ELR Software produces computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.
The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources) and Word Meanings. We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.
This Newsletter (and previous editions) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).
In this issue -
From October through to December, we'll complete the resources in "Systematic synthetic phonics - Common spellings of the main sounds" (in "Reading & Spelling - Early Skills") called "Useful non-decodable words at this level" (see Item 2 below for a fuller discussion).. The word sets used for each of the 7 levels are:
The range of models used is the same as in the existing subsections. The WordSound Buttons and WordSearch models encourage the student to sound out and blend the sounds to read each word; LookThenCover and SmileyMan support the student's ability to recall spelling patterns; and Jumping letters, MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide a fun way to consolidate automatic recognition of previously decoded words (sight words).
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
The last few months has seen the inclusion of resources for High frequency non-decodable words within the the context of Systematic synthetic phonics. To identify appropriate vocabulary for this purpose, we researched a range of resources that use evidence-based instruction approaches for teaching decoding and automatic recognition of words. Examples of these resources include:
We examined the decodable books at each level and noted that within most books, it is suggested that students be taught a short list of high frequency words that usually have one grapheme that is irregularly spelt or has not been taught - words such as "the, a, is" etc.
This website was founded by world-renown researchers (such as Dr. Louisa Moats, Dr. Lynn Fuchs) and funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Within the many resources on this site is a model for teaching high-frequency words in which the words are integrated into the systematic synthetic phonics approach.
At the start of phonics instruction, and after the students have mastered all letter names, suggested strategies are provided to teach 10 high frequency words - the, a, I, to, and, was, for, you, is, of. While most high frequency words are decodable, there are a small number of words that are not decodable (one or more graphemes are irregularly spelled). These are taught by segmenting and blending, and highlighting the irregularly spelled grapheme.
This paper describes research supporting the teaching of phonics combined with automatic recognition of words (sight words). It examined a parent-delivered intervention, contrasting the effectiveness of three intervention sequences: teaching phonics first followed by sight words; teaching sight words first followed by phonics; and teaching both at the same time. Results showed that teaching phonics first is more effective at improving word reading, decoding accuracy, and fluency; but that teaching sight words did not impede gains.
As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -
If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.
ELR has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.
ELR Software offers free eLr tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. We are also offering free Coviu sessions to allow clinicians to get a feel for teletherapy, and in particular the advantages of using eLr for Coviu. Please contact us for details.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Build-a-Sentence or Word Meanings. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
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