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eLr - What's New
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eLr - What's New | |||
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Summary of additions and changes to eLr | ||
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This month, a further 29 tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - Early skills" in the "Most frequent words" section. The WordSoundButtons model was used and we've now covered all 7 levels in the "first 100 words" and the first 3 levels in the "second hundred" sub-sections. This model presents one word at a time on the screen and the learner is encouraged to click and sound out each letter-sound, then blend the sounds to read the word. This process, referred to as phonological recoding (decoding), has been shown to be an essential step in the formation of clear mental images of words (orthographic representations), leading to automatic word recognition.
In these updated levels, it is now possible to begin a session with a phonological recoding activity (WordSoundButtons) and then use a matching range of models to provide repetition and consolidation of automatic word recognition - reading words by sight. The WordSearch model encourages further sounding out and blending to read each word; LookThenCover and SmileyMan support recall of spelling patterns; and MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide fun activities to consolidate automatic recognition of previously decoded words. In future updates we'll be adding this option to the other word groupings in this section.
This month, 19 tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - Early skills" in the "Most frequent words" section. The WordSoundButtons model was used and we've covered the first 4 out of 7 levels in the "first 100 words" sub-section. This model presents one word at a time on the screen and the learner is encouraged to click and sound out each letter-sound, then blend the sounds to read the word. This process, referred to as phonological recoding (decoding), has been shown to be an essential step in the formation of clear mental images of words (orthographic representations), leading to automatic word recognition.
In these updated levels, it is now possible to begin a session with a phonological recoding activity (WordSoundButtons) and then use a matching range of models to provide repetition and consolidation of automatic word recognition - reading words by sight. The WordSearch model encourages further sounding out and blending to read each word; LookThenCover and SmileyMan support recall of spelling patterns; and MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide fun activities to consolidate automatic recognition of previously decoded words. In future updates we'll be adding this option to the other word groupings in this section.
This month we've made small, but hopefully useful, improvements to 2 eLr models; "Word Flyout" (1002) and "Drag Central" (1017). Both changes were triggered by user feedback, and we thank those clinicians.
Word flyout: This model has a set of words on the left side of the screen, and when a word is clicked, a picture matching the word will appear ("flyout") on the right side of the screen. It is used in 69 tasks which enourage the recognition of certain sounds or spelling patterns within the sections "Phonology - Later Sounds", "Phonological Awareness", and "Reading Spelling"
In many of the tasks delivered with this model, foil words (which don't belong to the target set, and have no matching picture) are included to encourage "considered" responses. We've now added a "question mark" image with the wording "(think again") to these foils to remove some potential confusion.
DragCentral: This is a free form activity used 152 times within the sections "Phonology - Later Sounds" (as a reinforcement for production of sounds), and for a range of goals in "Semantics" (such as concepts, and understanding complex instructions). According to the goals of the task, the instructor is able to provide appropriate instruction and guidance as icons are dragged onto a central picture.
Many of the images in used this model don't have an obvious "left" or "right" orientation, but some, such as a train engine with 2 carriages onto which objects may be placed, pointed to the right of the screen. We've now added a "Flip" control to the model which allows images (such as this train) to point to the left, so enabling subtle spatial variations to be incorporated into clinical instructions.
It's now a year since we introduced universal "Offline" versions of eLr (eLr-Pro for subscribers, and eLr-Guest for free home practice). These new Apps have completely replaced all previous Apple and Windows versions of eLr-Offline. Once installed they will run without internet connection on all modern versions of Windows, MacOS, iPad, Android tablets, and Chromebook devices.
Now, for Windows 10/11, you may also install directly from the Microsoft AppStore if you wish:
For other devices, and older versions of Windows, you should install directly from our web site:
For all devices, once you have an App installed, you'll need to "register" it for ongoing use with the same "Appkeys" we've previously supplied for the iPad eLr-Offline App. If you're not currently a subscriber, please contact us for a free trial.
One hundred and five new tasks have been added across all sections of "Systematic Synthetics Phonics" within "Reading and Spelling Early Skills". The new tasks use the Jumping letters model: isolated graphemes or words appear on the screen and the student is encouraged to say the sound(s) associated with each grapheme, or decode/pronounce each word. New items are produced with each click on the current item.
