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WordAloud® - teaching English and literacy worldwide"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." Benjamin Franklin |
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New! Get them reading!Synthetic phonics is the only proven method of reading instruction which works for everyone. Teachers and parents will be interested to have reading material for use with synthetic phonics. We have prepared stories which the beginner reader can be reading within a few weeks. The stories will be available on a new CD we are producing, for use with WordAloud. The first story is of a cat and a parrot called Pip. 
And we have described how some of the Dr Seuss books, including "The Cat in the Hat" and "Fox in Socks", can be used with synthetic phonics: by a teacher or teaching assistant as a resource, by a parent in helping their child to read and write, or by a parent in home-schooling. Details of how to teach synthetic phonics, with the help of WordAloud, will be included on the CD, together with a comprehensive guide on the pronunciation of the English language, for teaching ESL/EFL. Synthetic phonics works with adults, dyslexics and struggling readers of any age, even if English is not their first language. We recommend that children start to learn to read and write as early as possible. Some children may be ready when they are two or three years old. Certainly all children are ready to learn before they get to primary school. Order your CD now from sales@cloudworld.co.uk. A scientific theory of dyslexiaThere is evidence that good phonics teaching can develop the pathways in the brain that allow rapid decoding of words, and thence fluent reading. Perhaps the best evidence is from the 7-year Clackmannanshire study, in which every one of 300 pupils were taught, aged 4+, to read by synthetic phonics, and their average reading age, by age 11, was 3 years ahead of the norm. There were no non-readers! However, in that study, a group of "pupils at risk" was identified, and they were given special attention to ensure they did not lag behind the other pupils. This suggests that dyslexia and LD can make it more difficult for a person to develop the necessary pathways (i.e. this is their "disability"), but with an intensive course of one-to-one synthetic phonics teaching, those pathways CAN be developed. To support this theory, look at this summary of brain research into reading. "It is worth noting that the activity associated with listening to a person speak and the activity associated with reading is very similar - in both cases, the temporal lobe (especially on the left side in right-handed people) and the frontal lobe are active processing sounds and meaning, respectively. It is only the addition of the activity in the occipital lobe that separates reading text from listening to speech, and this is consistent with research on the cognitive processes involved in reading. Evidence suggests that, in order to be able to read, children must be able to decode text, translating it into a speech form, and children must also be able to understand spoken language. These two skills are the foundations for reading comprehension."Thus, for a fluent reader, the pathways used for reading are just those for decoding and listening. So the theory is that, in dyslexic slow readers, other pathways have been developed, often through misguided teaching. The skill and habit of proper decoding can only be instilled by intensive training and exercise. Synthetic Phonics First and Fast!Banish dyslexia. Banish the gender gap.Achieve 100% Literacy using Synthetic Phonics with WordAloud. We urge schools to adopt synthetic phonics, so that children, from as early an age as possible, learn to read by decoding rather than by memory and guesswork. The notion of memorising many "sight words" by "look and say" is an unnecessary burden on the child, and should be dropped from the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). And the notion of a child using "searchlights" to guess the meaning of a word is utterly confusing for the child, and should also be dropped from the NLS. The dropping of these two notions must be a major conclusion of the Jim Rose report for the government. If you are interested in the debate on how best to teach reading, see the Reading Reform Foundation site. The WordAloud Assistive ReaderWordAloud is a versatile software program and a powerful tool which is affordable, accessible and user friendly. It is used in the teaching of English (TESL/TEFL); it is used in the teaching of literacy skills; it is used in remediation or intervention for people with dyslexia or other reading difficulties; and it is used as a reading aid for people with dyslexia or a visual impairment. Reading is made as simple and easy as possible. WordAloud displays text a word at a time. You see each word in big letters, on the screen. You can hear each word spoken as it is displayed. You can increase the speed of display as reading and listening skills improve. You can download a free evaluation version. WordAloud to teach or learn English Language Skills and fluencyTEFL and TESL - teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language: Choose your own text, and display