U.S. patent application number 11/349700 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-28 for method for improving vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding skills using semantic and linguistic sorting on a computing device.
This patent application is currently assigned to Scientific Learning Corporation. Invention is credited to Logan E. De Ley, William M. Jenkins, Virginia A. Mann, Steven L. Miller.
Application Number | 20060216678 11/349700 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34743673 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060216678 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
De Ley; Logan E. ; et
al. |
September 28, 2006 |
Method for improving vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding
skills using semantic and linguistic sorting on a computing
device
Abstract
Methodologies for improving a student's phonemic awareness,
decoding, spelling, oral and written comprehension are described
herein. The method is embodied in a suite of twelve exercises
operable on a computing device. The exercises are geared towards
training of 1st and 2nd grade students but are not limited to that.
The methods present an entertaining screen environment, with target
stimulus, and foil or distracter stimulus presented visually,
textually, and aurally. The student is required to identify the
target stimulus from the distracter stimulus within the context of
each exercise. Progress from easier trials to more difficult trials
is made as the student successfully completes particular difficulty
levels.
Inventors: |
De Ley; Logan E.; (Alameda,
CA) ; Jenkins; William M.; (Pacifica, CA) ;
Mann; Virginia A.; (Dana Point, CA) ; Miller; Steven
L.; (Pacifica, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HUFFMAN LAW GROUP, P.C.
1832 N. CASCADE AVE.
COLORADO SPRINGS
CO
80907-7449
US
|
Assignee: |
Scientific Learning
Corporation
Oakland
CA
|
Family ID: |
34743673 |
Appl. No.: |
11/349700 |
Filed: |
February 8, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10957886 |
Oct 4, 2004 |
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11349700 |
Feb 8, 2006 |
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11342938 |
Jan 30, 2006 |
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11349700 |
Feb 8, 2006 |
|
|
|
10957886 |
Oct 4, 2004 |
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11342938 |
Jan 30, 2006 |
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60508597 |
Oct 3, 2003 |
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60569601 |
May 10, 2004 |
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60508597 |
Oct 3, 2003 |
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60569601 |
May 10, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
434/169 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 17/00 20130101;
G09B 5/00 20130101; G09B 5/06 20130101; G09B 17/006 20130101; G09B
19/04 20130101; G09B 7/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/169 |
International
Class: |
G09B 5/00 20060101
G09B005/00 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for improving vocabulary, concept
knowledge, and decoding skills in a person, the method comprising:
providing a stimulus item set comprising a plurality of stimulus
items; displaying a plurality of bins via a computing device,
wherein each of the plurality of bins represents a category from a
plurality of categories; presenting a stimulus item from the
stimulus item set to the person, wherein the stimulus item belongs
to one of the plurality of categories represented by the plurality
of bins; requiring the person to select a bin from the plurality of
bins representing a category to which the presented stimulus item
belongs; determining if the person selected the bin correctly; and
repeating said displaying, said presenting, said requiring, and
said determining for each stimulus item in the stimulus item set;
wherein said repeating improves vocabulary, concept knowledge, and
decoding skills in the person.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stimulus item set is
comprised in a plurality of stimulus item sets, the method further
comprising: performing said repeating for each stimulus item set in
the plurality of stimulus item sets.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of categories are
comprised in a plurality of category groups, each category group
comprising a respective subset of the plurality of categories;
wherein each category from the plurality of categories has a
respective category type from a plurality of category types;
wherein a category group comprises a set of categories that are
contrasted with each other; and wherein said displaying, said
presenting, said requiring, and said determining for each stimulus
item composes performing a trial for each stimulus item.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of category types
comprises two or more of: basic; super-ordinate; thematic;
descriptive functions; descriptive features; and linguistic.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
comprises: performing said repeating in accordance with each grid
of a plurality of grids, wherein each grid specifies at least a
subset of categories from a category group and a number of trials
to perform with respect to the at least a subset of categories.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said presenting a stimulus item
from the stimulus item set to the person comprises presenting the
stimulus item in a first stage or a second stage; wherein the first
stage comprises presenting the stimulus item pictorially,
textually, and aurally; and wherein the second stage comprises
presenting the stimulus item textually and aurally, but not
pictorially.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said performing said repeating in
accordance with each grid of a plurality of grids comprises:
performing each respective grid in the first stage; and performing
each respective grid in the second stage.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said performing each respective
grid in the second stage comprises: performing the grid in a second
stage if the person passes the grid in the first stage.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: for each grid, if the
person does not pass the grid, repeating said performing the grid
until: the grid has been performed a specified number of times; or
the person passes the grid.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein each set of the plurality of
stimulus item sets comprises an open stimulus item set, the method
further comprising: if the grid has been performed the specified
number of times and the person has not passed the grid, keeping the
category group of the grid open for later presentation to the
person; and performing one or more of: performing a grid formed
from remaining categories in the category group; and incrementing
the category group to a next category group and performing one or
more grids in the next category group in the first stage.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein passing the grid comprises
successfully sorting a specified percentage of the stimulus items
presented in the grid.
12. The method of claim 7, further comprising: performing said
displaying, said presenting, said requiring, and said determining
for each stimulus item at an introductory level; wherein initially,
said displaying the plurality of bins comprises displaying a single
bin representing a first category from a first category group with
a basic category type, wherein said presenting comprises displaying
a picture of the stimulus item, and wherein the stimulus items are
presented in blocks of four; wherein subsequently, said displaying
the plurality of bins comprises displaying two bins respectively
representing the first category and a second category, and wherein
the stimulus items are presented in blocks of eight; and wherein
said displaying the plurality of bins further comprises displaying
four bins respectively representing the first category, the second
category, a third category, and a fourth category, and wherein the
stimulus items are presented in blocks of thirty-two.
13. The method of claim 7, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: performing trials for one or more category
groups in the first stage; and after the person has passed all
categories in the one or more category groups, repeating the one or
more category groups in the second stage, wherein the stimulus
items are presented in a different order than in the first
stage.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: performing a fluency round, comprising sped up
and time-limited trials for the category group.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said performing the fluency
round is performed once the person has passed all grids in a
category group in the second stage.
16. The method of claim 6, wherein a unit comprises a smallest
group of trials to be evaluated for advancement.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein for units with less than a
specified number of trials, passing the unit comprises the person
correctly sorting all of the stimulus items in the unit; and
wherein for units with at least the specified number of trials,
passing the unit comprises the person correctly sorting a specified
percentage of the stimulus items in the unit, wherein the specified
percentage is less than 100%.
18. The method of claim 6, wherein each grid has a respective size,
comprising a first size, a second size, or a third size, wherein
the first size is smaller than the second size, the second size is
smaller than the third size, and wherein said performing said
repeating for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus
item sets further comprises: after the person passes a grid of the
third size with respect to a category group in the first stage,
repeating that category group in the second stage with another grid
of the third size, wherein the stimulus items presented are the
same, but the stimulus items are presented in a different
order.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein once the person passes a grid
of the third size for a category group, the person does not perform
a grid of the second size for that category group; and wherein if
the person fails a grid of the third size for a category group, the
person subsequently performs a grid of the second size for that
category group.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person fails a category group in the
first stage, performing a next category group in the first stage;
and if the person fails a category group in the second stage,
subsequently performing that category group in the first stage.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: the first time a new category group is entered,
presenting bins in a grid of the second size in the first stage,
wherein the stimulus items are presented in blocks randomly sampled
from the categories of the bins of the grid of the second size; if
the new category group is passed with respect to the grid of the
second size in the first stage, presenting bins in a grid of the
third size in the first stage, wherein the stimulus items are
presented in blocks randomly sampled from the categories of the
bins of the grid of the third size; if the new category group is
passed with respect to the grid of the third size in the first
stage, presenting bins in another grid of the third size in the
second stage, wherein the stimulus items are presented in blocks
randomly sampled from the categories of the bins of the other grid
of the third size; and if the new category group is passed with
respect to the other grid of the third size in the first stage,
performing a fluency round for the category group in the second
stage.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein, once a fluency round has been
performed for the category group, the category group is closed.
23. The method of claim 6, further comprising: performing a
training grid comprising a single bin with stimulus items from the
first category group of the category type.
24. The method of claim 6, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
comprises: performing a grid of a first size with the grid's
specified at least a subset of categories from a first category
group of a first category type in the first stage.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve a specified level
of success with respect to the grid of the first size with the
grid's specified at least a subset of categories from a first
category group of a first category type in the first stage,
performing a grid of the first size with remaining categories from
the first category group of the first category type in the first
stage.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve a specified level
of success with respect to the grid of the first size with
remaining categories from the first category group of the first
category type in the first stage, determining if there is another
category group to process in the first category type; if there is
another category group to process in the first category type,
opening a next category group and performing respective grids with
respect to the other category group; if there are no more category
groups to process in the first category type, opening a next
category group to process in a next category type, and performing a
grid of the first size in the next category group in the next
category type in the first stage.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the first size with remaining
categories from the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage, performing a grid of a second size with the
grid's specified categories from the first category group of the
first category type in the first stage.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve the specified
level of success with respect to the grid of the second size with
the grid's specified categories from the first category group of
the first category type in the first stage, keeping the first
category group of the first category type in the first stage open
for later presentation to the person; and performing a grid of the
first size with categories from a next open category group in the
first stage.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the second size with the grid's
specified categories from the first category group of the first
category type in the first stage, performing a grid of the second
size with the first category group of the first category type in
the second stage.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the second size with the first
category group of the first category type in the second stage,
performing a fluency round with respect to a grid of the second
size with the first category group of the first category type in
the second stage.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: performing a grid of the second size with a
second category group of the first category type in the second
stage.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve the specified
level of success with respect to the grid of the second size with
the second category group of the first category type in the second
stage, keeping the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage open for later presentation to the person; and
performing a grid of the first size with categories from the first
category group of the second category type in first stage.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the second size with the second
category group of the first category type in the second stage,
performing a fluency round with respect to the grid of the second
size with the second category group of the first category type in
the second stage.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: performing a grid of the first size with a first
category group of the second category type in the first stage.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve the specified
level of success with respect to the grid of the first size with
the first category group of the second category type in the first
stage, keeping the first category group of the second category type
in the first stage open for later presentation to the person; and
performing a grid of the first size with remaining categories from
the first category group of the second category type in first
stage.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the first size with the first
category group of the second category type in the first stage,
performing a grid of the second size with the first category group
of the second category type in the first stage.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person does not achieve the specified
level of success with respect to the grid of the first size with
the first category group of the second category type in the first
stage, keeping the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage open for later presentation to the person; and
performing a grid of the first size with categories from a next
open category group in the first stage.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein the next open category group
comprises a first category group in a third category type.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the first size with the first
category group of the second category type in the first stage,
performing a grid of the second size with the first category group
of the second category type in the first stage.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the second size with the first
category group of the second category type in the first stage,
performing a grid of the second size with the first category group
of the second category type in the second stage.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein said performing said repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
further comprises: if the person achieves the specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the second size with the first
category group of the second category type in the first stage,
performing a fluency round with respect to a grid of the second
size with the first category group of the second category type in
the second stage.
42. The method of claim 41, wherein each fluency round comprises a
timed round.
43. The method of claim 42, wherein each fluency round is evaluated
for points, and is not evaluated for progression.
44. The method of claim 43, further comprising: repeating said
repeating said displaying, said presenting, said requiring, and
said determining for each stimulus item in the stimulus item set in
an iterative manner to improve vocabulary, concept knowledge, and
decoding skills in the person.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein said repeating said repeating
is performed over a plurality of sessions, and wherein each
successive session begins approximately where a previous session
ends.
46. The method of claim 45, wherein the sessions occur a specified
number times each day, for a specified number of days.
47. The method of claim 1, wherein said displaying, said
presenting, and said requiring are performed via a graphical user
interface (GUI) displayed on a display of the computing device.
48. The method of claim 47, wherein the GUI displays two or more
of: a student indicator; a time indicator; an initiation button,
whereby the person invokes presenting stimulus items; and a score
indicator.
49. The method of claim 48, wherein the GUI further displays a main
character, wherein the main character performs said presenting the
first stimulus item aurally and/or graphically.
50. The method of claim 1, further comprising: indicating if the
selected bin is correct.
51. The method of claim 50, wherein said indicating if the selected
bin is correct comprises one or more of: presenting a respective
sound indicating correctness or incorrectness of the selected bin;
presenting a respective graphical indication of correctness or
incorrectness of the selected bin; and awarding points based on the
correctness of the selected bin.
