A phonics-based literacy product, this program uses graphics, sound, and animation to steer teacher and student through pre-testing, prescribed exercises, then post testing. Strong management component. Has screens for reading difficulties in oral, aural, motor, speed, response, and other areas. Special needs accommodated. No reading ability needed to begin but requires ESL teaching to accompany product. Version 5 designed for central deployment, with a web-based user interface.
Short texts and multiple-choice exercises focus on a specific reading skill. Record-keeping facility; authorable. Upgraded for Windows 95/98/2000. Networkable.
Students practice critical reading skills organizing information gained from texts and drawing conclusions. Also available in French and Spanish. On disks or on Mac/Windows CD-ROM. Now part of One-Pick Pack (English only) or Language Pack (Spanish or French), which includes Ace Detective, Ace Explorer, Ace Inquirer, Ace Reporter, Easy Street, Race the Clock Language Arts, Word Hound, and some math titles.
Students read 'teletype' messages and conduct 'phone interviews' to find answers to Who, What, When, Where and Why questions. Once their stories are complete they select the best headline for the story. CD-ROM. Now part of One-Pick Pack (English only) or Language Pack (Spanish or French), which includes Ace Detective, Ace Explorer, Ace Inquirer, Ace Reporter, Easy Street, Race the Clock Language Arts, Word Hound, and some math titles.
Designed to meet a third through sixth grade language arts curriculum- grammar and spelling, parts of speech and sentence structure, lsynonyms and antonyms, build vocabulary. This incorporates Word Munchers, Schoolhouse Rock/Grammar Rock, Writing Trek. Designed for native speakers, but useful for ELLs.
In this shareware program from Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, students are given eight sets of related words to alphabetize by moving the words onto a list. Students can look at the correct answer and print out each list upon completion. The color version is distributed by Computers for Education, and a black and white version is available on the TESOL/CELIA CD-ROM.
CD-ROM-based graphical adventure stories about Inigo the Cat and Your Faithful Camel with color animation, sound effects, and music but no text. Students select objects using the pointer, thereby determining the course of the story. To have any value in the language classroom, students must have a task set by the teacher that requires language, such as talking with a partner about what to do next, writing about what the animals did, or creating a similar story of their own.
Amazon Trail is a simulation of a trip up the Amazon River (and through time). The goal is to search for a medicinal plant that can save the ancient Incas from malaria. As students travel up the Amazon River they explore the rain forest, visit historical people and landmarks, trade with the people of the region, navigate and fish for food. The program comes with teacher's manuals and student worksheets that facilitate cooperative learning-based lessons and communicative language development. CD-ROM version. The earlier version is on disk and is slightly less expensive. MECC titles are now sold by Learning Company School.
This interactive CD-ROM from Amnesty International presents information about the struggle for human rights throughout history. Information is organized by geographical location, time in history, and famous people. Both human rights abuses and human rights successes are shown. The material is sometimes presented relatively rapidly, requiring learners to listen or read a second time.
This is a CD-ROM multimedia tour of San Diego Zoo. It includes 80 video clips (small-2x 3 inches on screen), pictures and information about 200 animals, information about the areas they live in, and a section on endangered animals. We plan to use it as an information source for intermediate academic students. It seems to have been created for primary to secondary school students, but has been popular with adult EFL students. The menu page is a picture of the zoo from above, and you just click on the area you're interested in or choose an animal from a list. (Moore) Version 2 includes the A to Z Gallery, with an animal for each letter of the alphabet.
Students explore and experience a story based on the original work of author Tomie dePaola. They can read the story, hear it read to them by the author, and explore the text and living illustrations. Integrated art activities let students create with the author. Also includes video clips as they explore Tomie dePaola's studio, hear him tell about his childhood experiences, and learn about his life as an author and illustrator. Requires CD-ROM drive. MECC titles are now sold by Learning Company.
An interactive, animated story about an elementary schooler (Arthur the Aardvark) surprising even himself with what he accomplishes. The program has excellent graphics, sound effects, dialogues, and lots of surprises to maintain student interest. Text can be heard in English and Spanish. Requires CD-ROM drive. Best used in K-6 and family literacy settings.
Elementary; explore words, rhyming, letters, and stories.
Covers reading skills such as plot summary, character analysis, style and point of view.
