legend on each page of the reading material correlates the identity of each reader with the character or characters selected or assigned to be read by each reader, and with the indicia applied to the dialogue for each character.

Claims

1. A presentation of textual material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, and wherein the narration is presented in a third indicia throughout substantially all the presentation.

2. A presentation of textual material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, wherein the first and second indicia are selected by a first and second reader before the text is presented.

3. A presentation of textual material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, wherein the text associated with at least two of the characters is written at pre-determined reading levels that differ by at least one grade in reading level and at least one of which differs from the reading level of the text as originally written.

4. A presentation of textural material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, wherein the textual material is presented on pages which include a legend correlating the identity of a selected reader of text on the page with a character and with indicia corresponding to the character.

5. A presentation of textual material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, wherein the text for at least one character is written in language different from the text of another character.

6. A presentation of textual material having text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters and narrative, wherein the text for the dialogue of a first character is presented in a first indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, and wherein the text for the dialogue of a second character is presented in a second indicia throughout substantially all the presentation, the first and second indicia being different, wherein the text associated with at least two of the characters is written at a reading level selected for one or more specific persons.

7. A method of presenting reading material containing text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters, comprising the steps of:

writing text corresponding to a first character in a first reading level and presenting that text in a first indicia for at least a substantial portion of the text corresponding to the first character; and

writing text corresponding to a second character in a second reading level and presenting that text in a second indicia for at least a substantial portion of the text corresponding to the second character, wherein the reading material contains narrative that is written at a predetermined reading level and presented in a third indicia.

8. A method of presenting reading material containing text corresponding to the dialogue of a plurality of characters, comprising the steps of:

writing text corresponding to a first character in a first reading level and presenting that text in a first indicia for at least a substantial portion of the text corresponding to the first character; and

writing text corresponding to a second character in a second reading level and presenting that text in a second indicia for at least a substantial portion of the text corresponding to the second character, wherein the reading material has a number of characters with dialogue and each character is assigned to a specific reader, with the presentation of text for each character being selected and presented according to the reading level of a specific reader assigned to each character.

9. A presentation of a story having at least two characters with dialogue for each character that are to be read by at least one reader assigned to each character, wherein the dialogue for a plurality of characters is written at a reading level selected to correspond to the particular reader assigned to each of the plurality of characters, and presented in an indicia that is unique to each character and extending throughout a substantial portion of the dialogue associated with a plurality of characters, wherein the dialogue assigned to at least one character is presented in a different font to distinguish the dialogue from that of other characters, and wherein the dialogue assigned to at least one character is presented in a different language than the language of another character.

10. A presentation of a story having at least two characters with dialogue for each character that are to be read by at least one reader assigned to each character, wherein the dialogue for a plurality of characters is written at a reading level selected to correspond to the particular reader assigned to each of the plurality of characters, and presented in an indicia that is unique to each character and extending throughout a substantial portion of the dialogue associated with a plurality of characters, wherein the dialogue assigned to at least one character is presented in a different color to distinguish the dialogue from that of other characters and wherein the dialogue is presented on a page along with a legend that correlates the color, reader and character.

11. An apparatus for preparing reading material having a plurality of characters with dialogue to be read by a plurality of readers, comprising:

means for inputting information relating to reading levels of a plurality of readers to an information processor;

means for selecting text for a first character appropriate for the reading level of a first reader assigned to the first character;

means for selecting text for a second character appropriate for the reading level of a second reader assigned to the second character;

means for presenting the selected text in a unique indicia for reading by the assigned readers for a substantial portion of the dialogue of the first and second characters; and

wherein the information processor has access to the same dialogue written in a plurality of substantially different reading levels and from which the text for the first and second characters is selected, and wherein the means for selecting text for the first and second characters further comprises meansfor selecting text for specific persons.

12. An apparatus for preparing reading material having a plurality of characters with dialogue to be read by a plurality of readers, comprising:

means for inputting information relating to reading levels of a plurality of readers to an information processor;

means for selecting text for a first character appropriate for the reading level of a first reader assigned to the first character;

means for selecting text for a second character appropriate for the reading level of a second reader assigned to the second character;

means for presenting the selected text in a unique indicia for reading by the assigned readers for a substantial portion of the dialogue of the first and second characters, wherein the reading material is provided on a plurality of pages; and

means for providing a legend on a plurality of the pages correlating the character, reader and indicia.