it, word by word in large letters on the screen for all to see. Explain how each word is pronounced. Get the whole class to speak the words. Speed up the display until students can speak whole sentences fluently. Display pictures alongside the text to give added meaning. Improve their reading and listening skills as below. Improve your English reading skills: Work at your own speed to read any text you choose. Start by reading a word at a time. Increase your reading speed until you are a fluent reader. Improve your English listening skills: Choose any text. Listen to the text being spoken slowly, a word at a time. Increase the speed until you can understand English spoken fluently. WordAloud to teach Basic Literacy SkillsTeaching basic literacy skills to children in class: Choose your own text, and display it, word by word in large letters on the screen for all to see. Explain how each word is pronounced. Get the whole class to speak the words. Speed up the display until pupils can speak whole sentences fluently. Display pictures alongside the text to give added meaning. Improve reading fluency: Let each child work at their own speed to read any text you choose. Start them by reading a word at a time. Increase the reading speed until they become fluent readers. WordAloud for Special Needs, Dyslexia and Learning DifficultiesHelping children or adults with special needs and reading difficulties: Get them up to speed on reading, so that they can keep up with their peers. Reading and writing aid for dyslexics: The built-in speech allows you to have the text spoken as it is displayed, making it easy to take in the meaning of what you are reading, or check what you are writing. Alternatively you can read silently, and just click on any difficult word to hear it spoken. Reading aid for visual impaired people: The word-at-a-time display, large character display, and choice of colour scheme, gives maximum clarity and reading speed for somebody with partial sight. Operation from the keyboard, and built-in speech, means that WordAloud can be used by somebody who is totally blind. WordAloud software free for English schools - Curriculum Online ProjectCloudworld Ltd is an approved retailer for the DfES Curriculum Online Project and therefore e-Learning Credits (eLCs) can be used to pay for this software. This applies to all schools in England. Every school has appointed a person to hold the eLearning Credit budget. It could be the school head, the bursor, the ICT coordinator, or some other person. All teachers are invited to recommend resources for purchase, see the Curriculum Online Project web site. You can download a free evaluation version of the WordAloud software. back to the top of the page |
News!The Reading Reform Foundation is holding its annual conference on 9th November in London. 4 programes on Channel4 TV "Ten years ago, in a deprived area in Scotland, they introduced synthetic phonics in a plan to eradicate illiteracy within a decade. It worked. By the end of this year there will be 0% illiteracy for children leaving primary school." The proportion of children aged 5 years that cannot read is nearly one in three - greater than the official figures would suggest, see the Mail on Sunday article . The standards are not good enough. Lord Adonis has written to LEAs (Local Education Authorities) to demand action. In a separate development, Lord Adonis has said that the list of approved programmes (for teaching reading in primary schools) would be vetted by a panel of experts.New figures show that more children of the age of fourteen are doing worse in reading and writing in state schools. Nick Gibb MP, shadow minister for schools, said on the World Tonight (on BBC Radio 4) that this situation will change as schools start adopting synthetic phonics. Experience from schools that have adopted synthetic phonics has shown that 95% to 100% pupils can learn to read by this method within two or three terms of starting school. And boys learn as quickly as girls. RFF Conference Nov 3 2006 - Speakers included Prof Jim Rose and Debbie Hepplewhite. See notes taken at the conference. BBC Newsnight report July 17th on the success of synthetic phonics in the Brittania School. Video of this report Synthetic phonics finally wins the reading wars. Teaching of reading will be revised. Literacy will be boosted by synthetic phonics, according to Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, who accepted the findings of the Rose Review Final Report, 20th March 2006. She said: I am clear that synthetic phonics should be the first strategy in teaching all children to read. Nick Gibb, the shadow schools minister agrees that synthetic phonics should be taught in all primary schools: The alternative, 'look and say' approach has, over two generations, led to poor literacy levels in this country and the associated problems at secondary schools of low levels of attainment and disruptive behaviour. For more details see the Rose Review - Final Report. Synthetic phonics is already being adopted in Scotland, thanks to the Clackmannanshire study. This showed a remarkable improvement in reading ability. Furthermore, boys were a year ahead of girls, whereas nationally boys have always been behind the girls. The researchers could hardly believe the results! The Education Show, NEC Birmingham, 9th-11th March 2006 Cloudworld explains how WordAloud supports synthetic phonics in the Unique magazine, Stand D75. Pick up a brochure about synthetic phonics at the stand. Astonishing legacy. The headline in The Guardian, January 24th 2006, exclaims that "12 million workers have reading age of children", see Guardian article. 