Reading & Writing Level 5

Non-story books such as books on science are critical to reading success. At level 4, children are introduced to science-related texts such as the habits of animals and the manned space flight to the moon. Presentation of this material naturally entails more complex vocabulary (the words continue to become more advanced in terms of both meaning and spelling) and more sophisticated sentences.

Level	New Words	New Words + Variants	Total New Words	New Books
5	62	151	213	6

Here is an example of teaching the word "computer" through the Savvy Sounds format which develops the critical skill of sound blending. In "sounding out," it is not enough to put a sound on each letter. To arrive at words, the individual sounds have to be blended together -- a difficult process for many children. Savvy Sounds eases these hurdles by having the program contribute to the blending process. For example, for a word like computer, the program will show and say the first part of the word (e.g. "comput"). Then the screen shows a set of words and while the audio says the target word (e.g. "computer") the child has to select it.

Since the beginning blends are already in place, the child has to deal only with the final sound in selecting the word. This greatly eases the blending process.

Here is an example of teaching the super sight word "even" through the Detect and Select format. (Super sight words are a group of about 100 words - all of which are taught in the Reading Kingdom - which occupy 50%-60% of every page of text in the English language.) Successful reading requires a steady scanning of words from left-to-right. For example, the same words (can fly they) convey very different messages depending on their order (e.g., they can fly vs. can they fly). To help children achieve smooth scanning, the Detect 'n Select format shows lines of text.

For the word even, for example, they see the following:

The child's job is to scan the lines and click on each instance of the target word.

After learning all the words in a book, children are given the book to read and/or have read to them by the program. Level 5 has 6 books.

Here is a sample page from Book 28.

Every other book is a fill in book that requires children to select and type words to complete the missing parts, so that they become more active participants in the reading/writing process. Here is a sample page from Book 28:

Once a child has filled in all the words, the shading is removed from the image and it animates.

In Level 5 children are given a comprehension section at the end of each book called Gleaning Meaning. This helps children to capture the "main idea," a critical aspect of reading

Key features of the books

All the books have engaging graphics, animations, sound effects and music.
Children are taught all the words in a book before beginning a book, so they can always read it successfully.
Children can click on any word to hear the word said aloud so they never have to face the frustration of not knowing what a word is "saying."

Length of time to complete

Typically one new word or one new book is offered in a session. Prior to teaching a word, the program determines if a child already knows that word, and if so, the program skips that word and moves on to the next word. As children become more proficient, they are taught two new words per session. Assuming 4 to 5 sessions a week, a level takes approximately 6-10 weeks to complete.

Go to Progress Checks Levels 1 - 5