Use of the Jumping letters model provides the learner with multiple opportunities to practice grapheme-phoneme knowledge and achieve accurate decoding of words that contain those letter-sounds. It is especially useful when used in conjunction with the range of other models in these sections: The WordSound Buttons and WordSearch to encourage the student to sound out and blend the sounds to read each word; LookThenCover and SmileyMan to encourage recall of spelling patterns; WordBreaker, a word study approach for multisyllabic words, and MemoryWords and ConnectWords to provide fun activities to consolidate automatic recognition of previously decoded words.
Systematic Synthetic Phonics teaches early word reading by introducing grapheme-phoneme relationships in a systematic scope and sequence, and providing opportunities to blend (for reading) and segment (for spelling) words that contain those graphemes. This approach is consistent with a large body of evidence showing that interventions that encourage accurate decoding (sounding out and blending) and multiple exposures of words are the most effective way to support development of automatic word recognition - an important skill for fluent reading.
As with all eLr materials, an interactive session with an instructor is an essential component of early word reading and spelling development. It allows the student to receive feedback about accuracy of decoding and encoding, and enables word reading development to occur within a rich oral language environment.
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
Six new tasks have been added to the "Systematic Synthetics Phonics" section within "Reading and Spelling - Early Skills". This brings to 160 the number of tasks in the "Common spellings of the main sounds / All sounds up to this level" sub-categories. A range of models are used to provide opportunities to blend and segment words.
The new tasks use the WordBreaker model which is useful within a word study approach for multisyllabic words. A group of target words is displayed on the screen. The student selects a word and is encouraged to break the word into syllables, then each syllable into sounds, and then to identify the vowel sounds. At each step the student is able to check accuracy by clicking on the relevant button to reveal the syllables and stress pattern, as well as the sounds, with the vowel sounds highlighted in red.
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
Twenty eight new tasks have been added to the recently developed subsection called "Syllabic Consonants" which is found in "Reading and Spelling - Early Skills" / "Other useful groupings". In the last edition, we covered the syllabic /l/ spelled with "le". The new activities in this edition target the syllabic /l/ spelled with "el" and "al" (eg camel and mammal) and also the syllabic /n/ (eg button and hidden), thus completing this section. The July edition provides a more detailed discussion of syllabic consonants.
The materials in this section may be useful for students who have mastered the basic alphabetic code (ie letter-sound knowledge for single consonant, consonant digraphs, short vowels, and the most frequent spelling patterns for the range of vowel sounds), but need support to learn the spelling conventions of English and multi-syllabic words.
A range of models (activities) have been used to provide practice at decoding as well as reinforcing spelling. The WordSoundButtons shows how to break these words into syllables; WordBreaker provides more detailed information about the structure of the word (syllables, sounds, vowel sounds, and stress pattern); WordSearch encourages 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 MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide fun activities 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.
Forty nine new tasks have been added to a new section called "Syllabic Consonants" in "Reading and Spelling - Early Skills" / "Other useful groupings". These activities may be useful for students who have mastered most of the basic alphabetic code, but need support to learn some of the trickier spelling conventions of English, such as final syllables spelled with "le", eg "candle, little, bangle". Next month we will cover other syllabic consonants, such as "el" (camel) and "on, en" etc (button, burden).
Three subsections are included in this new syllabic /l/ sound section: single letter words (eg purple), double letter words (eg bubble), and nasal consonant cluster words (eg ankle). A range of models (activities) have been used to provide practice at decoding as well as reinforcing spelling. The WordSoundButtons shows how to break these words into syllables; WordBreaker provides more detailed information about the structure of the word (syllables, sounds, vowel sounds, and stress pattern); WordSearch encourages 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 MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide fun activities 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.
Twelve new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - early skills" in the "e" rule subsection, which is found under "Other useful groupings". The "e" rule (sometimes called "bossy 'e'" or "magic 'e'") refers to one of the effects of the silent "e" at the end of many English words where it turns the preceding short vowel into a long or diphthong vowel sound. The new additions are for words in which the final "e" turns the preceding short /e/ sound to the long /ee/ sound. English has very few such words, the best known being words like gene, these, and scene, while multisyllabic words include compete, delete, and athlete.
