Download/view the PDF version

1. Gather all the words and phrases which you wish to appear in your topic-specific dictionary. Paste them all into word processing document – after copying them from web sites around that topic; CD-ROM based information; soft copy documents used by the school to support the topic etc. You can also enter words and phrases directly into the file too.

   Don’t worry about culling out words that do not specifically relate to the topic. When you create the topic dictionary, this will happen automatically as the program analyses the words in your document and compares them with the words in the dictionary which is active in the program.

   Save them all as a ÀÅ"text fileÀ�. (In Word, you would use the File > Save As > Plain Text (*.txt) command.)



2. Open the Teachers Toolkit
   
   


3. Click on the Prediction Tab
   
   


4. Click on Add File to build List
   And navigate to your text file of topic-specific words
   
5. If you want to add more than one text file, just keep repeating this process until all files appear listed in the textbox above the button
   
6. Enter a name for the topic dictionary in the File Description area – then click on the Learn Files into New Prediction File button.
   
   

   You will be asked if you wish the words to be spell checked as they are ÀÅ"learnedÀ� and added to your new topic dictionary. Generally, you would say no to this one as topic dictionaries typically contain many unique words which a spell checker would identify as being incorrectly spelled.
   

7. The program will then start building your .prd word prediction file. Wait until you receive the message indicating that your file has been successfully created.
   
   
   
   
8. Now you need to choose which students will be able to access the topic dictionary when they log on using their own profile.

   Add a tick in the check boxes of each student who you wish to be able to use this new topic dictionary.
   

   

   If you want to make changes to which topic dictionaries each student has access to – simply click yes to the dialogue box which appears – and turn on/off dictionaries by adding/removing ticks in the check boxes next to each dictionary’s name.
   

   

   You have now finished with creating the topic dictionary.
   

9. When a student wishes to use the new topic dictionary, they simply need to open up the program, logging on with their user name. Then select “Prediction Options” from the Read&Write toolbar.
   
   

10. Make sure the “Show advanced options buttonÀ� is ticked then click on the Context Tab to bring up the list of available topic dictionaries. The student then can turn these on and off as they need for topic specific writing.
    
    

11. The student needs to then click on the Prediction icon on the Read&Write toolbar to activate Word Prediction.
    
    

12. As the student starts writing, he/she will see the topic-specific words appearing in the list of predicted words on screen.