Designed for adults who need reading and writing skills; uses extensive audio. Eight units, sold separately. Each unit includes a management component. The units are Duc and Linh (lifeskills math and numeracy, inferences, map reading); New Challenges (signs, maps, compare products, make appointments, make inferences); Grace Under Pressure (career search, basic home repairs, interpret charts and graphs, auto purchasing and insurance); Amazing Grace (test-taking strategies, time management, price comparison, budgeting, writing ads and letters); Joe Moves Up (job attitudes, phone skills, using a catalog, customer service, cooking); KC Makes Choices (emergency first aid, durgs and alcohol, gangs, getting a job, dealing with learning disabilities, reading comprehension); Linda's New Start (job handbook, customer service, comparison shopping, using a timecard); and Day by Day (computing mileage, reading a map, comparison shopping, making a budget, time management, fact vs. opinion).
Students can click on any state to hear its name pronounced in a real, not Macintalk, voice!) and see the name on the screen. Once they are ready, they have a choice of three quizzes. One tests them on the names of the regions - which are not taught in this program! In another they hear and see the question 'Find [state name]' If they click on the correct state they can click on a pair of dice to move on to the next question. In the other quiz, they see the state and its capital together with the names of the neighboring states, and they are asked to click on the appropriate information. Shareware. Requirements: HyperCard or HyperCard Player. Headphones useful, to stop the teacher from going crazy ;-) (Addis) One version can be downloaded from http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/mac/amug/files/educ/culture-geography/better-u.s.-map-1.1.sit.hqx
Students can use this to construct, organize, and describe data with a variety of graphs. It includes a library of over 150 icons, and will count numbers aloud as the graph is created. Information can be represented in Spanish or English. On CD-ROM.
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is a reading comprehension program in Spanish and English that features immediate on-screen translation of stories into either language. It features 36 stories with colorful graphics. Includes audio capability for students to hear key words translated into either language.
Four separate 11-disk sets cover predicting and restating sequence; identifying main ideas, moods, and irrelevant information; using examples; types of persuasion; inferring main ideas, purpose, and word meanings; and judging logical validity. Tutorials and short readings with multiple choice and fill-in questions. Created for junior high level native speakers. $200 per set; $400 for lab packs per set; $1000 network license per set. $750 for the complete series.
Students visit a variety of working environments in the UK and the USA in these CD-ROM-based programs. Authentic, non-scripted video interviews are accompanied by transcripts, paraphrases, a glossary, and audio comments giving both linguistic and business information. Teachers have a wide range of printable worksheets requiring students to collaborate in researching particular aspects of the companies and presenting their findings. 5-user licenses available.
Uses Wida's Gapmaster program to offer a range of practice materials for English for Academic Purposes students. 21 exercises work on finding the missing words, word building, finding and correcting mistakes in a text, answering questions about a written text, and analyzing data in a table. A student workbook, teacher's manual, and learner's manual are included.
Stories can be read in English, French, or Spanish. Students can record and play back their voices while pronouncing any of the 1311 words in the story. They can also sing along to the story's song and create and their own stories with graphics. A teacher's manual is included, with lesson plans, worksheets, and blackline masters. Requires CD-ROM drive.
Teaches and tests a wide range of skills covering all Learning Outcomes at Levels 2, 3 and 4 of the Reading and Writing, Oral Communication and Numeracy and Mathematics Streams of the Australian CGEA test. Australian English.
This HyperCard stack by Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, Cinny Cowgill, and Trang Nguyen offers students a quiz on the characters in Charlotte's Web. A reference button allows students to look up names of the characters.
Children's Classics features a multilingual format, in two modes: one where students listen to native speakers; and one where students read the story and choose to record/replay their voices. Switch easily among English, French, German, and Spanish. Also features built-in glossary plus writing activities. Exciting games with each story, sequencing, concentration, and multiple choice. Stories include Jack and the Beanstalk, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan. CD-ROM.
The strength of this program is in the way students must link their own game-playing strategies with the way that inventions and technology might have been discovered and developed: you can't have literature without writing, and you can't have writing without the alphabet; and this applies all the way up to building a space-station. Students obtain knowledge through reading about the developments on screen (the file that creates them can be edited easily if required). One thing that I and a colleague (who used the game in a larger context) agree on is that the most important factor is the recording of information by the students as they play. He also gets them to write a summary of the day's play. I asked mine to copy the screens as they appeared. Effective for group work or individual play. Before teachers use the program they should run it several times themselves but should be careful as it is addictive. I would also recommend a companion book (unavailable here): Wilson, Johnny L. and Alan Emrich. Sid Meier's Civilization: or Rome on 640k a day. Prima Publishing: California, 1992.