For other vowels, as in "tap" and "tape", the short /a/ in "tap" is turned into a diphthong /ay/ sound in "tape". Further examples previously covered in this section include:
While the "e" rule discussed above is a frequently occurring pattern, especially in the early stages of learning to read and spell, there are other effects of a silent "e" at the end of a word. For example:
All tasks in our "e" rule section use a range of models (activities) to provide practice at decoding as well as reinforcing spelling. 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 MemoryWords and ConnectWords provide a fun activity to consolidate automatic recognition of previously decoded words (sight words).
Twenty-six new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - early skills" in the some of the "Consonant sounds" and "Other useful groupings" subsections: the /h/ sound, the schwa vowel, and "y" as a vowel for the /ee/ /ie/, and short /i/ sounds as in "story, sky, and gym" respectively. All new tasks use the WordBreaker model which now appears in many of the "Reading and Spelling" subsections.
This model is useful to strengthen word reading and spelling using a word study approach. A word is selected from the available group and its syllables, consonant sounds, vowel sounds, and stress pattern can be displayed. This allows the instructor to teach a range of concepts: breaking words into syllables and sounds, identifying the vowel sound, discovering how stress pattern impacts on the pronunciation of some vowel sounds (eg the schwa vowel), and finally, encouraging automatic recognition of words.
As with all eLr materials, the role of the instructor is a central factor to encourage accurate responses from the learner. In the examples above, expanding knowledge of the meanings of words by discussion and using the word in a range of sentences, helps develop connections between the word (orthographic representation), the pronunciation (semantic representation), and the meaning (semantic representation).
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
Twenty one new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - early skills" in the some of the "Long/Other Consonant Sounds" subsections /z, sh, zh, th, m, n, l, r/. All new tasks use the WordBreaker model which now appears in many of the "Reading and Spelling" subsections. This model is useful to strengthen word reading and spelling using a word study approach. A word is selected from the available group and its syllables, consonant sounds, vowel sounds, and stress pattern can be displayed. This allows the instructor to teach a range of concepts: breaking words into syllables and sounds, identifying the vowel sound, discovering how stress pattern impacts on the pronunciation of some vowel sounds (eg the schwa vowel), and finally, encouraging automatic recognition of words.
As with all eLr materials, the role of the instructor is a central factor to encourage accurate responses from the learner. In the examples above, expanding knowledge of the meanings of words by discussion and using the word in a range of sentences, helps develop connections between the word (orthographic representation), the pronunciation (semantic representation), and the meaning (semantic representation).
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
Seventeen new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling - early skills" in the some of the "Consonant Sounds" subsections /p, b, t, d, k, g, ch, dge, f, v, s, z/. All new tasks use the WordBreaker model. This model is useful to strengthen word reading and spelling using a word study approach. A word is selected from the available group and its syllables, consonant sounds, vowel sounds, and stress pattern can be displayed. This allows the instructor to teach a range of concepts: breaking words into syllables and sounds, identifying the vowel sound, discovering how stress pattern impacts on the pronunciation of some vowel sounds (eg the schwa vowel), and finally, encouraging automatic recognition of words.
The WordBreaker model appears in most of the "Reading and Spelling" subsections. It is especially useful when teaching the various spelling patterns of particular vowel sounds. For example, the /er/ sound may be spelled as "er, ear, ir, ur, or". Once these spelling patterns have been mastered, the student may then be encouraged to consolidate letter-sound knowledge by WordBreaker tasks which include all of these spelling patterns. After each word has been examined, the student "sorts" the word to groups, according to the vowel spelling pattern, eg words spelled with "er" (term, her, verb, fern), versus those spelled with "ir" (stir, dirt, skirt, girl).
As with all eLr materials, the role of the instructor is a central factor to encourage accurate responses from the learner. In the examples above, expanding knowledge of the meanings of words by discussion and using the word in a range of sentences, helps develop connections between the word (orthographic representation), the pronunciation (semantic representation), and the meaning (semantic representation).
