Crick Software blog

Gemma Dean

Visuals in Clicker

28th July 2021

Many schools that support their learners with visuals ask us how they can be incorporated in Clicker. Children with a range of needs can benefit from using visuals. Here are some of the different ways you can use visuals in Clicker.

In the Document

Visuals can be used within Clicker Documents in different ways. Children can insert images into the document to illustrate their writing, helping to increase engagement with the task and supporting retention. Images can be added from a range of sources. Children can choose from the pictures in CrickPix2 library, or an image saved on the PC. They can also take a photo with the webcam or draw pictures using the Paint tool.

Turn on instant pictures to provide immediate picture support while writing. You can choose to add images to the Document while children write, to the Spell Check alongside potential corrections and to the Predictor to increase understanding and writing fluency.

The Paint tool offers further opportunities for creativity, helping children to express their ideas visually. Build pictures using images, letters, shapes and brush tools.

Use Picturize in the Document to illustrate a piece of writing quickly. This could be used to illustrate children’s work or to support reading comprehension. Clicker will use the selected picture library to automatically search for and add in images related to the text.

Clicker 8 - sentence and pictures

In the writing grids

You can also add pictures to any of the writing grids. This is great for providing additional information to support children with their writing.

In Edit View, you can add images to individual cells in any of the writing grids one-by-one (alternatively, use Picturize to add relevant images quickly). In Sentence Sets, you can also add a sentence picture to support comprehension. Children can also use the sentence picture to illustrate their sentences in the Document.

Many of the pre-made writing grids from LearningGrids already have visuals, such as the ‘Plan a route’ Connect Set, ‘My Meals’ Connect Set, ‘At the Park’ Word Bank and ‘Washing Hands’ Sentence Set

Different Clicker Sets & pictures

Supporting routines

Use visuals in Clicker to help children learn and remember routines, both in school and at home.

You can create visual timetables using a Clicker Board. These can be created from scratch, or you could adapt one of our storyboard resources from LearningGrids. To support children completing a short series of tasks, you could create a visual to do list with the ‘Before and After’ resources to show three tasks in sequence.

You could use photos to introduce learners to new members of staff or other children in their class using a Matching Set, matching ‘Picture’ to ‘Word’ or ‘Picture and Word’. Another way staff can introduce themselves is by recording interesting facts about themselves alongside their photo with their name in a Talk Set. This could be particularly beneficial for children anxious about changing class or joining the school for example.

By adding a Picture box to a Clicker Book you can record short videos. This can be used to film short introductory videos for new classes, with additional pages covering further relevant information. They could also be used to demonstrate a practical task or experiment.

Our sequencing Clicker Boards are great for supporting children learning different processes. These resources encompass a range of sequences such as making a cup of tea, getting ready for school or growing a pumpkin from a seed.

Clicker Board and Matching Set

Other activities

Visuals can be integrated with any Clicker Set. These can be used as a stimulus, to aid retrieval or comprehension.

Talk Sets provide images as a prompt and a record button for children to record what they know based on the stimulus. There are three types of Talk Set. ‘Listen and Say’ Talk Sets help build children’s vocabulary through use of images, text and speech support. Children can click the picture to hear the related vocabulary read out and then record themselves repeating it. ‘Talk About’ Talk Sets provide images as a stimulus to help children to retrieve information on a topic and allow an alternate method of recording what they know with record buttons. ‘Tell the story’ Talk Sets are a great way of using visuals to show a series of events and provide a record button so children can record their explanations orally.

All of our Read A Book and Read it Yourself Clicker Books in LearningGrids have an image added to each page to aid comprehension. When creating your own Clicker Books, you can add picture boxes for your own images or even record short videos using your webcam.

Matching Sets are a brilliant way of introducing new vocabulary with images to build understanding. They can also provide retrieval practice with images as a reminder for vocabulary previously covered in earlier topic areas. This makes a fantastic regular starter or plenary activity.

Clicker Book and Talk Set

If you use Widgit, SymbolStix or PCS symbols at your school, these can also be used alongside Clicker. Symbols can be used in Clicker in the same way as any other image.

Using symbols regularly can help develop children’s vocabulary, aid reading comprehension and provide consistent and familiar support.

Symbol sets provide images for both key vocabulary and high frequency words. When using Picturize or instant pictures, you can decide whether you want to provide picture support for high-frequency words as well as key vocabulary with a checkbox. See our licensing options for symbol sets in Clicker.

Clicker 8 with Widget pictures

If you have a particular topic idea or need to support that you would like some help with, you can contact us via phone at 01604 671691 or email at info@cricksoft.com.

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