Click into English, designed by the Adult Multicultural Education Service in Australia, is designed for intermediate and advanced students who have to tackle different text types in their work or study. The selection and sequencing of the content in the CD follows a genre-based methodology: the presentation of a model text, with certain features highlighted, is followed by practice activities and an assessment. CD-ROM.
A cloze generating program in which students fill in vowels, consonants, or words in a reading passage. A number of short texts are provided and teachers may add passages into the program for students to do.
Complete works of Shakespeare plus the American Heritage Dictionary, study notes, sample tests, and essay questions. On CD-ROM.
This program is a comprehensive approach to reading and language development. In the first phase, students see, hear, say, and record each word. The second phase is a reading of the lesson text, 2-3 sentences per screen. The same text is then presented in a timed reading exercise, one phrase at a time. Next the student completes reading comprehension exercises. Students can refer back to the text to find the answer, and on an incorrect response the computer highlights the sentence where the answer should have been found. For vocabulary practice, students complete words from sentences in the text and choose the correct spelling. Directions are spoken in English and Spanish. This is sold separately or as part of the ESL/Basic Literacy bundle.
Designed for native speakers, this includes video clips, text, and graphics about 'America's Race to Build the Atomic Bomb.' CD-ROM
1996 catalog plus demos of Insight (job choices) and Postcards. Requires Acrobat Reader. CD-ROM.
The full series includes software, teacher’s manual, books for independent reading, onsite training and installation, CD- and Web-delivered professional development and technical support. Reading is taught through exercises working on vocabulary, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency and comprehension.
Content-based reading and grammar practice designed for children. Over 20 digital books for grades 1-6 with over 300 pictures of the animals and plants on the various ecosystems on Earth that students can copy for use in projects. Books for grades 1-3 have a 'read aloud' feature. A demo is online at http://www.ingenuityworks.com. CD-ROM.
Includes eight math curricula,with up to 70 levels each, and covers 18 math skills. Spanish/English version allows each student to see and hear problems in Spanish or English, or to switch between languages at any time.
Students work in groups to use the software and text materials to make decisions. Students check the printed materials for additional background information. As a group they prioritize their goals, receive multiple perspectives on the issues from their 'advisors' in the computer, discuss their options and input their course of action to the computer. The computer presents the consequences and the 'advisors' reappear to offer the students help in dealing with them prior to another round of decisions, actions and consequences. These programs work well in a one-computer classroom. The following are ones most likely to be of interest to ESL/EFL students. Immigration: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number of dilemmas related to immigration policy in the U.S. Prejudice: Students take the role of a mayor up for re-election in a town with a racism problem. Their 'advisors' in the computer are an historian, a campaign manager, a lawyer and an activist. The Environment: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number a dilemmas related to environmental damage in a small town. Urbanization: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number of dilemma related to the costs and benefits of urbanization for a small town. Violence in the Media: Students take the role of an advertising executive for a company sponsoring a controversial television program about life in a gang-infested urban neighborhood.
A space adventure activity; on disk or CD-ROM.
Helps students sharpen their critical thinking skills and develop their ability to make inferences. Disks contain short factual readings on four levels. Students read selections and answer multiple choice questions based on key words and inferences. Upgraded for Windows 95/98/2000. Networkable.
A four-set series available on CD-ROM or disks. Each graded set has 30 cloze passages grouped in three readability levels. The nonfiction passages use a multiple-choice exercise format. The cloze stories are content-based with literature, science, and social studies themes. The writing practice segment offers activities to improve persuasive, narrative, process, descriptive, and report writing. Sets can be purchased separately for $70 or as a whole for $250. Lab pack of five is $500, of 10 is $750, and a network version is $1000.
An interactive reading tutorial designed for native speakers of English, both children and adults. The program is diagnostic, prescriptive and developmental. The instruction focuses on reading for details, inference, the main idea, vocabulary (synonoyms, multiple meanings, discovering meaning in context), identifying the sequential signals in a text, and distinguishing between fact and opinion. The program includes a glossary with definitions and computer pronunciation of the target words. Useful for ESL false beginners and above.
The program works like Diascriptive Reading, but with a focus on the content area of science. Five diagnostic tests and 25 reading programs are included. CD-ROM.
This complete classroom package helps teachers administer and analyze reading K-3 records. The full package includes a Palm personal digital assistant; PDA-based software; 57 leveled benchmark books (levels 2-20); a fiction and nonfiction title for each level; an additional book per level for placement and ongoing assessment; all benchmark books' text, diagnostic, and assessment software loaded on the Palm; Teacher's Guide, Phonics Blackline Master; and Quick Start CD. The system lets the teacher record reading errors on the Palm, and the software calculates error rate and tracks student progress.