52. The method of claim 1, wherein the auditory instructions are
presented via headphones attached to the computing device.
53. A computer accessible memory medium that stores program
instructions for enhancing vocabulary, concept knowledge, and
decoding skills in a person, wherein the program instructions are
executable by a processor to perform: providing a stimulus item set
comprising a plurality of stimulus items; displaying plurality of
bins via a computing device, wherein each of the plurality of bins
represents a category from a plurality of categories; presenting a
stimulus item from the stimulus item set to the person, wherein the
stimulus item belongs to one of the plurality of categories
represented by the plurality of bins; requiring the person to
select a bin from the plurality of bins representing a category to
which the presented stimulus item belongs; determining if the
person selected the bin correctly; and repeating said displaying,
said presenting, said requiring, and said determining for each
stimulus item in the stimulus item set; wherein said repeating
improves vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding skills in the
person.
54. The memory medium of claim 53, wherein the stimulus item set is
comprised in a plurality of stimulus item sets, wherein the program
instructions are further executable to perform: performing said
repeating for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus
item sets.
55. The memory medium of claim 53, wherein the plurality of
categories are comprised in a plurality of category groups, each
category group comprising a respective subset of the plurality of
categories; wherein each category from the plurality of categories
has a respective category type from a plurality of category types;
wherein a category group comprises a set of categories that are
contrasted with each other; and wherein said displaying, said
presenting, said requiring, and said determining for each stimulus
item composes performing a trial for each stimulus item.
56. The memory medium of claim 55, wherein said performing said
repeating for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus
item sets comprises: performing said repeating in accordance with
each grid of a plurality of grids, wherein each grid specifies at
least a subset of categories from a category group and a number of
trials to perform with respect to the at least a subset of
categories.
57. The memory medium of claim 56, wherein said presenting a
stimulus item from the stimulus item set to the person comprises
presenting the stimulus item in a first stage or a second stage;
wherein the first stage comprises presenting the stimulus item
pictorially, textually, and aurally; and wherein the second stage
comprises presenting the stimulus item textually and aurally, but
not pictorially.
58. The memory medium of claim 57, wherein said performing said
repeating in accordance with each grid of a plurality of grids
comprises: performing each respective grid in the first stage; and
performing each respective grid in the second stage.
59. The memory medium of claim 58, wherein said performing each
respective grid in the second stage comprises: performing the grid
in a second stage if the person passes the grid in the first
stage.
60. The memory medium of claim 59, wherein the program instructions
are further executable to perform: for each grid, if the person
does not pass the grid, repeating said performing the grid until:
the grid has been performed a specified number of times; or the
person passes the grid.
61. The memory medium of claim 60, wherein each set of the
plurality of stimulus item sets comprises an open stimulus item
set, wherein the program instructions are further executable to
perform: if the grid has been performed the specified number of
times and the person has not passed the grid, keeping the category
group of the grid open for later presentation to the person; and
performing one or more of: performing a grid formed from remaining
categories in the category group; and incrementing the category
group to a next category group and performing one or more grids in
the next category group in the first stage.
62. The memory medium of claim 58, wherein passing the grid
comprises successfully sorting a specified percentage of the
stimulus items presented in the grid.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/957,886, filed Oct. 4, 2004, entitled
"METHOD FOR DEVELOPING COGNITIVE SKILLS IN READING". That
application claimed priority from U.S. Provisional applications:
60/508,597 filed Oct. 3, 2003; and 60/569601 filed May 10,
2004.
[0002] This application is also a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. (Docket SLC. 0311), filed Jan. 30, 2006
entitled "METHOD FOR DEVELOPING COGNITIVE SKILLS IN READING", which
is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/957886,
referenced above.
[0003] This application is related to the following U.S. patent
applications which are all filed on the same day, herewith:
TABLE-US-00001 Ser. No. Filling Date Title SLC.0313 Feb. 8, 2006
METHOD FOR DEVELOPING COGNITIVE SKILLS USING SPELLING AND WORD
BUILDING ON A COMPUTING DEVICE SLC.0314 Feb. 8, 2006 METHOD FOR
IMPROVING SENTENCE COMPREHENSION, VOCABULARY SKILLS, AND READING
FOR MEANING USING CLOZE TASKS ON A COMPUTING DEVICE SLC.0315 Feb.
8, 2006 A METHOD FOR IMPROVING LISTENING COMPREHENSION AND WORKING
MEMORY SKILLS ON A COMPUTING DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0004] This invention relates in general to the field of education
training in reading, and more specifically to a computer software
program for cognitive skills training to help students become
better readers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present application relates to a computer software
program entitled "Fast ForWord Language to Reading" developed by
Scientific Learning Corporation. Founded in 1996, Scientific
Learning (Nasdaq: SCIL) combines the latest advances in brain
research and proprietary technology to create products and services
that develop learning and communication skills. Based on more than
30 years of neuroscience research, Scientific Learning's Fast
ForWord.RTM. family of products use patented technology to target
the language and reading skills widely recognized as the keys to
all learning. Each product's interactive exercises integrate
proprietary CD-ROM and Internet technology to create an optimal
learning environment that adapts to the level of each student.
Patented Web-based tracking tools provide ongoing monitoring of
each student's progress. In March of 1997, after an extensive field
trial with almost 500 children at 35 sites, the Company launched
its first Fast ForWord.RTM. product, Fast ForWord Language
software, an Internet and CD-ROM product that develops the
fundamental language skills that are the building blocks for
reading success. This product is described in the following U.S.
Pat. No. 5,927,988 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRAINING OF
SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL SYSTEMS IN LLI SUBJECTS"; U.S. Pat. No.
6,159,014 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRAINING OF COGNITIVE
AND MEMORY SYSTEMS IN HUMANS"; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,101 entitled
"METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COGNITIVE TRAINING OF HUMANS USING
ADAPTIVE TIMING OF EXERCISES"; each of which is hereby incorporated
by reference for all purposes. Numerous other patents have been
issued to Scientific Learning Corporation for its inventions.
[0006] The Fast ForWord Language to Reading software builds upon
the technology developed by Scientific Learning Corporation, and
provides a highly efficient, targeted workout that isolates and
develops Learning MAPs--Memory, Attention, Processing, and
Sequencing--in the context of reading skills that correlate
directly to school curriculum standards, including Phonemic
awareness; Phonics, Decoding and Advanced Decoding; Spelling and
Vocabulary, Word recognition and fluency; and Sentence and passage
comprehension.
SUMMARY
[0007] The present invention provides a method for improving
phonemic awareness in students. The invention is intended for
execution on a computing device capable of displaying and aurally
presenting words and/or phonemes. The method utilizes a number of
exercises to train students, the exercises presenting information
aurally and visually, and requiring the student to make selections
based on the information presented. The selections are recorded,
with the exercise tracking progress according to the
selections.
[0008] Various embodiments of a system and method for improving
vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding skills in a person,
e.g., a child student, are provided.
[0009] A stimulus item set comprising a plurality of stimulus items
may be provided, e.g., stored on a computing device. A plurality of
bins may be displayed via the computing device, where each of the
plurality of bins represents a category from a plurality of
categories. A stimulus item from the stimulus item set may be
presented to the person, where the stimulus item belongs to one of
the plurality of categories represented by the plurality of bins.
The person may then be required to select a bin from the plurality
of bins representing a category to which the presented stimulus
item belongs, and a determination made as to whether the person
selected the bin correctly. The displaying, the presenting, the
requiring, and the determining may be performed for each stimulus
item in the stimulus item set, where the repeating improves
vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding skills in the person.
In some embodiments, the stimulus item set may be included in a
plurality of stimulus item sets, and the repeating may be performed
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item
sets.
[0010] In one embodiment, the plurality of categories may be
included in a plurality of category groups, each category group
including a respective subset of the plurality of categories. Each
category from the plurality of categories may have a respective
category type from a plurality of category types, where the
category types may include two or more of: basic, super-ordinate,
thematic, descriptive functions, descriptive features, and
linguistic. A category group may be or include a set of categories
that are contrasted with each other. In some embodiments, the
displaying, the presenting, the requiring, and the determining for
each stimulus item composes performing a trial for each stimulus
item.
[0011] In preferred embodiments, the performing the repeating for
each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets may
include performing the repeating in accordance with each grid of a
plurality of grids, where each grid specifies at least a subset of
categories from a category group and a number of trials to perform
with respect to the at least a subset of categories. Moreover, the
presenting a stimulus item from the stimulus item set to the person
may include presenting the stimulus item in a first stage or a
second stage, where the first stage includes presenting the
stimulus item pictorially, textually, and aurally, and where the
second stage includes presenting the stimulus item textually and
aurally, but not pictorially. Performing the repeating in
accordance with each grid of a plurality of grids may include
performing each respective grid in the first stage, and performing
each respective grid in the second stage. For example, performing
each respective grid in the second stage may include performing the
grid in a second stage if the person has passed the grid in the
first stage.
[0012] In preferred embodiments, the method may include: for each
grid, if the person does not pass the grid, repeating the
performing the grid until the grid has been performed a specified
number of times, or the person passes the grid. Each set of the
plurality of stimulus item sets may be or include an open stimulus
item set. If the grid has been performed the specified number of
times and the person has not passed the grid, the category group of
the grid may be kept open for later presentation to the person, and
a grid formed from remaining categories in the category group,
and/or the category group may be incremented to a next category
group and one or more grids performed in the next category group in
the first stage. Note that passing a grid preferably means
successfully sorting a specified percentage of the stimulus items
presented in the grid, e.g., via linguistic and semantic sorting of
the presented stimulus items.
[0013] In some embodiments, the displaying, the presenting, the
requiring, and the determining for each stimulus item may be
performed at an introductory level. For example, initially, the
displaying the plurality of bins may include displaying a single
bin representing a first category from a first category group with
a basic category type, where the presenting includes displaying a
picture of the stimulus item, and where the stimulus items are
presented in blocks of four. Subsequently, the displaying the
plurality of bins may include displaying two bins respectively
representing the first category and a second category, where the
stimulus items may be presented in blocks of a specified size,
e.g., eight. The displaying the plurality of bins may further
include displaying four bins respectively representing the first
category, the second category, a third category, and a fourth
category, where the stimulus items may be presented in blocks of
another specified size, e.g., thirty-two.
[0014] Further regarding the stages, in one embodiment, the
performing the repeating for each stimulus item set in the
plurality of stimulus item sets may further include performing
trials for one or more category groups in the first stage, and
after the person has passed all categories in the one or more
category groups, repeating the one or more category groups in the
second stage, where the stimulus items are presented in a different
order than in the first stage. Once a category group has been
passed in the second stage, a fluency round may be performed,
including sped up and time-limited trials for the category group.
For example, the fluency round may be performed once the person has
passed all grids in a category group in the second stage.
[0015] Note that a unit is a smallest group of trials to be
evaluated for advancement. For example, for units with less than a
specified number of trials, passing the unit may include the person
correctly sorting all of the stimulus items in the unit, and where
for units with at least the specified number of trials, passing the
unit may include the person correctly sorting a specified
percentage of the stimulus items in the unit, where the specified
percentage is less than 100%.
[0016] In preferred embodiments, each grid may have a respective
size, e.g., a first size, a second size, or a third size, where the
first size is smaller than the second size, the second size is
smaller than the third size, and where the performing the repeating
for each stimulus item set in the plurality of stimulus item sets
may include: after the person passes a grid of the third size with
respect to a category group in the first stage, repeating that
category group in the second stage with another grid of the third
size, where the stimulus items presented are the same, but the
stimulus items are presented in a different order.
[0017] In one embodiment, once the person passes a grid of the
third size for a category group, the person does not perform a grid
of the second size for that category group, and if the person fails
a grid of the third size for a category group, the person
subsequently performs a grid of the second size for that category
group. If the person fails a category group in the first stage, a
next category group may be performed in the first stage, and if the
person fails a category group in the second stage, that category
group may subsequently be performed in the first stage.
[0018] In some embodiments, the first time a new category group is
entered, bins in a grid of the second size may be presented in the
first stage, where the stimulus items are presented in blocks
randomly sampled from the categories of the bins of the grid of the
second size. If the new category group is passed with respect to
the grid of the second size in the first stage, bins in a grid of
the third size may be presented in the first stage, where the
stimulus items are presented in blocks randomly sampled from the
categories of the bins of the grid of the third size. If the new
category group is passed with respect to the grid of the third size
in the first stage, bins in another grid of the third size may be
presented in the second stage, where the stimulus items are
presented in blocks randomly sampled from the categories of the
bins of the other grid of the third size. If the new category group
is passed with respect to the other grid of the third size in the
first stage, a fluency round for the category group may be
performed in the second stage. Note that once a fluency round has
been performed for the category group, the category group may be
closed.
