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ELR Software Pty Ltd | ||
eLr - What's New 2012 | |||
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Twenty-eight new tasks have been added, and four existing tasks have been revised in "Reading and Spelling-Verb tense endings-Regular". This is part of a review of this section. All tasks use the WordChanger model and appear in "Simple Past - adding 'ed'", in the following subsections:
Within each section the tasks are organised to provide practice with the two forms of the past tense with a singular subject (eg "The child was playing" "The child played") and a plural subject (eg "The children were playing" "The children played"). This clearly demonstrates the specific part of the verb phrase that is modified when the tense changes.
Thirty new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling-Verb tense endings-Regular". All tasks use the WordChanger model and appear in "Present and Past - adding "ing"" in the following subsections:
Within each section the tasks are organized to provide practice with the two forms of the present tense (eg "The child plays" / "The child is playing"), changing from present to past tense with a singular subject (eg "The child is playing" / "The child was playing), and changing from present to past tense with a plural subject (eg "The children are playing" / "The children were playing"). This clearly demonstrates the specific part of the verb phrase that is modified when the tense changes.
Our focus this month has been "Reading and Spelling-Verb tense endings". The stimulus for this has come from Toni's clinical work with a student who has profound hearing impairment. The aim of the revised and new materials in this section is to provide activities that enable a systematic approach to teaching verb tense endings.
Seven tasks have been revised and twenty-three new tasks have been added to "Regular" verb tense endings, in the following sub sections:
The model in all of these tasks is WordChanger. This model displays upto eight sentences on the screen. The key grammatical marker for the tense change is underlined. By clicking on the underlined words, the sentence changes showing how to transform the verb tense. For example: "The rabbits hop to the carrot" / "The rabbit hops to the carrot".
Within each of the subsections the tasks are arranged to provide specific practice in one aspect of verb tense grammar. For example, in verbs such as "hop", when teaching how to "double the consonant and add the verb tense ending (suffix)", there are separate tasks dedicated to present tense (hops, is hopping), present and past tense with singular subject (is hopping, was hopping), present and past tense with plural subject (are hopping, were hopping).
This is often a very difficult aspect of grammar to master, especially for clients with hearing impairment. We would be very grateful for any feedback about these activities.
Thirty new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - Long Vowel Sounds - Assorted Long Vowels - Level 2". The aim of these tasks is to consolidate reading and spelling of words with long vowels that also contain consonant digraphs (such as ch, th, ck). There are six types of activities (eLr models), which means that for each set of words you are able to provide repetition with variation. LookThenCover provides an introduction to a set of words. Word sound buttons reinforces phonemic awareness skills as it encourages the child to segment the word into sounds. WordSearch, ConnectWords and MemoryWords are fun games to encourage sight word development (clear mental images of the words). And SmileyMan is a challenging game to reinforce recall of spelling patterns.
All of the new tasks are in the "Assorted Long Vowel section". This means that each task contains a mix of long vowels (/ee/, /ar/, /er/, /oo/, and /or/ sounds), using a range of spelling patterns. For example the /ee/ sound can be spelled with "ee", "ea", "e", "ey" or "y". So this section aims to provide material to consolidate the ability to spell long vowel sounds. Many clients with specific reading and spelling difficulties would benefit from a systematic approach to learning these spelling patterns. This would involve initially working through some of the previous sections in the eLr Directory (eg the sections targeting each of the long vowels) before moving on to this section.
The 22 new activities this month complete the work we have been doing, adding phonemic awareness activities within the "Phonology sections". The new tasks appear in the /m, n, ng, h, w/ subsections and use the Word sound buttons model. The aim of these activities is to provide material to strengthen the ability to break words into sounds (segment words), while providing reinforcement that develops letter sound knowledge. This model displays a word on the screen. The clinician/helper encourages the client to say the word one sound at a time (sounding out the word), and then provides feedback about accuracy. The client is then encouraged to click the buttons to display the letters that spell each sound, thus providing reinforcement about spelling patterns.
Within each section, the tasks cater to the skill level of the client. The easiest tasks are those with two to three sounds. The more difficult tasks contain words with consonant blends (eg /bl/, /tr/), and consonant digraphs (eg /ph/, /sh/).
