Resource 24

Instructions for Creating YOUR display

Remember this is a learning display for YOU.

It is not intended for Bliss users.
It does not allow you to include glosses which are a “must” on Bliss-users’ displays!

Beginning YOUR display

If you have not already saved the displays available for you to download, do so now. Keep them in a folder for easy access.

The first display is a Sample Complete Display, to show you one way of organizing the vocabulary.

The second display has a set of assigned Bliss-words in the left and right columns and across the top two rows (plus the four Bliss words in locations C-4, 5, 6, 7). These have been assigned to ensure they will appear on this YOUR learning display within this course. The remainder of the display is to contain vocabulary selected and arranged by you as you proceed through the course.

The third display is blank. You can use it to match your Bliss-words with English words to enable a partner to assist you in communicating. You may wish to try using a display without the required grammatical and strategies, to see how different your communication will be. Or you may wish to create your own draft display for an individual to whom you will be teaching Blissymbolics. The displays are intended only for your learning in this course, and should not be used long term for a Bliss user. For creating a display that accommodates both Bliss-words and their English equivalents, commercial software is recommended. (See Resource 10).

YOUR Display
In Lesson 3, when you begin to insert Bliss-words into your display, you can enter them either from your personal database/dictionary (offline) or from the scrolling dictionary on the course website. It may be helpful to begin your display and complete early assignments using the limited set of Bliss-words in your personal database/dictionary. Choose the way that works best for you at the beginning. By time you reach Lessons 9 and 10, however, try to use the full scrolling dictionary available to you and arranged in English alphabetical order. It is an excellent way for you to practice identifying the symbols. The English words (glosses) do not appear unless you linger on the Bliss-word. So you can test yourself before you see what the gloss is. Hopefully, the review of this vocabulary list - required as you create your display - will give you lots of practice in seeing the Bliss-word first, and then checking its gloss to see if you have identified it correctly.

This is the same kind of practice novice Bliss-users get as they begin using their display. They point to a word and then their partner says the word. Bliss-users initially look at the Bliss-word, and then as time goes on, some will start to look also at the English word that accompanies the Bliss-word. This is an excellent way to develop a sight vocabulary. And the instructor can help this process along!

See Resource 6 , Literacy Considerations.). For YOUR display, because there can be no gloss, you are forced to have lots of practice in identifying the Bliss-word without a gloss.

As you expand your personal database, you will gain extra practice in recognizing the Bliss-words. By the end of Lesson 10, make it your aim to have a complete off-line personal database-dictionary.

Positioning the Bliss-words on YOUR display
You may wish to review Resource 3 in which the Fitzgerald Key arrangement is described. The colours on the display will guide you as to the positioning of Bliss-words.

The Bliss-display has been set up for printing using landscape format. It can be printed on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper. The complete display will need 2 pages, arranged as below

The master display is available for you as reference. The coloured background designates the part of speech. People have a yellow background, verbs have a green background, adjectives and adverbs have a blue background, and nouns have an orange background. The strategies and greeting words have a grey background. The articles, prepositions, conjunctions, questions and time words are white. If you wish to give them distinguishing coloured backgrounds, please do so.

To place a Bliss-word on your display, click, drag and drop the Bliss-word to a square of YOUR display. It takes a moment for the Bliss-word to appear. Be patient the first time you drop the Bliss-word. You will soon become accustomed to time it takes. You can go to “Print Preview” under “File” at any time to see which Bliss-words will appear on page 1 or page 2 of your display.

In deciding upon placements, note that you can create patterns on the display. The border is being used for words that help build sentences and extend vocabulary. To help the learner see the relationship between “why” and “because”, they have been located at either ends of the same row. “When” and “time” have the same positioning. These relationships can be given attention in practice conversations and the related locations can be highlighted in some way (thickening the border lines or changing the shade of the background). The “who” square could be coloured yellow to show the relationship with people. The “what”, “where” and “which” squares could be coloured orange to show their relationships with things and places. Drawing attention to these relationships can help the learner build associations between the symbols and their locations that can facilitate in remembering the relationships between Bliss-words resulting from shared Bliss-characters, in locating the symbols and in creating motor patterns for Bliss-words that are frequently used together. To change the shading of a square, go to Format, Borders and shading, Shading, select the colour. You will find that pale colours are preferable. They make it easier to see the Bliss-words and they are more pleasing to the eye on a large display.

If you are having any difficulties creating your display, remember to call on your Bliss Tutor for help. Your display is a critical component of your learning. It can be sent, at any stage, as a Microsoft Word attachment to your Bliss Tutor for advice.