[0019] In one embodiment, a training grid including a single bin
with stimulus items from the first category group of the category
type may be performed, e.g., to make clear to the user what is
expected in performing a trial. Once the training grid has been
performed, i.e., a training grid with a single bin, grids with more
bins may be presented and performed, e.g., in the manner described
above, and/or as follows.
[0020] A grid of a first size (not necessarily the same first size
described above) may be performed with the grid's specified at
least a subset of categories from a first category group of a first
category type in the first stage. If the person does not achieve a
specified level of success with respect to the grid of the first
size with the grid's specified at least a subset of categories from
a first category group of a first category type in the first stage,
a grid of the first size may be performed with remaining categories
from the first category group of the first category type in the
first stage. If the person does not achieve a specified level of
success with respect to the grid of the first size with remaining
categories from the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage, a determination may be made as to whether there
is another category group to process in the first category type. If
there is another category group to process in the first category
type, a next category group may be opened, and respective grids
performed with respect to the other category group. If there are no
more category groups to process in the first category type, a next
category group to process in a next category type may be opened,
and a grid of the first size in the next category group in the next
category type may be performed in the first stage. If the person
achieves the specified level of success with respect to the grid of
the first size with remaining categories from the first category
group of the first category type in the first stage, performing a
grid of a second size with the grid's specified categories from the
first category group of the first category type in the first stage.
If the person does not achieve the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the second size with the grid's specified
categories from the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage, the first category group of the first category
type in the first stage may be kept open for later presentation to
the person, and a grid of the first size performed with categories
from a next open category group in the first stage.
[0021] If the person achieves the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the second size with the grid's specified
categories from the first category group of the first category type
in the first stage, a grid of the second size may be performed with
the first category group of the first category type in the second
stage. If the person achieves the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the second size with the first category
group of the first category type in the second stage, a fluency
round may be performed with respect to a grid of the second size
with the first category group of the first category type in the
second stage.
[0022] In one embodiment, a grid of the second size may be
performed with a second category group of the first category type
in the second stage. If the person does not achieve the specified
level of success with respect to the grid of the second size with
the second category group of the first category type in the second
stage, the first category group of the first category type in the
first stage may be kept open for later presentation to the person,
and a grid of the first size performed with categories from the
first category group of the second category type in first stage. If
the person achieves the specified level of success with respect to
the grid of the second size with the second category group of the
first category type in the second stage, a fluency round may be
performed with respect to the grid of the second size with the
second category group of the first category type in the second
stage.
[0023] A grid of the first size may then be performed with a first
category group of the second category type in the first stage. If
the person does not achieve the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the first size with the first category group
of the second category type in the first stage, the first category
group of the second category type in the first stage may be kept
open for later presentation to the person, and a grid of the first
size may be performed with remaining categories from the first
category group of the second category type in first stage.
[0024] If the person achieves the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the first size with the first category group
of the second category type in the first stage, performing a grid
of the second size with the first category group of the second
category type in the first stage. If the person does not achieve
the specified level of success with respect to the grid of the
first size with the first category group of the second category
type in the first stage, the first category group of the first
category type in the first stage may be kept open for later
presentation to the person, and a grid of the first size may be
performed with categories from a next open category group in the
first stage. For example, the next open category group may be or
include a first category group in a third category type.
[0025] If the person achieves the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the first size with the first category group
of the second category type in the first stage, a grid of the
second size may be performed with the first category group of the
second category type in the first stage. If the person achieves the
specified level of success with respect to the grid of the second
size with the first category group of the second category type in
the first stage, a grid of the second size may be performed with
the first category group of the second category type in the second
stage. If the person achieves the specified level of success with
respect to the grid of the second size with the first category
group of the second category type in the first stage, a fluency
round may be performed with respect to a grid of the second size
with the first category group of the second category type in the
second stage. In some embodiments, each fluency round may be a
timed round. Moreover, each fluency round may be evaluated for
points, and may not be evaluated for progression.
[0026] In preferred embodiments, the repeating the displaying, the
presenting, the requiring, and the determining may be repeated for
each stimulus item in the stimulus item set in an iterative manner
to improve vocabulary, concept knowledge, and decoding skills in
the person. This repetition may be performed over a plurality of
sessions, each successive session beginning approximately where a
previous session ends. For example, the sessions may occur a
specified number times each day, for a specified number of
days.
[0027] The displaying, the presenting, and the requiring are
preferably performed via a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed
on a display of the computing device. For example, the GUI may
display two or more of: a student indicator, a time indicator, an
initiation button, whereby the person invokes presenting stimulus
items, and a score indicator. The GUI may also display a main
character, where the main character performs the presenting the
first stimulus item (and the stimulus items in general) aurally
and/or graphically. The auditory instructions may be presented via
headphones attached to the computing device.
[0028] In some embodiments, the method may also include indicating
if the selected bin is correct. For example, indicating if the
selected bin is correct may include presenting a respective sound
indicating correctness or incorrectness of the selected bin,
presenting a respective graphical indication of correctness or
incorrectness of the selected bin, and/or awarding points based on
the correctness of the selected bin.
[0029] Thus, various embodiments of the present invention may
facilitate improvement of vocabulary, concept knowledge, and
decoding skills in a person using semantic and linguistic
sorting.
[0030] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent upon study of the remaining portions of the
specification and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] FIG. 1 is block diagram of a personal computing device upon
which the present invention operates.
[0032] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer network upon which
the present invention operates.
[0033] FIG. 3 is a table illustrating the exercises within the
program set Reading 1 according to the present invention.
[0034] FIG. 4 is a table illustrating the exercises within the
program set Reading 2 according to the present invention.
[0035] FIG. 5 is a screen shot at the beginning of Reading 1
according to the present invention.
[0036] FIG. 6 is a screen shot at the beginning of Reading 2
according to the present invention.
[0037] FIG. 7 is a screen shot at the initiation of the exercise
Bear Bags in Reading 1 according to the present invention.
[0038] FIG. 8 is a screen shot during a warm up (or training)
exercise in the exercise Bear Bags in Reading 1 according to the
present invention.
[0039] FIG. 9 is another screen shot during the warm up exercise in
the exercise Bear Bags in Reading 1 according to the present
invention.
[0040] FIG. 10 is a screen shot of exercise play in Bear Bags,
where the student sorts a stimulus phoneme (a picture of a "gear")
into one of two target phoneme lunch bags.
[0041] FIG. 11 is a screen shot of exercise play in Bear Bags,
where the student sorts a stimulus phoneme (a picture of a "pup")
into one of four target phoneme lunch bags.
[0042] FIG. 12 is a screen shot of exercise play in Bear Bags,
where the student sorts a stimulus phoneme (the word "sat") into
one of four target phoneme lunch bags, pictorially represented.
[0043] FIG. 13 is a screen shot of a reward animation within the
Bear Bags exercise.
[0044] FIG. 14 is a screen shot of a fluency timed trial within the
Bear Bags exercise.
[0045] FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating program flow according
to the method of the Bear Bags exercise.
[0046] FIG. 16 is a screen shot of an initial training session in
the exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch.
[0047] FIG. 17 is a screen shot of a trial with in the exercise
Bear Bags: More Lunch.
[0048] FIG. 18 is a screen shot of a more advanced trial within the
exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch.
[0049] FIG. 19 is a screen shot indicating an incorrect response to
a trial within the exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch.
[0050] FIG. 20 is a screen shot of another trial within the
exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch.
[0051] FIG. 21 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Flying Fish.
[0052] FIG. 22 is a screen shot in Flying Fish of a stimulus word
being presented.
[0053] FIG. 23 is a screen shot in Flying Fish of a target word
being presented.
[0054] FIG. 24 is a screen shot in Flying Fish of a target word
that matches the stimulus word, being presented.
[0055] FIG. 25 is a flow chart that illustrates the method of the
exercise Flying Fish.
[0056] FIG. 26 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Fish Frenzy.
[0057] FIG. 27 is a screen shot in Fish Frenzy of a target word
being presented.
[0058] FIG. 28 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Magic Rabbit.
[0059] FIG. 29 is a screen shot in Magic Rabbit of an initial
training trial.
[0060] FIG. 30 is a screen shot in Magic Rabbit of a target letter
being dragged onto a blank tile to spell the word "sad".
[0061] FIG. 31 is a screen shot in Magic Rabbit illustrating grayed
out letters that were incorrectly selected by the student.
[0062] FIG. 32 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the
exercise Magic Rabbit.
[0063] FIG. 33 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Magic Bird.
[0064] FIG. 34 is a screen shot in Magic Bird of a target letter
"st" being selected to spell the word "stock".
[0065] FIG. 35 is a screen shot in Magic Bird illustrating a grayed
out card "sh" which was selected incorrectly, when the target word
was "frame".
[0066] FIG. 36 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the
exercise Magic Bird.
[0067] FIG. 37 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Bedtime Beasties.
[0068] FIG. 38 is a screen shot in Bedtime Beasties during a trial,
indicating correct selection of a target word.
[0069] FIG. 39 is a screen shot in Bedtime Beasties after the
student has correctly selected the target word "brush".
[0070] FIG. 40 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the
exercise Bedtime Beasties.
[0071] FIG. 41 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Leaping Lizards.
[0072] FIG. 42 is a screen shot in Leaping Lizards during a trial,
indicating correct selection of a target word.
[0073] FIG. 43 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Buzz Fly.
[0074] FIG. 44 is a screen shot in Buzz Fly during a trial, where a
first passage is read to the student.
[0075] FIG. 45 is a screen shot in Buzz Fly during a trial, where a
question is posed to the student, and the answer, along with three
foils are presented.
[0076] FIG. 46 is a screen shot in Buzz Fly during a trial, showing
an incorrect answer grayed out, and other answer possibilities
still showing.
[0077] FIG. 47 is a flow chart illustrating the method of Buzz
Fly.
[0078] FIG. 48 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Dog Bone.
[0079] FIG. 49 is a screen shot in Dog Bone during a trial, where a
first passage is presented to the student.
[0080] FIG. 50 is a screen shot in Dog Bone during a trial, where a
question is posed to the student, and the answer, along with three
foils are presented.
[0081] FIG. 51 is a flow chart illustrating the method of Dog
Bone.
[0082] FIG. 52 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Quail Mail.
[0083] FIG. 53 is a screen shot in Quail Mail of an initial
trial.
[0084] FIG. 54 is a screen shot in Quail Mail of a first type of
trial.
[0085] FIG. 55 is a screen shot in Quail Mail of a second type of
trial.
[0086] FIG. 56 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the
exercise Quail Mail.
[0087] FIG. 57 is a screen shot at the beginning of the exercise
Ant Antics.
[0088] FIG. 58 is a screen shot in Ant Antics of a trial.
[0089] FIG. 59 is a flow chart illustrating the method of Ant
Antics.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0090] The Language to Reading programs that will be described
below are intended to be executed on some form of computing device
that has a visual display, acoustic presentation, and some
mechanism to indicate selection of options. While such a computing
device encompasses everything from PC's, to laptops, to PDA's, and
now even cell phones, one skilled in the art will appreciate that
the methods of the present invention should not be restricted to
the particular mechanisms upon which they are run. But, to provide
a context for discussing the methods of the present invention,
applicant will briefly describe one of the possible environments in
which the methods can be utilized.
[0091] Referring to FIG. 1, a computer system 100 is shown for
executing a computer program to train, or retrain a student,
according to the present invention. The computer system 100
contains a computer 102, having a CPU, memory, hard disk and CD ROM
drive (not shown), attached to a monitor 104. The monitor 104
provides visual prompting and feedback to the student during
execution of the computer program. Attached to the computer 102 are
a keyboard 105, speakers 106, a mouse 108, and headphones 110. The
speakers 106 and the headphones 110 provide auditory prompting and
feedback to the student during execution of the computer program.
The mouse 108 allows the student to navigate through the computer
program, and to select particular responses after visual or
auditory prompting by the computer program. The keyboard 105 allows
an instructor to enter alpha numeric information about the student
into the computer 102. Although a number of different computer
platforms are applicable to the present invention, embodiments of
the present invention execute on either IBM compatible computers or
Macintosh computers.