The addition of phonemic awareness activities in the "Phonology sections" is supported by research that has shown that therapy targeting phonological and phonemic awareness for children with speech sound disorders is effective in improving the literacy outcomes for those children (Gillon 2002). There is also a wealth of evidence that demonstrates that therapy that targets phonemic awareness in combination with letter sound knowledge is effective in improving literacy skills (Report of the national early literacy panel 2008, and Torgerson et al 2006).
Gillon, GT, "Follow-up study investigating the benefits of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment", Int. J. Lang. Comm. Dis, 2002, Vol 37, No 4, 381 - 400.
National Centre for Family Literacy (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the national early literacy panel. Jessup, MD 20794-1398.
Torgerson, CJ, Brooks, G, & Hall, J (2006). A systematic review of the research literature on the use of phonics in the teaching of reading and spelling (report no. 711). Annesley, Nottingham: Department for Education and Skills.
This month we have continued working on the phonemic awareness activities within the phonology sections. Twenty two new tasks have been added to "Phonology Skills and Early Sounds" in the /p, b, t, d/ subsections. These new tasks are word based - we've previously added picture based task to these sections. They use the Word sound buttons model which displays a word on the screen. The clinician/helper encourages the client to say the word one sound at a time (sounding out the word), and then provides feedback about accuracy. The client is then encouraged to click the buttons to display the letters that spell each sound, thus providing reinforcement about spelling patterns.
Within each section, the tasks cater to the skill level of the client. The easiest tasks are those with 2 to 3 sounds. The more difficult tasks contain words with consonant blends (eg print, trap), and consonant digraphs (eg bash, tooth).
The addition of phonemic awareness activities in the Phonology sections is supported by research that has shown that therapy targeting phonological and phonemic awareness for children with speech sound disorders is effective in improving the literacy outcomes for those children (Gillon G.T. "Follow-up study investigating the benefits of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment", Int J Lang Comm Dis, 2002, Vol 37, No 4, 381-400).
This month we have added materials in two sections: "Phonology Skills and Early Sounds", and two extra resources in the "Activity Toolbox" - a version of the MouthSounds WordBuilder with adult faces, and "teddy bear verbs" in the Scene Library section.
14 new tasks have been added to "Phonology - Skills and Early Sounds" in the /h/ and /w/ subsections. The addition of phonemic awareness activities in the Phonology sections has been occurring over the past few months. It is supported by research that has shown that therapy targeting phonological and phonemic awareness for children with speech sound disorders is effective in improving the literacy outcomes for those children (Gillon G.T. "Follow-up study investigating the benefits of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment", Int J Lang Comm Dis, 2002, Vol 37, No 4, 381-400).
The tasks use the MultiPic Slideshow, SpinPics, LadderPics, and Pic sound buttons models. The first three of these models aim to strengthen the identification of words that start or end with a specific sound, and the Pic sound buttons model targets segmenting of words (breaking words into sounds). In the identification tasks, there are two levels of difficulty. The easier level provides the child with words that are very different (high contrast). For example, "which one starts with /h/ - hair, man, feet". The more difficult level occurs when the child is presented with words that are more similar (low contrast). For example, "which one starts with /h/ - hair, ear, yarn". The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills and letter sound knowledge.
The MouthSounds WordBuilder model in "Activity Toolbox" was added to eLr last month, featuring child face depictions of all of the sounds of English. This month we have added adult faces for each sound. This model provides material for use in therapy for speech sound disorders, phonological awareness and literacy, and now, dyspraxia following head injury. The models allows you to produce a screen (and/or print a page) with pictorial representations of the sounds of English. The process involves two steps. First you select the sounds you wish to work on, and the letters that would spell those sound/s. Then you click the "fast forward" arrow (top left), to display the next screen which shows the pictorial representations of the sounds and the letters or words. Click help [?] to read instructions and tips for how this model may be used.
We invite you to give us feedback about this new model, and also the pictorial depictions of the sounds of English that are used. Subscribers to eLr work with a very large range of people with communication and literacy disorders. We'd like to hear your ideas about how you would like to use these "mouth sounds".
