Shirley Campbell

ISTC 301.004

9/20/20

UDL eBook Summary – They All Live in the Jungle

My name is Shirley Campbell, and I did my UDL eBook Analysis on “They All Live in the Jungle.” It

was a vocabulary book that contained pictures and descriptions of several animals that live in the jungle.

Let’s begin with Multiple Means of Representation. The book offered alternatives for both visual

and auditory information. Each page had an illustration of animal(s) in a jungle setting with matching

descriptions below it. The focused vocabulary words were underlined, which acted as links to the

glossary. The glossary provided real-world pictures of the vocabulary word as well as its definition and

an example sentence. It had text to speech capability, which was great because you could highlight

words and sentences that you wanted to hear, and there was also a play button on the bottom that

would read the entire sentence without having to select it; however, the text to speech within the

glossary was horrible. It would read every single letter and word on the page including menu options.

For example, it would start from the top left corner and read the entire alphabet before getting to the

word and definition of interest. Another negative attribute was the fact that there were no available

means of customizing the display of information at all.

Next and obviously, since this was a book focused on learning new vocabulary, they did a great

job clarifying what words meant via the glossary. Another wonderful linguistic aspect was the ability to

translate words, sentences, and even whole paragraphs into Spanish. A written translation, as well as an

oral reading, was provided. Multiple illustrations were provided in a variety of ways as stated above –
drawings, definitions, real-world pictures, underlined words. Additionally, some glossary words

contained sound clips. For example, a real recording of the sounds a monkey makes was available.

Next up, the book provided a multitude of options for comprehension. There was an avatar on

the side menu that provided suggestions on extension activities and facilitating the lesson for

parents/teachers called “Terry’s Tips.” Additionally (and this was my favorite part of the eBook), there

were three avatars at the bottom of the page that the students can use that assist in supplying

background knowledge, highlighting patterns, guiding information processing, and maximizing the

ability to transfer this knowledge in a relatable manner. Each avatar had a different level of

understanding the vocabulary words. For instance, Pedro knew none of the new words and asked the

students to think about what they already know. Hali gave hints and clues to help students make

connections. Monty was considered the “vocab expert” and provided a different definition than the one

provided in the glossary.

Switching gears, we’re going to talk about means for action and expression. The only way to

navigate the material was by using the mouse and clicking the designated navigation buttons, and, other

than text to speech, there were no other assistive technologies available. The means of communication

throughout the book were exceptional, in my opinion. As mentioned earlier, information was provided

visually and orally in a variety of methods. Furthermore, the avatars provided ways to learn new

vocabulary and promote “stop and think” and “think alouds” processing. Another feature of the avatars

was that they guided self-monitoring by first allowing students to guess or answer what the word of

interest meant on their own before giving them the definition.

As far as engagement goes, students are allowed autonomy by going their own pace, but that

may be turned into distraction and no forward movement within the lesson without parent/teacher

facilitation. The book was appropriate for age, ability, and different cultural groups and allowed for
active participation, engagement, and exploration with the help of the avatars and the glossary.

Scaffolding was available by giving the students the choice of which avatar they want to go through the

material with. One last point I’d like to hit on with the avatars is that they also helped motivate students

by making them feel that it’s okay to not the definition of the word. Moreover, the book itself was setup

for breaking up the vocabulary by way of utilizing the same words for different animals. For example, fur

was used, but each time it was used with a different animal and with a different color. Then, it switched

from fur to other types of body covering like mane, hide, and scales. There are only a few engagement

guidelines I found that were not utilized, but no lesson is perfect. There was no feedback built in at all,

nor any ways to facilitate personal coping skills and strategies. Lastly, I wish one of “Terry’s Tips” was a

turn and talk instead of focusing only on one student at a time. This would have helped foster

collaboration and community. Overall, the book was great for building new vocab and followed a

majority of the UDL guidelines. I would definitely recommend this for any elementary teachers.

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