[0092] Now referring to FIG. 2, a computer network 200 is shown.
The computer network 200 contains computers 202, 204, similar to
that described above with reference to FIG. 1, connected to a
server 206. The connection between the computers 202, 204 and the
server 206 can be made via a local area network (LAN), a wide area
network (WAN), or via modem connections, directly or through the
Internet. A printer 208 is shown connected to the computer 202 to
illustrate that a student can print out reports associated with the
computer program of the present invention. The computer network 200
allows information such as test scores, exercise statistics, and
other student information to flow from a student's computer 202,
204 to a server 206. An administrator can then review the
information and can then download configuration and control
information pertaining to a particular student, back to the
student's computer 202, 204.
[0093] The Fast ForWord Reading programs have been separated into
two program sets entitled Reading 1 (adapted to 1st grade reading
curriculum), and Reading 2 (adapted to 2nd grade reading
curriculum). Within each program set, a number of program exercises
have been created, each of which are directed at training
particular cognitive skills. FIG. 3 provides an overview of the
exercises within program set Reading 1. FIG. 4 provides an overview
of the exercises within program set Reading 2. A close examination
of these Figures reveals that some of the exercises parallel each
other in each of the program sets. That is, Bear Bags in Reading 1
has a parallel exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch in Reading 2. Flying
Fish in Reading 1 has a parallel exercise Fish Frenzy in Reading 2.
Magic Rabbit in Reading 1 has a parallel exercise Magic Bird in
Reading 2. Bedtime Beasties in Reading 1 has a parallel exercise
Leaping Lizards in Reading 2. Buzz Fly in Reading 1 has a parallel
exercise Dog Bone in Reading 2. The exercise Quail Mail is specific
to Reading 1. And, the exercise Ant Antics is specific to Reading
2.
[0094] The exercises in both of the exercise sets will now be
described in detail. The description will provide a general
overview of a exercise, including its goals, its features, and a
brief description of the exercise. The description will then
outline the tasks of the exercise, and will describe the student's
interaction in the exercise. The stimulus sets used to train the
student will then be provided. After the description, the reader
will be referred to the drawings where s/he will be walked through
the exercise play, as if s/he were at the computer, particularly
illustrating the novel features of the exercise. Finally, a flow
chart illustrating the method of the exercise will be provided. The
description of the exercises will begin with the first exercise of
program set Reading 1, and will continue until all of the exercises
of Reading 1 have been described. The description will then
continue with the first exercise of program set Reading 2, and will
continue until all of the exercises of Reading 2 have been
described.
[0095] Referring to FIG. 5, a screen capture is shown of a startup
screen 500 for the Reading 1 program set. The Reading 1 program set
includes six exercises 502 including: Bear Bags; Flying Fish; Quail
Mail; Magic Rabbit; Bedtime Beasties; and Buzz Fly. The startup
screen 500 contains a cursor, or selection tool 504, pictures of
each of the exercises 502, and an exit button 506. Although not
shown, when the screen 500 is presented, entertaining music is
played through the speakers. The student begins one of the
exercises by moving the selector 504 on top of the exercise
grapheme 502, and indicating the selection (e.g., by clicking the
mouse). In one embodiment, after a session for one of the exercises
is completed, the student is automatically taken to the next
exercise in the set, as appropriate. In an alternative embodiment,
the student is taken back to the screen 500 for selection of
another exercise. In this embodiment, any exercises already played
during the present session are grayed out so that they may not be
reselected.
[0096] Referring to FIG. 6, a screen capture is shown of a startup
screen 600 for the Reading 2 program set. The reading 2 program set
includes six exercises 602 including: Bear Bags: More Lunch; Fish
Frenzy; Magic Bird; Leaping Lizards; Ant Antics; and Dog Bone. As
in FIG. 5, the startup screen 600 contains a cursor, pictures of
each of the exercises 602, and an exit button. Selection of the
exercises 602 from the screen 600 is similar to that described
above with respect to FIG. 5. A description of each of the
exercises will now be provided, beginning with Bear Bags in program
set Reading 1.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--1: Bear Bags
[0097] The goal of this exercise is to improve phonemic awareness,
understanding of alphabetic principles (phonics), and decoding of
one-syllable words. In this exercise, the student is asked to help
Mama Bear sort words (on pieces of toast) into phoneme-based
categories (in lunch bags). The exercise develops phonemic
awareness along with grapheme/phoneme associations. The exercise
starts with initial consonants, and progresses to final consonants,
short vowels, and long vowels. Initially, sounds that are easy to
discriminate will be contrasted; later the contrasts will involve
confusable sounds. The same sorting categories will be presented in
two stages; initially sorting stimuli are presented aurally with
pictures, later they are presented aurally with text. Because they
may be presented as text, the stimulus words have transparent
spellings whenever possible. In the sorting exercise the student
will sort words into 1, 2, or 4 bins (lunch bags). The words will
be sorted on the basis of the phoneme in the position currently
targeted. The target phoneme could be the initial or final
consonant, or the medial vowel.
[0098] The very first time the student works on this exercise, only
1 sorting bin is available for a "familiarization round" of 4
trials only. Otherwise, the student will be presented with either
two bins representing two categories, and items presented in blocks
of eight, or four bins representing all four categories from a
group, with blocks of 20 items. In "Stage 1" a stimulus item is
presented--first aurally and then visually with a picture. The
student should recognize the phoneme in the target position, and
click on the relevant bin to sort the word. The student should
master a block of trials (representing a given set of phonemes in a
given position) in Stage 1 before advancing to Stage 2. In Stage 1,
the student is first presented with 2 bins (block of 8 items)
before moving onto 4 bins with items in blocks of 20. In "Stage 2"
a stimulus item is presented--first aurally and then visually with
the written word. Items are presented in blocks of 20 with 4 bins
only. A fluency round is also provided which will give the student
an opportunity to develop speed at recognizing and identifying
phonemes and mapping graphemes to phonemes. A countdown timer and
other visual cues will indicate to the student that this is a
fluency round. There are two levels of difficulty in the sound
contrasts across bins (i.e., the foil set). An easier level
contrasts nonconfusable sounds, whereas a harder level contrasts
confusable sounds.
[0099] When beginning a new unit, the student is required to click
an "OR" button. The categories used in the current unit will be
presented in the sorting bins on the screen. In Stage 1, the
stimulus is represented as a picture, with an aural presentation
just before the word to be sorted pops out of a toaster. The
student responds by clicking on a category bin (lunch bag) to sort
the word. Sorting bins are labeled with a picture of a sample item,
and its written name. The letter(s) corresponding to the target
sound are highlighted (in red) in the name of the sample item. The
student can also click on a speaker associated with the category to
hear the example. Whenever a new category bin or set of bins is
displayed, the category's description is aurally presented, with an
accompanying highlight on the lunch bag before the first trial
begins. For example: For the category initial-/t/, the word to sort
is "toy." The word "toy" is aurally presented, then a picture of a
toy pops out of the toaster. To complete the trial correctly, the
student selects the initial-/t/ bin, which is labeled with the
written word "tub," and a picture of a bathtub.
[0100] In Stage 2, when a student masters a block of categories at
Stage 1, they are presented with the same categories at Stage 2.
The student is again required to click the OR button. As before,
the stimulus is first aurally presented, but now the visual
stimulus that drops down is a written word--rather than a picture
(for example, [toy]) and the student responds by clicking on the
correct category to sort the word. The written stimulus words also
have the target phoneme highlighted (in this example, "t" in "toy"
is highlighted). The sorting bins at Stage 2 have only the
corresponding picture for that category (e.g., pictures of a pig,
tub, rat, or cub). This is to prevent a simple visual matching of
letter to letter. Instead, the student is encouraged to read the
stimulus word, think about the names of the items on the bins, and
compare them phonemically. When this set of sounds is mastered, the
student can move onto a new set of sounds. The student can also
click on a speaker associated with the category to hear the
example. Whenever a new category bin or set of bins is displayed
(e.g. at the beginning of a new unit), the category's description
is aurally presented, with an accompanying highlight on the bin
before the first trial begins.
[0101] The Fluency Round occurs after mastery of a block in stage
2. The Fluency round has the same characteristics and functionality
as a regular round of trials in Stage 2, with the exception that
only the shorter versions of correct standard animations play. A
timer on the interface indicates the amount of time for the fluency
round. The student is given 60 seconds to complete the fluency
round.
Stimuli:
[0102] There are three types of sound targets and a total of 33
phonemic categories in this exercise. The categories are listed
here with the item that will be used to label the sorting bin for
that category: TABLE-US-00002 Initial Consonant Final Consonant
Vowel B - BED B - TUB Short C - CUP D - BED a - HAT D - DOG G - PIG
e - BED F - FIVE M - RAM i - PIG G - GOOSE N - SUN o - DOG H - HAT
P - CUP u - CUP J - JUG T - HAT Long K - KITE A - CAKE L - LOG I -
KITE M - MOP O - BONE N - NUT E - FEET P - PIG U - TUBE R - RAM S -
SUN T - TUB W - WIG
[0103] TABLE-US-00003 STIMULUS/BIN PRESENTATION STAGE 1 STAGE 2
FLUENCY ROUND STIMULUS Aural/Picture Aural/Word Aural/Word BINS
Picture/Word Picture Picture
[0104] Stimulus words are selected based on several criteria. Each
category should have approximately 10 words. And, approximately
five words for each category should be picturable. Whenever
possible, the vocabulary should be at 2.sup.nd grade level or
lower. All words can be presented as text (either during Stage 2,
or in Stage 1 when receiving corrective feedback). Therefore all
stimuli should be transparently spelled CVCs whenever possible.
When there are no other words available, some non-transparent
segments, can be included (in fact a few words include consonant
clusters and digraphs, e.g., teeth, goat, clam). However, the
target segment should be transparent, in accordance with the
following rules: Each target segment that is a consonant or soft
vowel is spelled with a single letter that is the regular spelling
for that sound. When the target segment is a long /A/, /I/, or /O/
it should be spelled with silent-e, long /U/ can be spelled with
either silent-e or [oo], and long /E/ should be spelled with
[ee].
[0105] Referring now to FIG. 7, a screen 700 is shown. The screen
700 is the beginning screen for the exercise Bear Bags in Reading
1. The screen includes the name of the student 702, a selection paw
704, and a cursor 706. To begin a trial, the student moves the
cursor 706 over the selection paw 704 and indicates the selection,
e.g., by clicking the mouse. The screen 700 further includes a
number of lunch bags 708, a number of speakers 710, mama bear 712,
a score indicator 714, and a time indicator 716. The lunch bags 708
are sorting bins into which the student will sort target phonemes,
as will be shown below. The speakers 710 allow a student to
auditorily replay phonemes that are on the corresponding lunch bags
708. The score indicator 714 adds points to the students score as
the student correctly responds to trials. The time indicator 716
provides a graphical illustration of the relative time left for the
exercise. Exercise play begins when the student selects the
selection paw 704.
[0106] Referring now to FIG. 8, a screen 800 is shown. All of the
elements described above with respect to FIG. 7 are present in FIG.
8. The screen 800 appears after the student selects the selection
paw as in FIG. 7. When s/he does, a first target 820 is presented.
In this instance, the target is the word "mop", which is shown with
the letter "m" highlighted, indicating that the consonant that the
student will be required to sort is the beginning consonant "m". A
picture of the word "mop" is also included to help the student
correctly interpret the word. At the time the picture 820 is
presented, the word "mop" is played through the speakers of the
computer so that the student associates the graphical
representation (i.e., the grapheme), with the acoustic
presentation. And, as mentioned above, if the student wishes to be
reminded of what the grapheme represents, s/he may select the
speaker 810 below the grapheme, and the computer will replay the
auditory prompt.
[0107] The first time the student plays Bear Bags, a training stage
is initiated which only shows the student a single target phoneme
820. Then, referring to FIG. 9, a slice of toast 922 is ejected
from a toaster 924. The toast contains a grapheme 926--in this
instance a "mug", and the word associated with the grapheme is
presented auditorily to the student. What is intended is that the
student associate that the beginning consonant of the target
phoneme "mop", which is the letter "m", is the same as the
beginning consonant of the trial phoneme "mug". The student is then
required to select the lunch bag 920 that corresponds to the trial
phoneme 926. If the student selects the lunch bag 920 that is
associated with the trial phoneme 926, then the student has
correctly responded to the trial. Another trial is then begun by
selection of the selection paw, as before.