We welcome your feedback about these tasks and any aspect of eLr, as well as your suggestions about additions and modifications to eLr.
This month we've added a "Pen Tool" to all eLr tasks. Essentially it's a selectable, transparent "Whiteboard" layer which overlays the task content, and was inspired by the usefulness of the annotation tools provided by teletherapy platforms such as Zoom. This similar, but simplified, version of that functionality will work in both teletherapy and conventional eLr sessions, and multipage eLr tasks allow separate annotations on each page. You toggle the tool on/off by clicking the "pen" in right hand box of the existing (but slightly modified) "Color Changer" task control, and draw with a mouse, touch screen, or stylus. Settings allow selection of line color and "pen/highlighter" mode.
This tool allows the user to annotate task features, write words and personalize an interactive session. For example, it may be used in the LettersToWords model added last month to provide an additional on-screen writing component to reinforce spelling and encoding skills. Another useful scenario in models like MemoryPics and ConnectWords is to have the child and instructer take turns in finding, saying, and marking the duplicate pictures/words. This allows you to repeat the activity in a fun but different way to provide reinforcement.
Users of eLr may already have many different strategies for using such on-screen annotation, and we'd appreciate feedback on your experiences and eLr tasks that you find it useful for.
A new model called LettersToWords with twenty one new tasks, has been added to "Systematic synthetic phonics" in the "Reading & Spelling - Early Skills" section, and in "Letter names and sounds" in the "Phonological Awareness" section. This new model is a re-arranging letters activity (like "Magnetic Letters"). A panel of letters is displayed across the top of the screen, and, depending on the goal, selected graphemes (single letters and digraphs) are initially "active" and draggable to the lower part of the screen which resembles a lined writing page.
As an example, in the first set of letter-sounds in the "Systematic synthetic phonics section", only "s, a, t, p, i, n" are initially active. The model allows selection of as many multiples of active letters as required which may then be used to make words using those letters. The instructor is then able to engage the learner in activities which have been shown to be effective in teaching accurate decoding and spelling. Some examples are as follows:
- To reinforce decoding, the instructor may drag a sequence of letters to make a word (eg "s-a-t"), and encourage the learner to say each sound and blend to read the word. The instructor may then take one letter away and replace with a different letter (eg replace the "t" with a "p"), and then encourage the learner to accurately decode the new word, "sap".
- The reverse of this is to encourage the learner to accurately break words into sounds and spell. The instructor may say a word (eg "sat") and allow the learner to say each sound as they drag the letters to spell the word. Then the instructor may say, "now I'll say a different word - sap". And the learner can either take the "t" away and replace it with "p", or construct the new word below the first word, highlighting the difference between the words. This process may be repeated so that the learner creates word chains, such as "sat - sap - sip - tip - tin".
There are a few features of the LettersToWords model which make it particularly flexible in teaching alphabet knowledge, and accurate decoding and spelling.
- All letters are presented within the context of the complete alphabet. This helps to provide subtle reinforcement of alphabetic sequence: a skill that is required in tasks that require knowledge of alphabetic order.
- Attention is drawn to the spelling of digraphs by having their letters spaced more closely than the single letters, and by highlighting them with a red border (which may be disabled if preferred).
- A full alphabet (and set of digraphs - depending on the subsection and goal) may be made active at any time to enable all possible alphabetic combinations (using the "All" control), so that the learner is able to create ad hoc words which may be of interest, eg their name, their pet's name, or a word of relevance to the session.
This model complements the other existing models used in this section which encourage the learner to name target sounds and/or letters. These include Jumping letters (clicked targets appear randomly on the screen), TicTacLetters (targets are used in a game like "TicTacToe"), and MemoryWords (a memory game involving the target letters). Each of these activities presents the target sounds and/or letters individually.
The addition of the LettersToWords model in "Phonological Awareness" provides practice at naming target sounds and letters which are displayed within the context of the whole alphabet, which, as noted above, helps develop both letter-sound and alphabet knowledge. Within this section, the instructor is able to name a target letter or sound and encourage the learner to drag the letter on to the lined part of the screen, or the instructor may encourage the learner to independently click and name letters and sounds.
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