Builds reading and math readiness skills. Teaches counting, classification and labeling in English and Spanish. Can be customized for special needs. Now part of One-Pick Pack (English only) or Language Pack (Spanish or French), which includes Ace Detective, Ace Explorer, Ace Inquirer, Ace Reporter, Easy Street, Race the Clock Language Arts, Word Hound, and some math titles.
Earth science, biology, and history simulations designed for native speakers. CD-ROM. Individual titles range in price. All are listed separately on the Steck-Vaughan website, not listed as Edunetics.
Phonics, Time, Dinosaurs, African Wild Animal Adventures, Earth Care, Violent Earth readings. Designed for native speakers. CD-ROM. Individual titles range in price. All are listed separately on the Steck-Vaughan website, not listed as Edunetics.
Reading skill building with stories; designed for ESL/EFL.
Reading skill practice with literature: myths and legends, biographies, poetry, and short stories from different regions and cultural traditions. Learners can link to related stories, articles, vocabulary and comprehension activities and relevant Web sites. Vocabulary support is provided through pop-up definitions while reading, as well as graphics and sound. Teachers can track learners’ performance through online reports.
More than 500 multiple-choice questions intended to prepare intermediate and advanced ESL students for the written TOEFL.
Ten volumes of exercises to use with the Wida Authoring Suite programs (Gapmaster, Storyboard, Matchmaster, Choicemaster, Testmaster). These have been ported from the DOS-based CALL for English originals. Volumes include Elementary Grammar, Vocabulary, and Functions; Intermediate Grammar and Vocabulary; Advanced Grammar, Vocabulary, and Functions; Cambridge Proficience Practice, and International Business Topics.
This CD-ROM has three modes: Learn, where children click on words or letters to hear them spoken; Watch, where children match words and objects then watch a movie incorporating target sounds; and Play, where students have five activities that focus on reading, spelling, painting, matching, and pattern recognition.
A cloze generator that can import text from other programs and print out. Now included in Wida's Authoring Suite. Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT supported.
We use lessons prepared according to what we are teaching to our students. This can be used to identify food items and build up vocabulary on food and drinks, identify animals, practice clothing items, and do other beginning-level vocabulary tasks. (MP)
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is an interactive reading program with 48 stories on topics of interest to middle school aged children. The program include a student management system to track student progress through the lessons. Multilingual audio capability so that students can hear a translation of the text in any of eight different languages.
Designed for adult learners. Topics include reading labels, menus, and job ads; managing money; working with want ads and job applications; and travel-related reading. Activities include crosswords and other puzzles. CD-ROM.
A multimedia CD-ROM designed to prepare post-secondary students for TOEFL, BEST, and other standardized language tests used in higher education and adult basic education. 40+ lesson program is divided into four sections.
A multimedia CD-ROM with a focus on reading skills for TOEFL practice. Requires Windows 95/98, CD-ROM, sound card, headset with microphone; network OK.
Excellent software for making interactive storybooks. For ESL purposes, it is even better if projected onto a large screen for whole class oral language activities. Choose from a variety of scenes: school, home, playground, mall, etc. Place people and objects into this setting. These 'smart stickers' can be positioned inside, beside, behind, in front of, etc and change their size according to where they are placed on the screen. Narration can be added. CD-ROMs in the series: Castle; Neighborhoods; Rain Forest; Ocean; Pyramids; and Time Trip USA. For ESL, Neighborhoods and Oceans are probably most helpful. Sheltered English classes might be able to use others depending on subject.
ACT test practice designed for native speakers; text is by the Princeton Review. CD-ROM.
Practice with SAT and ACT tests, designed for native speakers; text is by the Princeton Review. CD-ROM.
Material is based on a news report that aired just two days after the huge earthquake in Japan of January, 1995. This lesson focuses on practicing advanced level listening skills, and in addition to reading and some writing components, it includes opportunities for pronunciation practice (if a microphone is available) and more. A small shareware fee ($10 US) is requested to encourage the development of additional lessons. Japan Quake is freeware.
Three programs, sold separately: JumpStart Kindergarten Grade Reading, JumpStart 1st Grade Reading, and JumpStart 2nd Grade Reading. Multimedia drill with game elements designed to promote literacy. Teacher editions include 2 copies of the software plus teacher materials.