[0108] Referring now to FIG. 10, a screen shot 1000 is shown. In
this instance, the student is still in the training mode. But, two
target phonemes are presented: "mop" 1020 (which begins with the
letter "m"); and "goose" 1028 (which begins with the letter "g").
After presentation (graphical and aural) of each of the target
phonemes 1020, 1028, a trial phoneme 1026 is presented. In this
instance, the trial phoneme is the word "gear", which begins with
the letter "g". The student is required to select the target
phoneme 1020, 1028 which begins with the same first letter as the
trial phoneme 1026. In this instance, both "gear" and "goose" begin
with the letter "g". Thus, a correct response occurs when the
student selects the target phoneme "goose" 1028. When the student
correctly responds to a trial, a "ding" is played, thereby
indicating to the student a correct response. In addition, the
correct lunch bag 1028 is highlighted, and points are added to the
score indicator 1014. If scheduled, reward animations will occur
(further described below). If the student incorrectly responds
(e.g., if in this instance, the student had selected the lunch bag
1020), a "thunk" is played to indicate an incorrect response, the
incorrect lunch bag(s) are grayed out, and the correct lunch bag
1028 is highlighted and repeated aurally. Further, the stimulus (or
trial) phoneme 1026 is highlighted and aurally repeated. This
reemphasizes to the student not only that they incorrectly
responded, but what the correct response should have been.
[0109] Once the initial training has been completed, the student
should understand that what they are to do is to pair stimulus
words with target words, based on similarities between the words.
Initially, the similarity is the beginning consonant. But, as
training progresses, the similarity includes medial vowels, and
ending consonants. And, as training progresses, the differences
between the target phonemes become less, thereby making the trials
more difficult.
[0110] Referring now to FIG. 11, a screen 1100 is shown. The screen
1100 is at stage 1 in the program, and shows four target phonemes:
jug; hat; log; and pig. The student is required to match the
stimulus phoneme "pup" with one of the four target phonemes. As
above, the student indicates a correct selection by selecting the
target phoneme "pig" because it begins with the same starting
consonant as "pup", i.e., "p". In this instance, and for the rest
of exercise play in Bear Bags, the number of target phonemes is
four.
[0111] Referring now to FIG. 12, a screen 1200 is shown. In this
trial, what should be appreciated is that the graphemes 1220 for
the target phonemes do not include the words (e.g., sun, tub, mop,
goose), but merely pictorial representations of the words. Further,
the stimulus phoneme 1222 does not include a graphical illustration
of the word (e.g., sat), but simply the word. What the reader is
encouraged to appreciate, at this point, is that during exercise
play, the exercise will use either the word, or the graphical
illustration of the word, or a combination thereof, for either or
both of the target phonemes and stimulus phonemes.
[0112] Referring now to FIG. 13, a screen 1300 is shown. In this
screen 1300, a number of honey bees are peeking out of the lunch
bags, and dancing to music. Screens such as this one are considered
reward animations and are provided at various times in the program
to entertain and amuse the student.
[0113] Referring now to FIG. 14, a screen 1400 is shown. Screen
1400 is similar to the other screens described above. However,
rather than a paw select, there is a timer 1430. In this trial,
termed a "fluency" trial, the student is encouraged to sort the
stimulus phonemes into their appropriate target lunch bags as fast
as they can, as the timer 1430 advances. In one embodiment, the
timer 1430 counts down from 60 seconds to 0 seconds. An advantage
of the fluency trial is that it encourages the student to make
decisions faster than in the regular trials of Stage 1 and Stage
2.
[0114] With the above understanding of the screens and aural
presentation of the exercise Bear Bags, the following will discuss
the progression thru the exercise using various stimulus sets. In
one embodiment, the stimulus sets are divided into 16 sets, 8
considered "easy" and 8 considered "hard". More specifically, the
16 stimulus sets are:
[0115] Set #
[0116] (Easy Sound Contrasts) TABLE-US-00004 Initial Consonants 1 t
m s g 2 d c r f 3 p l h j 4 b k n w
[0117] TABLE-US-00005 Final Consonants 5 g m b t 6 d n p g
[0118] TABLE-US-00006 Vowels 7 a e i o 8 u e i o
[0119] TABLE-US-00007 Initial Consonants 9 b p d t 10 h g k j 11 f
c s w 12 m n l r
[0120] Set #
[0121] (Hard Sound Contrasts) TABLE-US-00008 Final Consonants 13 d
b p t 14 m n g b
[0122] TABLE-US-00009 Vowels 15 a e i o 16 a i o u
[0123] Each stimulus set is considered a block, which is a
different set of four letters. For example, referring briefly back
to FIG. 11, there are four words that are target phonemes: jug,
hat, log, pig. These come from easy stimulus block 3, where the
letters p, l, h, and j are used in the trial. And, for each trial,
either 2, or 4 target phonemes are presented. Further, each time
the selection paw is presented, a number of trials are presented,
sequentially, using the letters for a selected block. In one
embodiment, where two target phonemes are presented, four trials
are provided. And, where four target phonemes are presented, five
trials are provided. Progression from block to block will now be
described with reference to FIG. 15, to which attention is now
directed.
[0124] Flow begins at block 1502, and proceeds to block 1504.
[0125] At block 1504, an initial training is provided, displaying
just 1 target phoneme (as shown in FIG. 8), and four trials are
provided. This is referred to as a 1.times.4 set. Flow then
proceeds to block 1506.
[0126] At block 1506, the stimulus set (or block) of phonemes to be
tested on is set to 1, which is the first block in the easy sound
contrasts. Also, the stage is set to 1, which will become clearer
below. Flow then proceeds to block 1508.
[0127] At block 1508, the Unit for testing is set to 1. The purpose
of the Unit will become clearer below.
[0128] At block 1510, a first trial is presented. Recall from the
above, that the first trial begins when the student selects the
selection paw on the toaster. At this point, two target phonemes
are presented, followed by a stimulus phoneme for matching. In one
embodiment, during stage 1, unit 1, four trials are presented. The
student then selects the selection paw, and another four trials are
presented. Flow then proceeds to decision block 1512.
[0129] At decision block 1512 a determination is made as to whether
the student has passed Unit 1. In one embodiment, to pass Unit 1,
the student should correctly respond to 100% of the 8 trials
presented. If they correctly respond to the eight trials (in block
1), flow proceeds to decision block 1518. However, if they do not
achieve 100% success, flow proceeds to block 1514.
[0130] At block 1514, a different set of two letters, from block 1,
are used to present 8 more trials. Flow then proceeds to decision
block 1516.
[0131] At decision block 1516 a determination is made, the same as
in decision block 1512, as to whether the student has correctly
responded to 100% of the trials in Unit 1. If so, flow proceeds to
decision block 1518. If not, the student is given a total of 3
chances to pass Unit 1, using Block 1. If they do, flow proceeds to
decision block 1518. If not, flow proceeds to block 1520.
[0132] At block 1520, a new block (stimulus set) is opened for
testing. But, block 1 is left open and will be repeated later. Flow
then proceeds back to block 1510.
[0133] At decision block 1518, a determination is made as to
whether the student has correctly responded to 90% of the trials in
Unit 2. In one embodiment, Unit 2 utilizes four target phonemes,
such as those shown in FIG. 11, and presents 20 trials, five at a
time. Thus, to get 90% correct, the student should correctly
respond to 18 out of the 20 trials. If the student does correctly
respond to 90% of the trials, another set of 20 trials is presented
within the current block. The student is given three chances to
pass Unit 2 for the current block. If s/he does, flow proceeds to
decision block 1522. If s/he does not, flow proceeds to block 1520
where another block is selected, but the current block is left
open.
[0134] At this point, the target phonemes have shown both the
picture of a word, and the word itself. In addition, the stimulus
phoneme has been shown with a picture only, and an aural
presentation of the phoneme. This combination of picture/text for
the targets, and text only for the stimulus, is considered Stage
1.
[0135] At decision block 1522, a determination is made as to
whether the student has correctly responded to 90% of the trials in
Unit 2, Stage 2. In one embodiment, Unit 2 utilizes four target
phonemes, and presents 20 trials, five at a time. Thus, to get 90%
of the trials, the student should correctly respond to 18 out of
the 20 trials. From the last paragraph, Stage 2 implies that the
form of presentation of the trials shows the picture only for the
target phonemes, and not the text, and the text only for the
stimulus phoneme. Of course, other variations or combinations are
possible. And, as above, the student is given is given three
chances to pass Unit 2 for the current block. If they do correctly
respond to 90% of the trials, in the present stage, in the present
unit, for the current block, flow proceeds to block 1524. If they
do not correctly respond to 90% of the trials, after three chances,
flow proceeds to block 1520 where another block is selected, but
the current block is left open.
[0136] At block 1524, the student enters a 1 minute timed trial, as
shown in FIG. 14. Although points are awarded, the students
progress is not affected by the number of correct/incorrect
responses in the fluency trial. Flow then proceeds to block
1526.
[0137] At block 1526, the current block is closed. That is, the
student has correctly responded to 100% of Unit 1, Stage 1 trials,
and at least 90% of Unit 2, Stage 1, and Unit 3, Stage 2 trials.
Thus, the block used for these units/stages is closed and will not
be repeated within the exercise. Flow then proceeds to decision
block 1526.
[0138] At decision block 1526, a determination is made as to
whether all blocks have been closed. If not, flow proceeds to block
1520 where a trial begins on the next block. However, if all blocks
have been closed, flow proceeds to block 1528 where the program
Bear Bags is completed.
[0139] What has been described above is one embodiment illustrating
a method of the present invention to improve a student's phonemic
awareness, understand alphabetic principles of phonics, and decode
one syllable words, by progressively testing the student to
sort/match, words according to their beginning and ending
consonants, as well as their medial vowels. One skilled in the art
should appreciate that other combinations of starting/ending
consonants could be used, the number of target phonemes presented
in each trial could vary, and the number of trials presented for
purposes of progression could vary, all without departing from the
scope of the present invention. With this in mind, attention is now
directed, not at the next exercise in Reading 1, but at a parallel
exercise in Reading 2, called Bear Bags: More Lunch. In organizing
the present description, it was believed that rather than
describing the exercises in the order that they were played, it
might be easier to comprehend if similar exercises were discussed
in the same context.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--1: Bear Bags: More Lunch
[0140] A goal in the exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch is improve
phonemic awareness, understanding of alphabetic principles
(phonics), and decoding of one-syllable words.
[0141] In this exercise, the student is asked to help Papa Bear
sort words (on pieces of toast) into phoneme-based categories (in
lunch bags). The exercise develops phonemic awareness along with
grapheme/phoneme associations. The exercise starts with initial
consonants, then progresses to final consonants, short vowels, and
long vowels. Initially, sounds that are easy to discriminate will
be contrasted, later the contrasts will involve confusable
sounds.
[0142] In the sorting exercise the student will sort words into 1,
2, or 4 bins (lunch bags). The words will be sorted on the basis of
the phoneme in the position currently targeted. The target phoneme
could be the vowel or the initial or final consonant or consonant
cluster. The very first time the student works on this exercise,
only 1 sorting bin is available for a "familiarization round" of 4
trials only. Otherwise, the student will be presented with either
two bins representing two categories, and items presented in blocks
of eight, or four bins representing all four categories from a
group, with items presented in blocks of 20.
[0143] In regular interaction, a stimulus item is presented--first
aurally and then visually with the written word. The student should
recognize the phoneme in the target position, and click on the
relevant bin (lunch bag) to sort the word. The student should
master a block of trials (representing a given set of phonemes in a
given position) before advancing to the Fluency Round.
[0144] In the fluency round, the task will give the student an
opportunity to develop speed at recognizing and identifying
phonemes and mapping graphemes to phonemes. A countdown timer and
other visual cues will indicate to the student that this is a
fluency round.
[0145] There are two levels of difficulty in the sound contrasts
across bins (i.e., the foil set). The easy level contrasts
non-confusable sounds, whereas the hard level contrasts confusable
sounds.
[0146] When beginning a new unit, the student is required to click
the selection (e.g., the OR) button. The categories used in the
current unit will be presented in the sorting bins on the screen.
The stimulus is first aurally presented, and the visual stimulus
that drops down is a written word. The written stimulus words also
have the target phoneme highlighted. The student can hear the word
again at any time during the trial by clicking on the OR
button.
[0147] The sorting bins have only the corresponding picture for
that category (e.g., pictures of a pig, tub, rat, or cub). This is
to prevent a simple visual matching of letter to letter. Instead,
the student is encouraged to read the stimulus word, think about
the names of the items on the bins, and compare them phonemically.
