Phonics Software: Under The Microscope

Michael Howard interacts with four of the latest phonics multimedia software titles to enter the language market.

Phonics Mastery
www.gamco.com
One computer: $188.95 ea.
Labs (5) $458.95 ea.
Internet/sites (unlimited): $1619.95

This software is great for children who have just started learning to read. Easily navigated and complemented by simple but effective graphics which don’t clutter up the screen, the program is very basic. But this makes it great for new learners and especially those not familiar with computers.
There are three activities for students to gain experience: sound to letter, sound to picture and sound to word.

Phonemes, pictures and words are displayed and followed by a voice sounding them. Students are then asked to repeat what they hear and are tested by being asked to click on pictures or letters. They are tested until they get it right. As an incentive for learners to get it right and keep at it, there is a choice of three games when a section is completed. These are great fun for kids and are just right to keep them moti-
vated. Simple to use student records let you know how your students are doing and there are many options available to teachers wishing to change specific parameters in the phonemic tests. Students will not get bored of Phonics Mastery.

Fair Voyage CD
$39 – 1 CD
www.arrowinc.com

This is a great user-friendly program for teaching students to develop their reading and comprehension skills. Aimed at the more advanced reader who already knows phonemics, this software teaches kids to read in English and Spanish, so is could be useful for bilingual teachers.
Students are entered into a fairground- style setting from which all the learning takes place. Having chosen from any of the categories such as animals, games and fireworks, they can then watch a full motion video of the action taking place.

The screen is left uncluttered with buttons which makes it simple to navigate and easy to use. At the end of each video clip a voice slowly reads out text which is simultaneously displayed a few words at a time on screen in order for the student to follow.
A special section on comprehension teaches students about anything from syllables to synonyms and is useful as students can follow the text on screen as the voice reads. The content is plentiful although there is little variety in activities so once students have read and practised on a few topic areas there is potential for a little boredom. Fancy graphics have been spared on this program.

My Reading Coach
Mindplay
Single student edition: $99 Additional students on the same computer are $89 each.
School edition: 1 computer - $5,000, 2 computers $7,000, 3 computers $8,000. Add $1,000 for each additional workstation.
www.mindplay.com

A rather comprehensive program, My Reading Coach could prove to be a little complex to the younger user. With 47 teaching activities to choose from, an array of graphics and many clickable options on each screen, it can get rather cumbersome. Despite this, once the activity gets going the program teaches phonics and spelling for English words at the student’s own pace in a great interactive format. A professor talks to the student and teaches correct sound pronunciation and letter formation and then tests the student on what they have learnt. The program can automatically schedule review tests and reassign lessons as and when they are needed and tracks and reports children’s progress.

Depending on which section you use, CD’s have to be switched and this can be irritating once you are into the flow of the program. Changing CDs often means that it is a little cumbersome but the excellent interactivity makes up for this.

This is a must for children learning to read although it does require the help of an adult.

Phonics Tutor
Consumer version
Macintosh (PTMACCD-01) $119.95
Windows 95/NT (PTW95CD-01) $104.95
School version
Macintosh (PTMACSV-01) $139.95
Windows 95/NT (PTW95SV-01) $139.95
PhonicsTutor teachers manual $49.95
www.phonicstutor.com

Lacking in the ‘wow’ factor, Phonics Tutor is a no-nonsense program which teaches students of all ages to read and spell. It is based on the Alpha-Phonics book by Sam Blumenfield and features all 128 lessons from within the book.

When you start the program, the first thing which springs to to mind is how visually unappealing the program is. Although once the program is in full swing, the educational benefits become apparent and the fact that it is a good user-friendly program, ideal
for leaving the kids to their own devices.

In the Presentation Mode, phonograms, words and punctuation are taught. Phonics Tutor says each phoneme, sentence or word and highlights them on screen. Construction mode allows students to type in words sound by sound, one phonogram at a time. The Word Reading Mode displays words from the lesson with the student having to listen to the word Phonics Tutor says and then click on the one they think matches.
Phonics Tutor also contains over 3,500 words in spelling patterns and 600 dictated sentences in the Sentence Spell Mode, but the lack of graphics and poor interactivity detract from what is actually a good educational tool.

The no-nonsense, thorough method of teaching lacks the fun element within the other programs, but means there is no need for time consuming teacher training sessions.