This CD-ROM is a story about Little Critter's trip to the beach with his/her grandmother. It offers well-drawn, animated graphics with text and sound. The story is endearing to adults and children, but may seem too childish to teenagers. The learner can choose to listen to the story as it is displayed onscreen (with text highlighted as it is read) or to control the pace and click on different items within each screen to see what they do. The learner also has a choice of seeing and hearing the text in Spanish and Japanese (kanji). It may be helpful to low-level learners who speak those languages to go through the story once in their own language, then listen and read again in English. If students are interacting with the text in 'play' mode, they can be assigned tasks by a teacher to profit linguistically from the mostly graphical respones to their mouse clicks.
Helps children develop early learning skills through computer generated speech, graphics, and writing.
Reading-based language study, with windows that open up to offer vocabulary, grammar, and usage help on the word, sentence, or text level in Spanish. The latest edition, on CD-ROM, includes video clips, a talking dictionary, extensive grammar reference, vocabulary games, and pronunciation help that offers voice recording with (modestly helpful) waveforms. Especially good for those who have some English and want to maintain a reading knowledge of the language. The publisher now offers an Educator's Edition with classroom management tools. (DH)
Over a dozen years ago, Douglas Adams wrote a book about the world being demolished. Adams traveled around the world, visiting endangered species. This two CD-ROM set is the detailed record of Adams' trek with pictures and narration by Adams.
CD-ROM based programs that use sound, graphics, and text starring the comic book characters of Asterix the Gaul and his son. Students can monitor their progress with an animated quiz. Voice recording. Several different stories are available.
Reading skills in an adventure format. Hybrid Win/Mac CD-ROM or on disks by platform. Designed for native speakers. The CALL Interest Section had some problems with installing the CD-ROM at TESOL- not enough system resources.
BBC English's mystery is presented on CD-ROM in MPEG full-motion video, supported by a variety of practice exercises. The focus is on listening comprehension for basic level students. Students may interrupt at any time to repeat a sentence, record their voices, hear a spoken translation, see written text, or consult a glossary. Provides 80-100 hours of home or classroom study. A textbook, student workbook, and teacher's guide are available. Networkable.
This offers historical footage from ABC News as well as still photos and text about the life of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. Clips of young adults talking about the effect of the Movement on their lives today are also included. The program consists of a double-sided videodisc controlled by a HyperCard stack. There are extensive options for viewing, including with accompanying text, in Spanish or English, or in clips to copy to a videotape. Because the options are numerous, students will probably need an introduction to the program by a teacher. For best language learning results, the teacher should give students information gathering or information transfer tasks to perform. The strength of the program is in the large quantity of information provided in a hypertext format that allows movement among ideas.
Reading, math, and language skills for young learners (pre-K to 2). Designed for native speakers.
Topics include paying for a meal, sales slips, unit pricing, saving on transportation, sales tax, finding a job, overtime, piecework/commission work, and finding net pay. CD-ROM.
Contains the following content areas: Whole numbers, probability, geometry, measurement, fractions & decimals. Also available in Spanish. Titles sold separately.
Practice with numbers in real-world contexts, including shopping, cooking, weighing packages, and sports. CD-ROM. Australian English.
Three CD-ROM set, with Math Munchers, Word Munchers, and Knowledge Munchersª (formerly Trivia Munchersª Deluxe). Arcade-style games. Word Munchers drills the variant spelling of vowel sounds. Students are presented with a model (/i/ as in fish), they then move around a grid selecting all of the other words that have the same vowel sound while trying to avoid little monstors that randomly move through the grid. The program can be set so that students will only work on a limited set of vowel sounds. There is no instructional phase to the program, so teachers will want to either preteach the common patterns and exceptions or encourage their students to be persistent discovery learners. Knowledge Munchers is a trivia-style game in arcade form. Math Munchers works on math skills. MECC titles are now sold by Learning Company School.
CD-ROM with interactive math activities. A Spanish version is also available.
Word-processor with speech capability (uses a speech synthesizer). Words are spoken as they appear on the screen. The computer stores a list of each user's words in a 'word bank.' Students can see or hear the words in the word bank in a window of the screen while doing additional word processing. Useful for Language Experience Approach activities. DOS version is on disks, while the Mac version is on CD-ROM.
This presents 36 books on eight CD-ROMs. Narrators read the stories, accompanied by background music and sound effects. Color photographs, word and syllable pronunciations in English and Spanish, and interactive picture buttons let students explore and learn. The features can be customized by teachers. The stories are Exploring the Solar System and Beyond, Animals and How They Grow, Our Earth, People Behind the Holidays, Seasons, The Human Body, A World of Plants, and A World of Animals.