When this set of sounds is mastered, the student can move onto a
new set of sounds. The student can also click on the speaker
associated with the category to hear the example. The student can
click the word again to hear it, but fewer points will be awarded
and the trial will not count toward advancement. Whenever a new
category bin or set of bins is displayed, the category's
description is aurally presented, with an accompanying highlight on
the mailbox before the first trial begins.
[0148] There are three target positions and a total of 53 sound
pattern categories in this exercise. The categories are listed
below with the item that will be used to label the sorting bin for
that category. TABLE-US-00010 Initial Consonant s-blends sc scoop
sk skunk sm smile sn snowman sp spoon st star sw sweater r-blends
br broom cr crab dr dress fr fruit gr grasshopper pr princess tr
tractor l-blends bl blue cl cloud fl flower gl glue pl plate sl
slate digraphs ch cheese sh shoe th (-v) thumb Final Consonant
doubles ff cliff ll bell ss dress zz fuzz special x fox ck clock ng
string blends mp lamp nd hand lf wolf nk skunk ft gift lt belt nt
tent st nest digraphs ch peach sh fish th (-v) moth grammatical
endings -ed/Ed/ dented -ing eating -s cats Vowel silent-e a_e cake
i_e five o_e phone u_e tube digraphs ai nail ay hay ea leaf ee bee
oa goat
[0149] TABLE-US-00011 Terms: Categories A sound category is a given
phoneme or phoneme pair, represented by a particular spelling
pattern, in a given position (e.g., single phonemes like
initial-/sh/, final-/z/ spelled [zz], long-/E/ spelled [ea], &
long-/E/ spelled [ee]; phoneme pairs like initial-/br/ &
final-/st/). Position is specified for consonants only, as
consonants can be either initial or final. All vowel patterns
appear in only one position (usually medial, but final for [ay]).
Block Four categories that are presented together at a given level
(bin sets, and the accompanying stimuli). Each sound category
occurs in at least two blocks (one with easy contrasts and one with
hard contrasts). Unit The smallest group of trials to be evaluated
for advancement. Level Difficulty based on confusability of
stimulus and foil phonemes.
[0150] A trial is evaluated as correct if the student clicks on the
correct bin to sort the word. If the student makes the correct
selection they receive points and that trial is counted toward
advancement. Otherwise the trial is failed and the student receives
no points. Unit level evaluation will occur for the 4, 8, or 20
trials presented for each block. The student should get 90% correct
to pass that block.
[0151] For the 2.times.4 units, students should get 100% correct to
pass the block. Students get three attempts to pass each unit. If
they pass the 4.times.5 grid, they will get a Fluency Round on that
block. Fluency rounds are "bonus" rounds, and they are not
evaluated for progression. If students fail a 2.times.4 grid, they
will be presented with another 2.times.4 grid constructed from the
remaining 2 categories. If they fail that 2.times.4 grid, they
transition to the next open block. If students fail a 4.times.5
grid for any block, they transition to the next open block. If
students fail a block, they should repeat the same block, beginning
with the 2.times.4 unit. They will return to master incomplete
blocks at the end of the exercise. TABLE-US-00012 Stimulus Sets of
phonemes for Blocks/Bin Sets: EASY HARD Initial Consonants Initial
Consonants 1 2 3 4 5 6 16 17 18 19 20 21 bl cl gl pl fl sl bl cl fl
tr sm sh fr pr tr gr cr dr pl gl sl dr sn th sp sw sm sn sk st br
cr fr st sp ch br sc th ch sh th* pr gr sw sk sc sw* Final
Consonants Final Consonants 7 8 9 10 11 12 22 23 24 25 26 27 nt st
ft lt mp nd ff x ng st -s ss lf nk ng ck x ff ll ck nk lt th zz ss
ll zz sh th -ing lf ch nd -ed -ing mp ch -ed th* ff* ng* -s ft sh
nt ft* nk* nt* Vowels Vowels 13 14 15 28 29 30 a_e i_e i_e* u_e oa
a_e u_e o_e u_e* o_e ai o_e* ee ai ay ee ea i_e oa ea oa* ay u_e*
ee*
[0152] Referring now to FIG. 16, a screen shot 1600 is shown of an
initial training screen in the exercise Bear Bags: More Lunch.
Similarly to Bear Bags, the screen includes a toaster with a paw
select, a time indicator, a score indicator, speakers for replaying
the target phonemes on the lunch bags, and this time, Papa Bear
1602 for making lunches. In the initial training, a target phoneme
1604 is placed on the 1st lunch box, and an aural presentation is
played. In this instance, it states "begins with the letters that
sound like blue, or blouse". The student is then shown a stimulus
phoneme 1606, which in this instance is the word "blanket. It is
the blended initial consonant "bl" that is to be matched with the
lunch box pictorially represented by the color blue.
[0153] Referring now to FIG. 17, a screen shot 1700 is shown of a
trial in Unit 1, Stage 1 of the program. In this instance, the
student is to sort the word "brag", which contains the initial
consonant blend "br" into one of the lunch sacks associated with
"blue" or "broom".
[0154] Referring now to FIG. 18, a screen shot 1800 is shown of a
trial in Unit 1, Stage 1 of the program, where four target phonemes
are presented. In this instance, the target phonemes are "blue";
"spoon", "fruit", and "broom". The correct sort for the stimulus
phoneme "frost" is the target phoneme "fruit" because they both
begin with the initial consonant blend of "fr".
[0155] Referring now to FIG. 19, a screen shot 1900 is shown which
illustrates what occurs when an incorrect response is provided by
the student. In this instance, the target phonemes were "fruit",
"broom", "spoon", and "blue". The stimulus phoneme that required
sorting was "brain". The correct response should have been "broom".
However, if any of the other three target phonemes is selected as
the proper sort, a "dunk" is played, the three incorrect target
phonemes are grayed out, and the correct sort is highlighted, along
with a display of the word associated with its pictorial
representation (or grapheme).
[0156] Referring now to FIG. 20, a trial similar to that presented
in FIGS. 18 and 19 is shown on screen 2000. In this instance, the
initial consonant blend "sw" is being tested, with the student
required to sort the stimulus phoneme "swish" into the proper
target phonemes lunch bag. The appropriate sort is "sweater". As
above, a correct response causes the score indicator to increase,
and a "ding" to be played.
[0157] Exercise play progression is similar to that described above
in FIG. 15 with reference to Bear Bags. However, one skilled in the
art should appreciate that the blends in the stimulus sets in Bear
Bags: More Lunch are more difficult in Reading 2 than in the single
consonants/vowels presented in Bear Bags in Reading 1. In addition,
Bear Bags: More Lunch contains 30 blocks of combinations rather
than the 16 presented in Bear Bags in Reading 1. The student is
required to pass through all blocks to complete this exercise.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--2: Flying Fish
[0158] The goal of this exercise is to improve decoding skills,
identification of sight words, and auditory memory. This exercise
builds the word identification skills that are necessary for
reading fluency. Using auditory clues, the student is required to
remember a spoken word while waiting for the matching pronounced
(and written) word to be heard (and seen). This exercise also
improves working memory by requiring the student to remember the
sound of the words in order to find the matching written word.
Students are also trained on phonological awareness and visual
tracking to reinforce left-to-right reading patterns.
[0159] To begin exercise play, as in the other exercises described
above, the student clicks the OR button to hear a target word then
pays attention to a sequence of written and/or aurally presented
words. The student should identify the word that matches the target
word by clicking on the matching word when it appears.
[0160] Stimuli and Presentation Choices are presented in two
stages: TABLE-US-00013 Stimulus Presentation Choices Stage 1 Spoken
and Written Spoken and Written Stage 2 and Spoken only Written only
Fluency
[0161] In Stage 1, the "fishing pelican" pronounces a stimulus
word. Then a series of spoken and written target words fly across
the screen on fish. The student clicks on the target word when it
matches the stimulus word. The student continues doing so until all
the words in the set are matched. In one embodiment there are 10
words per set.
[0162] In Stage 2, the student works with the same set of words as
in Stage 1, but this time the stimuli and choices are presented
differently. The word is only aurally presented (no written
component as in Stage 1). The choices are presented as written text
(no aural component as in Stage 1). The student continues to work
through Stage 2 until the end of the word set. At the end of Stage
2, the student moves on to Stage 1 with a new set of words, and
then onto Stage 2 after Stage 1 is complete. This cycle continues
with 4 sets of stimuli. At the end of this cycle, the student moves
on to a Fluency Round.
[0163] In the Fluency Round, all 40 words from the previous 4 sets
(or 30 from the previous 3 sets if final set) are presented in the
manner of Stage 2 (spoken Stimulus, written choices). All of the
words from each set are lumped together into one big group of 40
words, then randomly sampled. This is a timed round of
approximately 2 minutes. The rate of presentation of the sequence
of words is variable: the sequence starts off slow, then speeds up
depending on which stage the student is in (Stage 1 slowest,
Fluency Round fastest). In one embodiment, the rates of Target and
Stim Presentation for Stage 1 and 2 are: target presentation: 800
ms; stimulus text presentation: 1300 ms.
Progression:
[0164] A Unit is the smallest group of trials to be evaluated for
advancement. A Set is a group of 10 words presented together. A
Round is a group of 4 or 5 sets of words. A trial is evaluated as
correct if the student responds by clicking on the correct word to
match the stimulus word. To successfully pass a unit (a set of 10
words), the student should get 90% of the trials correct.
Evaluation occurs at the end of a unit. A listing of the words in
each set, and the sets in each round, are located in Appendix
A.
[0165] Stage 1: Present set of 10 words. Stage 2 : Present same set
of 10 words as in Stage 1. Now go to Stage 1 again with new set of
words. Stage 1: Present new set of 10 words. Stage 2 : Present same
set of 10 words as in Stage 1. The student should meet the criteria
for Stage 1 before moving on to Stage 2 for any given set of 10
words. Likewise, they should meet the criteria for Stage 2 in 4
sets, before moving on to a Fluency Round. When a student passes
stage 2 on any four units (or the last three), they will get a
Fluency Round using words from those units. The Fluency Round is
not evaluated for progression--but for points only. If the Fluency
Round occurs at the end of a session, the student is allowed to
complete the Fluency Round before the session times out. If the
student exits manually from the Fluency Round, the round will be
exited immediately. If at the end of the exercise the student
returns to repeat a Stage 2 for any set of words, they should first
progress through Stage 1 for that set, even if they met criteria
the first time around. If a student repeats a unit three times
without meeting criteria, the unit is skipped and is presented
again at the end of the exercise. They then move on to the next
open unit.
[0166] Referring now to FIG. 21, a screen shot 2100 is shown of the
environment for the exercise Flying Fish. As in Bear Bags, Flying
Fish has a student indicator 2012, a time indicator 2104, a Paw
select 2106 (for initiating a trial), a score indicator 2108, and a
main character, in this case a fishing pelican 2110. Exercise play
begins with the student selecting ("clicking), the Paw 2106.
[0167] Referring now to FIG. 22, a screen shot 2200 is shown of a
stimulus word 2220 being presented to the student. For each trial,
the student is required to click the Paw 2106 to begin. After s/he
does so, a stimulus word 2220 is presented. As shown in FIG. 2200,
the stimulus word is presented graphically, and although not shown,
the stimulus word is also played aurally. After graphical/aural
presentation, the stimulus word 2220 disappears from the screen. As
mentioned above, during Stage 1 of each round, the fishing pelican
pronounces the stimulus word, and the word is presented
graphically. In Stage 2 of each round, the stimulus word is spoken
by the fishing pelican, but it is not presented graphically.
[0168] Referring now to FIG. 23, a screen shot 2300 is shown of a
trial in process after the stimulus word 2220 was presented. What
is particularly illustrated is that a series of target words 2322
will swim across the screen, one at a time. The student is required
to remember the stimulus word 2220, and then select the stimulus
word from the series of target words 2322 that swim across the
screen. In this trial, the stimulus word is "have". And, the target
word 2322 that appears on the screen, at this moment, is "one".
This is not a correct match. Therefore, the student should not
select the word 2322. If s/he does, then similarly to the other
exercises, a "thunk" is played, the word 2322 disappears, no points
are awarded, and a new trial is begun.
[0169] Referring now to FIG. 24, a screen shot 2400 is shown. In
this instance, the target word "have" 2424 is swimming across the
screen. This word is the same as the stimulus word presented in
screen 2200. Therefore, the student should select the target word
"have" 2424 before it swims off the screen. If s/he does, then a
"ding" is played, the student is awarded points, and a new trial is
begun. If s/he does not select the correct target word 2424 before
it swims off the screen, a "thunk" is played, no points are
awarded, and another trial is begun.