12 million workers represents 40% of the total workforce, including part-time workers. This could be costing the country as much as £10 billion per year, which represents about 1% of GDP. We believe this is a legacy of having the wrong method of teaching literacy in schools over several decades. The legacy is even worse than previous figures had suggested, e.g. 22% adults functionally illiterate. Primary National Strategy: An evaluation of its impact in primary schools 2004/05 Two findings from this report. "Almost a half of all boys are not reaching level 4 in writing by the time they leave primary school." "The impact of intervention programmes is too variable in overcoming underachievement or sustaining long term gains with those pupils most at risk of underachieving." Primary Reading set for overhaul! - BBC News Dec 1st 2005 The government has accepted the findings of the Jim Rose review (interim report) which backs the greater use of a method called synthetic phonics. "Synthetic Phonics - First and Fast" Ruth Kelly - The Today Programme (December 1st 2005) Cloudworld will be exhibiting WordAloud with synthetic phonics at the Basic Skills Agency's Annual Conference on Monday 5th December, in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, near Westminster Abbey, London) Fewer boys manage the "three Rs" Contrary to these findings boys in the Clackmannanshire study actually did slightly better than girls when taught using synthetic phonics. How can primary schools improve teaching basic literary skills? An Ofsted report revealed that despite a 'marked improvement' in English standards, many pupils are leaving primary school without basic skills in reading and writing. "Schools should go back to teaching phonics and ditch the 60s inspired child centred learning nonsense", says one viewer. BBC News The first minister plans to spread synthetic phonics system ... Jack McConnell said: "We will make sure every local authority is able to learn the lessons of Clackmannanshire's success." BBC News Is dyslexia a myth? Professor Julian Elliott of Durham University says that dyslexia is not distinguishable from any other learning difficulty causing an inability to read. See BBC News. And there's more in a conference where he suggests intervention after the first year at school. NB Professor Elliott appears in the Channel 4 Dispatches programme Thursday 8th September at 9pm. Latest on synthetic phonics! BBC News: Britannia primary school is trying synthetic phonics. Ruth Kelly (Minister for Education) backs the synthetic phonics approach! Tories support synthetic phonicsIn the Sunday Telegraph, 17th April it is reported:Michael Howard, the Tory leader, said the traditional "phonics" system had been shown to be the best method of teaching children how to read and write but ministers had refused to adopt the system fully. Under the "synthetic phonics" method, children are taught letter sounds and how they blend into words before moving to letter combinations that make up words. In Scotland the system has been shown to improve pupils' reading. WordAloud exhibited at IATEFL conferenceCloudworld demonstrated the use of WordAloud for TEFL at the 2005 IATEFL conference in Cardiff, 5-9th April. The conference was attended by around 1500 ELT professionals. There was great interest in the new learning technology, and how synthetic phonics can be applied to teaching or learning English as a second or other language. The Computer SIG met at the conference, and will be renamed the "learning technologies SIG". MPs demand reading lessons reviewOn Wednesday 6th April, the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee released a report "Teaching Children to Read", referring to the success of the Clackmannanshire research study on the effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment. The number of 11-year-olds in England who fail reading tests is "unacceptably high" and an "immediate review" of teaching methods is needed, MPs say. According to government figures, 17% do not reach the required standard. The Commons education select committee says methods such as "synthetic phonics" - breaking words down into sounds - need to be looked at more. This approach is strongly recommended by Cloudworld. See the very positive results from the Clackmannanshire research project. EU MinervaOn March 1st 2005, the LISTEN Project was submitted to MINERVA, under the European SOCRATES education initiative. BBC NewsEleven-year-olds in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, who used the "synthetic phonics" method were three years ahead in reading. A seven-year study by Hull and St Andrews universities also found pupils were on average almost two years ahead of others in Scotland at spelling. We advocate synthetic phonics for learning to read in conjunction with WordAloud. |
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