Phonics program using video to show mouth movements and teach sounds associated with each letter, making it also useful for pronunciation practice. The program progesses to words and phrases. CD-ROM.
This program from John McVicker takes any plain text (ASCII) file and uses it for timed and paced readings with an online glossary, nth word and grammatically-focused clozes, sentence and paragraph jumbles, and vocabulary practice such as clozes where all vowels or consonants are deleted or learners see only half the word. Another feature is that the program tracks what the learner did in the 'Notes,' which can be printed out before the learner quits the program. It is very helpful to see the strategies learners use when doing the cloze. The notes also record which words were looked up during the reading, the definition from the glossary, and whatever the learner typed to help him or her remember the word. The readings that come with NewReader are relatively advanced. Because it is easy to add text to this program--anything you have done in your word-processor and saved as plain text can be dropped in the NewReader folder for immediate use--it can be for any level. For the money, it's tough to beat, and the program is regularly updated.
A number of separate titles with Nikolai as the central character. Titles include Nikolai's Treats and Nikolai in Outer Space for ages 6+, and Nicolai's Pirates, Toys, Nights, Pharoahs, and Mysteries for ages 4+.
An interactive adventure with earth science content and a lot of information about how trains work. Designed for native speakers. CD-ROM.
Story-telling and creation. Designed for native speakers.
Opinion Zone titles deal with the language of expressing opinions, built around a studio debate. The topics of these debates include Gun Law, European Union, and No More Roads. In addition to the studio material, Opinion Zone titles include a variety of interviews with people ranging from an Australian government minister to a street vendor. Opinion Zone titles are not intended to be self-contained courses; rather, they are classroom resources that teachers can call on to support an existing study programme. Each title is sold separately for approximately $90, with 5-user and network versions available. CD-ROM.
Designed for native speakers. Post-impressionist paintings with timelines and museum information. CD-ROM.
Early Learning software on CD-ROM. Activities teach reading and math readiness, basic keyboarding. Has speech and is compatible with TouchWindow. This is not ESL stuff, but most of it can be easily demonstrated by the teacher, and kids catch on real quick.
Students select from Mexico, Ghana, Japan, and Turkey as a country of interest, then choose a writing project: narrative, persuasive, compare/contrast, or descriptive. They can view three different multimedia tours of each country to look at the culture, history, and geography. Students take notes in a travel log. The program offers a 'Mail Room' where students write postcards, first in a structured format, then without prompts. Teachers can add more writing assignments. The program includes help in finding keypals on the Internet and a list of websites for online research. CD-ROM. The publisher offers a free demo.
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is an interactive reading program with 36 original stories written at 6 different reading levels. Each story includes comprehension questions and can be individualized to different students' needs. The program include a student management system to track student progress through the lessons. Multilingual audio capability so that students can hear a translation of the text in any of eight different languages.
Multimedia reader with six stories, each with four possible endings, according to the reader's choice. Each story is accompanied by a short video clip. Can be purchased with QRead and QPictionary as a set for $100.
Three sets of CD-ROMs for a multimedia review of reading, grammar, and vocabulary. Reading 1 and 2 have a variety of texts including letters, magazine articles, stories, and humor. Grammar 1 and 2 review English tenses with anecdotes, short stories, articles, and dialogues. Vocabulary 1 and 2 use video clips with topics including leisure and hobbies, the environment, and the world of entertainment. Exercises and practice tests are included in all of these sets. Each set of two CD-ROMs can be purchased separately for $140. Lab, network, and site options are also available.
Reading skills for native speakers on CD-ROM.
This CD-ROM-based English for Academic Purposes program is designed for students facing difficult course assignments in English. It is available for Computer Studies, General Studies, and Engineering (sold separately). Each program teaches the same skills, but is based around authentic texts and assignments from the specific subject area. All versions come with an Authoring Kit to add more texts and exercises. Read It! helps students work on pre-reading strategies, understanding text cohesion, analyzing a question, assignment planning, finding source material, note taking, vocabulary strategies, and focused grammar practice. The program is authorable, and a demo can be downloaded from the website. Lab packs are available: $149 for up to 5 computers, $374 for up to 20 computers.
Students complete stories by writing their own phrases or choosing from prewritten selections. A newspaper can be a class project. Available on Mac and Windows disks or a Mac/Win CD-ROM.
This program is designed to make learning to recognize letters and words fun for younger children. It uses brightly-colored graphics with smiling animals to motivate sound-symbol practice. Several different types of exercises are included, mostly phonics-related. Students can choose which type of activity to do; a record-keeping function is included so that the teacher can see what the learner worked on and how s/he did. CD-ROM.