[0170] Referring now to FIG. 25, a flow chart 2500 is shown which
illustrates the method of the present invention as embodied in the
exercise Flying Fish. The method begins at block 2502 and proceeds
to block 2504.
[0171] At block 2504, the set, stage and round are set equal to 1.
Recall from the above, that there are 31 sets of 10 words, each of
which are presented twice, first in Stage 1, second in Stage 2.
There are 6 rounds, the first 3 having 5 sets in each, the second 3
having 4 sets in each. After the starting set, stage and round is
initialized, flow proceeds to block 2506.
[0172] At block 2506, a stimulus word is selected for the present
set. In one embodiment, the stimulus word is randomly selected from
the present set, with the selection made from the set of words that
have not yet been tested on. Once the stimulus word is selected, it
is presented to the student. If at stage 1, the word is shown, and
spoken aurally. If at stage 2, the word is spoken only. Flow then
proceeds to block 2508.
[0173] At block 2508, target words are presented. In one
embodiment, the target words swim by, one at a time, although it is
possible that multiple targets could be presented on the screen
together. The target words are selected from the present set.
During the presentation, the student should indicate a selection.
If the student correctly matches the target word with the stimulus
word, the word is marked "completed" for the set, and another trial
is begun within that set. If the student does not correctly match
the target word with the stimulus word, either by failing to make a
selection, or by selecting the wrong target, that stimulus word is
marked complete, and another trial is begun within that set. Flow
then proceeds to decision block 2510.
[0174] At decision block 2510, a determination is made as to
whether all of the stimulus words in the present set have been
presented to the student. If not, flow proceeds back to block 2506.
However, if all of the words in a set have been presented to the
student, flow proceeds to decision block 2510.
[0175] At decision block 2510, a determination is made as to
whether the student has passed the set successfully. That is, has
the student met a predetermined threshold for the present set. In
one embodiment, the predetermined threshold is 90%, or 9 out of 10
correct matches. However, one skilled in the art will appreciate
that this could have easily been set at another fixed percentage
(such as 70-100%), or alternatively, a given number of correct
responses. If the student did not "pass" this set, flow proceeds to
decision block 2514. But, if the student did "pass" this set, flow
proceeds to decision block 2518.
[0176] At decision block 2514, a determination is made as to
whether the student has attempted to pass the present set 3 times.
Again, one skilled in the art will appreciate that alternative
embodiments could present the present set any number of times, from
just once, to as many times as necessary to "pass" the set.
However, it was felt that if a student attempts a given set, and
fails it 3 times in a row, that rather than having them continue in
that set, it is better to let them move on, and retry that set
another day. Thus, if the student has not attempted the present set
3 times, all of the completed words in the set are marked
uncompleted, and flow proceeds back to block 2506 whether the
present set is repeated. But, if the student has attempted the
present set 3 times (and not passed), then flow proceeds to block
2516.
[0177] At block 2516, the words in the present set are marked
uncompleted, the present set is left open, and the set is
incremented. Flow then proceeds back to block 2506 where a new set
will be presented.
[0178] At decision block 2518, a determination is made as to
whether the student has just correctly passed a set at Stage 2? If
not, then flow proceeds to block 2520. If s/he has, then flow
proceeds to decision block 2522.
[0179] At block 2520, the stage is set to Stage 2. What this means,
in one embodiment, is that the student will hear the stimulus word
spoken only, without a graphical presentation of the stimulus word.
All of the words in the present set are marked uncompleted, and
flow proceeds back to block 2506 where the set is again
presented.
[0180] At decision block 2522, a determination is made as to
whether the student has completed a round. As above, sets have been
grouped together into rounds. A completed round gives the student
an opportunity to enter a timed trial, called a fluency stage,
which groups all of the words in the sets within a round together.
If a round is not complete, flow proceeds to block 2524. But, if
the student has completed a round, flow proceeds to block 2526.
[0181] At block 2524, the current set is closed, and the set is
incremented to begin a new set. Further, the stage is set back to 1
so the stimulus words for the new set will be presented both
aurally and graphically. Flow then proceeds back to block 2506 for
presentation of the new set.
[0182] At block 2526 a fluency round is begun. In the fluency
round, the student is given a timed trial to match as many stimulus
words as possible, with their targets. In one embodiment, the timed
trial is 2 minutes in length, although other times are possible.
The number of correct or incorrect matches do not effect the
student's progress in the exercise. Further, all of the words
within the sets associated with the present round are available for
selection as stimulus/target words. Upon completion of the fluency
round, flow proceeds to decision block 2528.
[0183] At decision block 2528, a determination is made as to
whether any sets remain open. If not, then flow proceeds to block
2532 where the exercise completes. However, if there are open sets,
flow proceeds to block 2530.
[0184] At block 2530, the next open set is selected. The next open
set could be a set that has not yet been tested on. Or, the next
open set could be a set that was attempted 3 times, in block 2514,
and failed. In either case, the student is tested on all open sets
until they are passed correctly, and closed, at block 2524.
[0185] What should be appreciated from the above is that a method
has been shown which presents stimulus words to a student,
graphically and aurally, as well as aurally only, and then the
stimulus word disappears. A series of target words are then
presented, for a period of time, to allow the student an
opportunity to remember what the stimulus word was, and then match
it with the target word before it disappears. The particular
arrangement of words within sets, or sets within rounds, or
ordering of stages, should not be considered as limiting to the
invention, but rather as simply one embodiment of the possible
success/progression through a group of words.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--2: Fish Frenzy
[0186] The goal of Fish Frenzy is to improve decoding skills,
identification of sight words, and auditory memory. This exercise
builds the word identification skills that are necessary for
reading fluency. Using auditory clues, the student is required to
remember a spoken word while waiting for the matching pronounced
(and written) word to be heard (and seen). This exercise also
improves working memory by requiring the student to remember the
sound of the words in order to find the matching written word.
Students are also trained on phonological awareness and visual
tracking to reinforce left-to-right reading patterns. The method of
Fish Frenzy is similar to that of Flying Fish described above. A
listing of the stimulus words in each set, and the sets in each
round are included in Appendix A.
[0187] Referring to FIG. 26, a screen shot 2600 is shown of the
initial screen in the exercise Fish Frenzy. As in FIG. 21, Fish
Frenzy includes a student indicator 2602, a time indicator 2604, a
Paw selector 2606, a score indicator 2608, and a fishing pelican
2610. Elements in FIG. 26 function essentially the same as those
described above in the exercise Flying Fish.
[0188] Referring now to FIG. 27, a screen shot 2700 is shown of a
trial within the exercise Fish Frenzy. At this point, the student
has begun the trial by selecting the Paw 2606, and a stimulus word
"full" has been presented. If the student is in stage 1, the
stimulus word was presented both aurally and graphically. If the
student is in stage 2, the stimulus word was presented aurally
only. Then, a set of target words begin swimming across the screen.
The target word "full" 2724 matches the stimulus word "full" and
should therefore be selected by the student, if a correct response
is desired. Game play continues in Fish Frenzy, for the sets and
rounds listed in Appendix A, according to the progression described
above for Flying Fish with respect to FIG. 25. the primary
difference between the exercises Flying Fish, and Fish Frenzy is in
the content level of the words presented, with Flying Fish using
content that is at a curriculum level for 1st grade, and Fish
Frenzy using content that is at a curriculum level for 2nd
grade.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--3: Magic Rabbit
[0189] The goal of this exercise is to improve spelling and
sensitivity to letter-sound correspondences. This exercise combines
spelling and word-building practice. Using a click and drag
interface, the student should either select the missing letter to
complete a partially spelled word or rearrange scrambled letter
tiles to spell a word. Items are presented as minimal spelling
pairs where switching one letter turns one word into another (e.g.,
hat.fwdarw.bat). In the Beginning Levels, a series of rounds with
restricted stimulus sets will be presented to progressively teach
all of the target sound-letter correspondences, according to a
phonics/spelling instructional sequence. To help build automaticity
and generalization, the stimulus sets in the Advanced Levels will
sample from all targeted letters and positions. These will be
presented as chains of minimal pairs (e.g., bat, cat, cap, cup . .
. ), building experience with word families and the combinatorial
nature of our alphabetic writing system. All stimulus words will be
Consonant-Vowel-Consonants (CVCs) with highly regular spellings
(3-letters, and, in the beginning level only, 3-letters plus
Silent-e). When a letter is needed to complete a new word, it will
be chosen from a principled array in which the visual and phonetic
similarity of foils is controlled. There will be two levels of foil
difficulty, based on the discriminability of target and foils.
[0190] In the beginning level trials of this exercise, pairs of
words are presented. First, a probe word is presented visually
(spelled with letter tiles) and aurally (e.g, b a t "bat"). Next,
one of the letter tiles in the probe word becomes blank (e.g., b a
t.fwdarw._a t). Finally, four letter tiles appear, representing the
response choices, and the target word is presented aurally (e.g.,
"hat"). The student should select the correct letter tile and drag
it on top of the blanked out letter to complete the spelling of the
target word. In Advanced Level trials, an initial stimulus word is
presented aurally, and its tiles appear in scrambled order (e.g., t
c a.fwdarw."cat"). The student should rearrange the tiles to
correctly spell the word. For the subsequent trials in that round
the word from the prior trial remains on screen, and serves as the
probe word for the next trial. As in the beginning levels, one of
the letter tiles in the probe word becomes blank. A response set of
4 letter tiles also appears, and a new stimulus word is presented
aurally. The student should select the correct tile to complete the
trial. To prevent students from being exposed to incorrectly
spelled words, the incorrect placement of any letter will not be
permitted.
[0191] In the initial trial in a round, after the student clicks
the OR button a word is presented aurally. Scrambled letter tiles
for a word appear, as do target spaces for those letters. Only the
3 tiles required to spell the word are presented (i.e, no "dummy"
tiles are shown). A card with a picture that represents the word
may also appear on screen. The student can click on the OR button
to hear the stimulus word repeated. There will be no penalty for
using the OR button to repeat the stimulus word. The student should
drag the letters to the correct spaces to spell the word. If the
response is incorrect, a second and third attempt is allowed. A
student that gets all the letters correct on the first try will
receive the most points; if a second or third try is needed, the
student will receive the least amount of points. A failed third
attempt is 0 points. The correct answer is shown after a third
attempt.
[0192] In subsequent trials in a round, the student proceeds in the
same manner as in the beginning level trials, with each completed
stimulus word serving as the probe word for the next trial. One of
the letter tiles in the probe word becomes blank. A response set of
4 letter tiles also appears, and a new stimulus word is presented
aurally. The student should select the correct letter and drag it
to the correct position to spell the word. If the response is
incorrect, a second and third attempt is allowed.
[0193] For example: Trial 1) The word "cat" is aurally presented
and a picture of a cat is also on screen. Three letter tiles for
"a", "c", and "t" appear, as do 3 targets or blank spaces for those
tiles to fill. In this case, the student clicks and drags the tiles
to their appropriate targets to spell the word "Cat".
[0194] A trial is evaluated as correct and counted toward
advancement only if the student spells the word correctly on the
first attempt. Second and third attempts can receive points, but
are not counted toward advancement (they are considered "incorrect"
for the purposed of advancement, even though they can still
accumulate points). Exception: Scrambled words (Advanced Levels)
are never evaluated for advancement, only for points as described
above.
[0195] Evaluation of unit: For the beginning levels (1 & 3)
evaluation will occur at the level of a block (20 of the 40 items
randomly sampled from a group of four categories). For the advanced
levels (2 & 4), evaluation will occur at the level of a round
(10 items in a chain of minimal pairs, which are always presented
together). Evaluation will occur when a student completes a unit.
TABLE-US-00014 Advancement: Level Stimuli Foils 1 Stimulus words
for Level 1 follow a progressive sequence Fixed list of easy
designed to teach a spelling/sound mappings in small, to
discriminate manageable sets. Rounds consist of a single
probe/stimulus letters word pair. Rounds will be blocked such that
20 items (20 of the 40 items randomly sampled from a group of four
categories), e.g., initial-s, initial-t, initial-m, initial-g) are
presented together. (Five categories will be used for the vowel
blocks so that four response alternatives are always available.