28 teddy bear verb pictures have also been added to the "Scene Library" in "Activity Toolbox", using the Scene Printer model. These pictures are currently used in the verb tense tasks in the "Sentence Processing" section. They depict a teddy bear doing a range of common verbs, such as walking, crying, skipping, cooking, hopping, swimming, digging, sleeping etc. Including them in the "Scene Library" allows you to make cards for use in a range of your own games. They provide material to teach comprehension and expressive use of verbs. Depending on your goal, you can focus on regular and/or irregular verbs.
This month's edition features an exciting new model in Activity Toolbox called MouthSounds Wordbuilder. The aim of this model is provide materials for use in therapy for speech sound disorders, phonological awareness and literacy. It allows you to produce a screen (and/or print a page) with pictorial representations of the sounds of English. The process involves two steps. First you select the sounds you wish to work on, and the letters that would spell those sound/s. Then you click the forward arrow (top left), to display the next screen which shows pictorial representations of the sounds and the letters or words you've selected.
In the selection process (the first step), you may choose to represent up to 3 rows of sounds, which may be non-words, syllables, or real words. Each row allows up to 5 sounds: an initial consonant or 2 consonant blend, a vowel, and a final consonant or 2 consonant blend. This means you can present 3 rows of single sounds (eg /p/, /ch/), non-word syllables (eg "fee foo fah", "stee, stoo, stah", "steeth, preeth, freeth"), words, or combinations of words and non-words (eg "stamp, samp, stap"). The first step is to select the sound/s by clicking on the phonetic symbol. Then you are presented with spelling choices for each of those sounds. Once you click on the spelling choice, the non-word or word is "built" on the screen showing you how that non-word/word is segmented.
The pictorial representations of the sounds show the tongue and lip positions for the sounds of English. Currently only child's faces (male or female) are depicted but within the next few months we'll have adult faces as well.
Some examples of how this model may be used include:
For children with speech production difficulties, you may wish to focus on the ability to produce a particular sound, contrast two sounds, or to blend sounds to produce syllables and words. This model allows you to select the sound or sounds, choose spelling patterns to match the sounds if you wish, and the picture representation of the sound/s appears on the screen.
For children whose speech sound disorder involves phonological processes, (specific patterns of incorrect sound use), you can contrast the incorrect production with the target word. For example, if the child leaves off the last sound in words, you could produce a page with 2 rows: one with the erroneous production (eg /ca/ for "cat"), and another that includes the final sound (eg /cat/ for "cat"). The printed pictorial representations could be included in a game involving toy cats so that the child sees how the mouth moves to correctly produce "cat".
For children with literacy delays, this model allows you to clearly depict how to "sound out" or segment a word. Many children have difficulty segmenting words with consonant blends. You could produce a screen/page that contrasts the word correctly segmented (ie with the consonant blend), and their currently incorrect attempt at segmenting. This would be accompanied by having the child write the word in a meaningful activity.
Many children also have difficulty learning how to spell, especially vowel sounds. This model may be used with the child viewing the process of constructing the word. First say the target word. Have the child sound out (segment) the word. Then select the sounds by clicking on the phonetic symbol. The spelling choices for each sound are displayed. Work with the child to identify the correct spelling for each sound in the word. Further reinforcement for correct segmenting is provided once you display the pictorial representations of each sound.
This month we have continued developing the phonemic awareness activities designed to be used in therapy for children with speech sound errors. 35 new activities have been added to the /m/ /n/ and /ng/ subsections in "Phonology - Skills and Early Sounds".
The tasks use the MultiPic Slideshow, SpinPics, LadderPics, and Pic sound buttons models. The first three of these models aim to strengthen the ability to identify words that start or end with a specific sound, and Pic sound buttons model targets segmenting of words (breaking words into sounds). In the identification tasks, there are two levels of difficulty. The easier level provides the child with words that are very different (high contrast). For example, "which one starts with /m/ - man, cat, seal". The more difficult level occurs when the child is presented with words that are more similar (low contrast). For example, "which one starts with /m/ - man nail bath". In the low contrast choice the beginning sounds are either nasal sounds or are produced with the same articulators as the /m/ sound, ie /m, n, b/.
These new sections provide material to work on targeted phonemic awareness skills. This type of intervention has been shown in the research to significantly improve literacy skills, especially for children who have speech sound errors. They are also useful for children who have literacy problems due to confusion with specific sounds or letters.
The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills and letter sound knowledge.