Thirty stories; games that promote phonics, word recognition and comprehension. On CD-ROM.
The Reading Blaster series has three programs: Ages 4-6, Ages 6-9, and Ages 9-12. Multimedia drills and games build reading skills. CD-ROM. Teacher editions include 2 copies of the software plus teacher materials.
The program deals with each of the following skills: Main Idea, Details, Conclusions, Context Clues, Sequence, Sentence Structure, Outcomes, Inferences, Phrases, and Cause and Effect. Each skill is addressed with extensive drills at each of 5 different reading levels: from Grade 2 to Grade 6. The passages address a wide variety of high-interest topics including history, geography, biology, arts and crafts, and myths and legends.
Multimedia phonics instruction that follows a specific system of instruction, using both explicit (single letters to words) and implicit (words to sounds) instruction. The method requires that teachers be trained so that they can present the concepts in a sequential, cumulative manner. The program addresses "sight words" and teaches them from a linguistics standpoint, rather than rote memorization. It teaches phonological awareness, phonological decoding, phonological encoding, phonological recording, print awareness, semantics, syntax, and segmentation. The home version is geared for children; the school version can be used with adults or children. A demo is available on the website; interested schools can arrange for a more extensive introduction to the program.
Reading skills work in an employment context. Six work areas (sold separately or as a complete set): construction, health care, clerical, automotive, electronics, and food services. Each program offers three progressive levels of reading difficulty. CD-ROM.
Interactive storybooks of the 'create your own adventure' type let students step into the shoes of loveable heroes, choosing what will happen next. Students can record themselves reading or create QuickTime movies of their stories. Stories include Jack in the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, Flodd the Bad Guy, Fidd and Martina in Tough Kudd, and Hilary and the Beast. They can be purchased individually or as a five-title pack.
Literacy skills are the focus, with audio prompts. Icons show how to make letters, and graphics are used for letter associations. The rodeo motif comes in with the Cactus Kid, who lassos 104 cartoon graphics which begin with corresponding letters. The English and ESL version includes 2 sets of disks, 1 in English and 1 in Spanish. This title is included in Heartsoft Bestsellers.
Reading comprehension with a folktales approach. CD-ROM.
Uses voice recognition software to build fluency in reading. Students read selections into the microphone, and software tracks words correct per minute and provides corrective feedback. Students can listen to model fluent readings and practice reading on their own. Grades 2-6 sold separately.
The primary purpose of the two REAL Reading packages, REAL Reading in English for Business and Management and REAL Reading in English for Social Scientists is to enable students to recognise and apply the reading skills of prediction, skimming, scanning, searching and demonstrating understanding to a range of text types likely to be encountered during the second or third year of a first degree at an English-speaking university. Nine texts are provided in each package, and each text is designed to occupy a higher intermediate level student for approximately two hours. The secondary purpose is to encourage students to assess their own work and, as a result, to become more independent language learners. Where responses, rather than suggestions, are required from the students, answers are provided with which students are required to compare and evaluate their own input. The two packages are sold separately. CD-ROM.
Interactive multimedia lessons help users complete the application for naturalization, study for the citizenship test, and prepare for the interview. The text can be read or heard, with vocabulary pronunciation and definitions available. A classroom version with record-keeping software and up to five simultaneous users is also available for $225.
Children can listen to the story, reading along as the words are highlighted, write their own story, record themselves singing the theme song, and publish their own interpretations of the story. Material is in French, Spanish, or English. This requires a CD-ROM drive.
Two components: author and player. Author lets you add text and link graphics, audio, and QuickTime video to create dictionaries, gloss vocabulary items, create quiz items, writing exercises, word webs, and crossword puzzles. One free copy of Player comes with each copy of Author. Additional copies of Player must be purchased separately. Player lets the student view the items created, including multimedia links. It adds timed and paced reading; flash cards for vocabulary items; a game for word recognition, spelling, and definitions; letter and word recognition with a typing drill; a hidden words game, and jumbled words, sentences, and paragraphs. The program requires System 7 or higher and 20MB of free hard drive space.
Digital English Spanish dictionary including synonyms, verb conjugations and idiomatic expressions, and an interactive computer-aided translator (ICAT). SEER helps students develop and improve full English Spanish bilingualism.
See Ultimate Speed Reader. This is now sold as part of Excel@High School and Excel@Middle School from SmartKidsSoftware, http://www.smartkidssoftware.com/ndkna69.htm.
Computer-adaptive reading test designed to assess the reading level of any student with at least a 100-word vocabulary.