46 new tasks have been added to "Phonology - Skills and Early Sounds - Phonemic awareness for this sound" in the /p/ /b/ /t/ and /d/ subsections.
Last year we began developing phonemic awareness activities targeting individual speech sounds. We completed all the sounds in "Phonology - Later Sounds", (/k, g, f, v, s, z, sh, zh, ch, dge, l, r, th/, and blends with /s, l, r/). This month and for the next couple of versions, we will complete phonemic awareness activities for the early sounds (/p, b, t, d, m, n, ng, h, w/).
The tasks this month are all picture based, using the MultiPic Slideshow, SpinPics, LadderPics, and Pic sound buttons. These models aim to strengthen the identification of words that start or end with a specific sound, and the ability to segment words (break words into sounds). In the identification tasks (all except Pic sound buttons), there are two levels of difficulty. The easier level provides the child with words that are very different (high contrast). For example, "which one starts with /p/ - pear, cup, dog". The more difficult level occurs when the child is presented with words that are more similar (low contrast). For example, "which one starts with /p/ - pear bear men". In this example of a low contrast choice all of the beginning sounds are produced with the lips, /p, b, m/.
These new sections provide material to work on targeted phonemic awareness skills. This type of intervention has been shown in the research to significantly improve literacy skills, especially for children who have speech sound errors. They are also useful for children who have literacy problems due to confusion with specific sounds or letters.
The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills and letter sound knowledge.
42 new tasks have been added to "Phonology - Later Sounds - Phonemic awareness for this sound" in the /s/ blend, /l/ blend and /r/ blend subsections.
This continues the work we have been doing to develop activities targeting phonemic awareness for children who have difficulty producing specific sounds (articulation or speech production problems). With these additions there are now pictorial and word based phonemic awareness activities for /k, g, f, v, s, sh, zh, ch, dge, l, r, th, y/, s blends, l blends and r blends.
The new tasks are word based using the Word sound buttons model which strengthens the ability to break words into sounds. A word appears on the screen. The helper reads out the word, or, if the child is developing literacy skills, the helper supports the child to read the word. The child is then encouraged to verbally "sound out" the word, and then click buttons to confirm how that word is broken into sounds. By clicking the buttons the spelling for each sound is revealed. For example the word "skin" is shown as "s-k-i-n", and the word "speech" as "s-p-ee-ch". This activity reinforces letter sound relationships, an important skill in literacy development.
The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills.
We are continuing to work on developing activities targeting phonemic awareness for children who have difficulty producing specific sounds (articulation or speech production problems). This month there are 62 new tasks in "Phonology - Later Sounds - Phonemic awareness for this sound" in the /k, g, f, v, s, z, sh, zh, ch, dge, y, l, r, th/ subsections.
All of the tasks are word based using the Word sound buttons model which encourages children to break words into sounds. A word appears on the screen. The helper reads out the word, or, if the child is developing literacy skills, the helper supports the child to read the word. The child is then encouraged to verbally "sound out" the word, and then click buttons to see how that particular word is broken into sounds. By clicking the buttons the spelling for each sound is revealed. For example the word "cat" is shown as "c-a-t", and the word "ship" as "sh-i-p". This activity reinforces letter sound relationships, an important skill in literacy development.
The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills.
eLr-Offline has had a major "behind the scenes" upgrade for 2012. We use the wonderful software called HTML Executable (HE) at www.htmlexe.com to turn the content of the eLr website into a standalone "Offline" version that runs without an internet connection. Although it initially looks much the same, eLr-Offline is now built with a new, revised version of HE which will add speed and stability, as well as setting the stage for further functionality in the coming months.
Although this upgraded version will be on your next eLr-Offline CD, we'd encourage all users to update directly from our website. The simplest way is to use the automatic process built into the program. Make sure your computer is connected to the web, then start your existing eLr-Offline as usual. Open the "Help" menu (at the top of the screen) and click on the item "Check for updates". The program will check whether a newer edition is available, you'll see a confirmation box, then follow the prompts and the newest edition will be automatically retrieved and installed for you.
It should only take a couple of minutes to do this, but, please note, you'll have to also get a new "Registration key" (from the same "Help" menu) to use 2012 versions of eLr-Offline. Let us know if you have any problems with this, and contact us with your number and convenient time if you'd like us to phone and talk you through the update processes.
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