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is an interactive reading program with 90 original stories written at 11 different reading levels. Each story includes comprehension questions and can be individualized to different students' needs. The program include a student management system to track student progress through the lessons. Multilingual audio capability so that students can hear a translation of the text in any of eight different languages.
Teaches pre-reading and basic reading skills in both English and Spanish. Exercises include match the word, find the word, and build a sentence. Activities use colorful animation and digitized speech.
This ESL program uses 8 well-known children's stories to teach English skills (narrated by British speakers). CD-ROM 1 has Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, Incy Wincy Spider, 3 Billy Goats Gruff and Humpty Dumpty. CD-ROM 2 has Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and Jill, Jack and the Beanstalk and Hickory Dickory Dock. A friendly dragon speaks 18 languages to guide the user in their native language. The user can even record their own story. The program tracks the progress of each user - earn enough points and print out your own certificate. Available in the US through World of Reading and other mail order vendors.
Whole-text deletion program. Now included in Wida's Authoring Suite. Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT supported.
TextMangler imports any text file and 'mangles' it - it leaves the first and last sentences alone, but jumbles the rest. For example, if you have two sentences with 'and' it will switch the second halves of those sentences around. After the students have read a text, the teacher can give them a mangled version of it and ask them to use the mangled version to help them reconstruct the text. The students are thereby provided with all the vocabulary and sentence structures that they need, but they need to have understood the text to be able to use the mangled version to help them reconstruct it. It does not work well with very short texts, or texts where there is a very wide range of vocabulary; it needs a certain amount of repetition to work well. (Addis)
This 18-disk CD-ROM program supports the Prentice Hall Regents ESL program for Grades 1-6. Each of the disks links directly to and is fully integrated with a Student Theme Book and provides a variety of interactive activities (using animation, sound, and graphics). Activities include Screen Play: manipulating objects on the screen; Match Game: matching words and phrases; Story Reader: listening and reading; Story Maker: manipulating visuals and text to create a story; Draw and Share: drawing and coloring pictures; Puzzle: jumbled ideas and sentences; Story Completer: choosing words or pictures to complete a passage; Text Analyzer: highlighting portions of text onscreen; Comic-Strip Maker: writing and recording dialogue and creating captions to make a story; and Writing: a word-processor with pre-writing. Theme Connections 1 is oriented toward K-3; others toward 3-6.
Thinking Thinks develops problem solving skills for small children but is also quite useful all the way to adults for oral language development in discussing attributes: color; striped; polka-dotted; plain; curly hair; glasses. Visit the Fripple Shop and Feathered Friends, especially.
Timelines, maps of England, video clips, other supporting information as well as a 9-minute animated synopsis of Macbeth. CD-ROM. Designed for native speakers.
Life of Robert Lewis Stevenson, analysis of the characters, stories of famous pirates, and other supporting material. Includes an animated synopsis of Treasure Island. CD-ROM. Designed for native speakers.
Practice in telling time. ESL version includes a set of disks in Spanish, where vocal instructions and all text are in Spanish, as well as a set of disks in English. This is also sold as part of the Heartsoft Bestseller package.
Colorful and interactive storybook. Students can hear the story read in both English and Spanish. Each page is filled with surprises to entertain and motivate new readers. Requires a CD-ROM drive. If this program is used on an IBM or compatible, it requires an MPC-compliant machine.
This is not ESL stuff, but most of it can be easily demonstrated by the teacher, and kids catch on real quick. Includes seven educational games. Students explore the on-screen hideaway, learning about music, animals, mathematics, sentence structure, money & place value. Requires CD-ROM drive.
Time and geography instruction with different activities. Designed for native speakers. CD-ROM.
Now part of Classworks, a comprehensive classroom management tool. This component is an interactive reading program with 48 original stories written at 11 different reading levels. Story topics include: The Olympic Games, Alcohol and Driving, Street Games, and more. Each story includes comprehension questions and can be individualized to different students' needs. The program include a student management system to track student progress through the lessons. Multilingual audio capability so that students can hear a translation of the text in any of eight different languages.
Students learn about health problems, important ways to reduce health risks, how to record and track personal health information and organizations that are valuable sources of further information. The health database is completely bilingual in Spanish and English and includes toll-free numbers. Requires a CD-ROM drive.
Part of the Amazing English series, the CD-ROM teaches reading skills appropriate to novels plus some essay writing. Hard-bound teacher's manual. Separate CDs for pre-K-3 (Word Stuff = $85), 3-6 (Word Attack = $90).
World geography game on CD-ROM.
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