Items from the extra category will be unscored.) The response set
consists of the same four target letters (e.g., s, t, m, g) across
the entire block. 2 Stimulus words no longer grouped to represent a
reduced set Fixed list of easy of letters. Spelling patterns within
rounds, and order of to discriminate rounds are unconstrained.
(sample 20 word chains from list, letters any order) 3 Same as
Level 1 Fixed list of hard to discriminate letters 4 Same as Level
2 (sample remaining 20 word chains from list, Fixed list of hard
any order) to discriminate letters
[0196] Referring to FIG. 28, a screen shot 2800 is shown of the
initial screen within the exercise Magic Rabbit. As in the other
exercises, this screen 2800 contains a student indicator 2802, a
Paw select 2804, a score indicator 2806, and a time indicator 2808.
In addition, the screen 2800 contains a central character, the
Magic Rabbit 2810. Operation of these elements is similar to those
described above in the other exercises. A trial begins when the Paw
2804 is selected.
[0197] Referring to FIG. 29, a screen shot 2900 is shown which
illustrates the beginning of a trial. In this instance, three
blocks 2920 are presented, and the corresponding word "bad" is
aurally presented. Once this is presented, the letter "b"
disappears.
[0198] Referring to FIG. 30, a screen shot 3000 is shown which
illustrates the progression of the trial of FIG. 29. Once the
letter "b" disappears, the word "sad" is aurally presented. And, a
graphical image 3022 is provided to illustrate the word "sad".
Further, four letters 3024 are provided as options for the student
to fill in below to spell the word "sad". In this instance, the
student is given the choices of "m", "s", "t", and "g". The student
should rely on their memory of the aural presentation of the word
"sad" and their understanding of phonemes, to correctly select from
the letters 3024 to spell the word "sad". In one embodiment, if the
student does not remember the word they are trying to spell, they
can select the Paw 2804 to repeat the word. But, if they do so, the
number of points awarded will be less.
[0199] Referring to FIG. 31, a screen shot 3100 is shown which
illustrates another trial, where the student is required to spell
the word "tin". In this instance, there is no graphical hint to
help the student remember the word they are trying to spell. And,
in this instance, the student has tried to spell the word using the
letters "m" and "s", and has been unsuccessful. When a student
incorrectly selects a letter, a "thunk" is played to indicate the
incorrect letter, and the letter is grayed out so that it may not
be reselected. Thus, two possibilities remain for the student: the
letter "t" and the letter "g". If the student selects the letter
"t" points are awarded, but the student does not advance in the
game (i.e., because of the two incorrect responses). If the student
selects the letter "g" no points are awarded, the "t" is shown to
be the correct response, and a new trial is begun.
[0200] Referring to FIG. 32, a flow chart 3200 is shown which
illustrates the method of the exercise Magic Rabbit. Flow begins at
block 3202 and proceeds to block 3204.
[0201] At block 3204, an initial training is provided. More
specifically 4 trials are given to the student, particularly
illustrating what they are to do, which is to drag a target letter
(or tile) to a blank title next to other letters, to spell the word
that was aurally presented. The student remains in block 3204 until
they understand what they are to do. Flow then proceeds to block
3206.
[0202] At block 3206, the Unit is set to 1, and the Level is set to
1. In one embodiment, there are 40 Chains of 10 words (see Appendix
A), where each word has three easy targets, and three hard targets.
At level 1, each trial within a chain is presented to the student
in the order shown, but the chains are randomly selected from a
group of categories (e.g., initial-s, initial-t, initial-m,
initial-g). There are 20 trials in each unit (20 items randomly
selected from 40 items within 4 categories). Presentation of each
trial is as described above with respect to FIGS. 30-31. After 20
trials are presented, and the response recorded, flow proceeds to
decision block 3210.
[0203] At decision block 3210 a determination is made as to whether
the student has passed the unit. In one embodiment, the student
should correctly spell 18 out of 20 trials, or correctly respond to
90% of the trials in order to pass a unit. Further, a student is
given three opportunities to pass a unit. If they do not pass a
unit the first time, it is repeated. If they do not pass it a
second time, it is repeated. If it is not passed a third time, flow
proceeds to block 3212. However, if they do pass a unit, flow
proceeds to decision block 3214.
[0204] At block 3212, the present unit is left open, which means
that the student will have to repeat the unit at a later time. In
one embodiment, the unit is left to the end of the exercise where
the student should return to all units still open, (i.e., all the
units not passed during normal progression), and repeat the units
until they are passed. Flow then proceeds to decision block
3214.
[0205] At decision block 3214, a determination is made as to
whether all units at the present level have been completed (other
than the ones left open in block 3212). If not, flow proceeds to
block 3216. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 3218.
[0206] At block 3216, the unit number is incremented. At level 1,
there are 8 units with twenty trials in each unit. After the unit
number is incremented, flow proceeds back to block 3208 for
presentation of trials in the new unit.
[0207] At block 3218, the student has passed all units of a set
level (1 or 3). The next level (2 or 4) is therefore opened. Flow
then proceeds to block 3220.
[0208] At block 3220, a new unit is selected for the new level (2
or 4). In levels 2 or 4, there are 20 units (from the 40 chains)
with just 11 trials in each unit--the first trial of each unit not
counted). At level 2, stimulus words are no longer grouped to
represent a reduced set of letters. And, the spelling patters
within rounds, and the order of rounds are unconstrained. Units are
selected randomly with trials in a unit presented in order. Unit 2
utilizes the easy to discriminate letters. The only difference
between unit 2 and unit 4 is that unit 4 utilizes the list of hard
to discriminate letters. Once the new unit is selected, flow
proceeds to block 3222.
[0209] At block 3222, the trials are presented to the student. Flow
then proceeds to decision block 3224.
[0210] At decision block 3224, a determination is made as to
whether the student has passed the unit. In one embodiment, the
student should correctly drag 9 out of 10 (or 90%) of the target
letters to the blank tile, to spell the aurally presented word.
And, as above, the student is given three chances to pass the unit.
If they do not, flow proceeds to block 3226. However, if they pass
the present unit, flow proceeds to decision block 3228.
[0211] At block 3226, the present unit is left open. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 3228.
[0212] At decision block 3228, a determination is made as to
whether all 20 units have been completed. If not, flow proceeds to
block 3230. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 3232.
[0213] At block 3230, the unit number is incremented. Or rather,
the present unit is closed, and the next unit is randomly selected
from the list of remaining units. Flow then proceeds back to block
3222 for presentation of the next unit.
[0214] At block 3232, the next level is open. If the student is
currently at level 2, the next level is level 3 . In one
embodiment, level 3 is the same as level 1, but, the foils used are
from the list of hard to discriminate letters. Flow then proceeds
back to block 3208 for presentation of a new unit at level 3 .
However, if the level that is presently open is level 4, then the
student has proceeded through all levels. Flow therefore proceeds
to decision block 3234.
[0215] At decision block 3234, a determination is made as to
whether any units remain open. If not, flow proceeds to block 3238
where the exercise ends. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 3236
where the method is repeated for all of the open units, until
passed.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--3: Magic Bird
[0216] The goal of the exercise Magic Bird is to improve spelling
and sensitivity to letter-sound correspondences, with a focus on
the multi-letter units typically taught in curriculum for 2nd grade
students. This exercise combines spelling and word-building
practice applied to spelling patterns and word families. The task
is designed to put an emphasis on word families and multiple-letter
spelling patterns such as blends and digraphs. The student should
select the missing onset or rime to complete a partially spelled
word or should make as many real words as possible by pairing
onsets and rimes from a grid. The rabbit magician does card tricks
that present the student with the answer choices. In the beginning
levels, a series of rounds with restricted stimulus sets will be
presented to progressively teach all of the targeted spelling
patterns, according to a phonics/spelling instructional sequence.
In the advanced levels students master those spelling patterns as
they build sets of words that belong to common (and less common)
word families. Targeted spelling patterns include consonant blends
and digraphs (e.g., stop, fish), vowel digraphs (e.g., speed), and
simple grammatical endings (e.g., fishing). The instructional
sequence and selection of targeted spelling patterns is informed by
L. C. Moats' "Spelling Scope and Sequence Chart."
[0217] In the Beginning Levels (Teaching Pairs) of this exercise,
the student should select the missing onset or rime to complete a
partially spelled word. First, a probe word is presented visually
and aurally (e.g. "name"). Next, part of the probe word drops off
and is replaced by a blank (e.g., name.fwdarw._ame). Finally, four
tiles appear with different letter combinations (e.g., "bl", "fr",
"sp", br") and the target word is presented aurally (e.g.,
"blame"). The student should select the correct tile (by clicking
on it) to complete the spelling of the target word.
[0218] In Advanced Levels (Family Matches), students should make as
many real words as possible by matching a partially spelled
stimulus word with several onsets or rimes from a 4- or 9-tile
grid. (e.g., the stimulus rime_ate might be presented along with an
onset response grid of dr_, pl_, gl_, sh_, st_, sl_, br_, cr_, v_).
Each time the student clicks on a tile that makes a real word, the
assembled word is presented visually and aurally. The student
continues working with this grid until all possible word
combinations have been presented, or until an incorrect selection
is made.
[0219] Trial (Beginning levels): After the student clicks the OR
button, a probe word is presented visually and aurally. Next, the
beginning or end of the word drops off and is replaced by a space.
Next, the stimulus word is presented aurally and four tiles showing
different letter combinations (onsets or rimes) appear, one of
which fills the blank in the partial word to spell the stimulus
word. The student is asked to click the correct letter combination
to correctly spell the word. If the response is incorrect, a second
and third attempt is allowed. Note: For the block of trials in
which the spelling pattern is a morphological ending, this sequence
changes as follows: the probe word is presented visually with a
blank already at the end. The probe word is not presented aurally.
The rest of the procedure is the same, but one option will always
be a blank tile, and the probe and stimulus words will sometimes be
identical (there will be a dummy blank, but it will not be
"filled-in").
[0220] Trial: (Advanced levels) After the student clicks the OR
button, a partially spelled word stimulus appears along with a grid
of possible responses. The stimulus will be either an English onset
(consonantal word beginning) or a rime (a word ending consisting of
a vowel, usually followed by a consonant). The responses will be
the complementary word part, either onsets or rimes (e.g., if the
stimulus were bl_, the response set could be _ade, _if, _ude,
_ock). All response options will be legal letter strings that do
occur in that position in some English word (rimes can either
appear as rimes or as entire words, e.g., "eve"). No foil word will
be a homophone of a common English word (e.g, "treet," "mune,"
"thay"). The response grid will consist of a varied number of
correct responses (ones that combine with the stimulus to make true
English words, like "block") and incorrect responses (ones that
make non-words when combined with the stimulus, like "blif"). A
grid should always include at least one correct response, but not
more than 60% of the grid (i.e., 1-2 correct for a 4-tile grid, and
1-5 correct for a 9-tile grid). The student continues working with
this grid until all possible word combinations have been selected,
or an incorrect selection is made. In either of these instances,
the grid will automatically close. TABLE-US-00015 Presentation
Spelling Minimum Level Mode Pattern Foil Set Blocks Items Grids
Grid Size Trials 1 Teaching initial easy 6 120 -- -- 120 Pairs 2
Teaching final easy 5 100 -- -- 100 Pairs 3 Teaching vowel easy 3
60 -- -- 60 Pairs 4 Teaching morph. easy 1 20 -- -- 20 Pairs ending
5 Teaching initial hard 6 120 -- -- 120 Pairs 6 Teaching final hard
5 100 -- -- 100 Pairs 7 Teaching vowel hard 3 60 -- -- 60 Pairs 8
Teaching morph. hard 1 20 -- -- 20 Pairs ending 9 Family mixed --
-- -- 81 small .about.122 Matches grid 10 Family mixed -- -- -- 81
large .about.243 Matches grid
[0221] TABLE-US-00016 Stimulus categories with blocking: Easy Hard
Init Init 1 2 3 4 5 6 16 17 18 19 20 21 bl cl gl pl fl sl bl cl fl
tr sm sh fr pr tr gr cr dr pl gl sl dr sn th st sw sm sn sk sp br
cr fr st sp ch sh sc th ch br th* pr gr sw sk sc sw* Fin Fin 7 8 9
10 11 22 23 24 25 26 nt st ft lt nd ff x ng st lt lf nk ng ck x ll
ck nk ss mp ss ll zz sh th lf ch nd zz ll* ch ff mp nd* ll* ft sh
nt th nt* Med Med 12 13 14 27 28 29 a_e ai ay a_e ee ea oa o_e i_e
o_e ay oa u_e ee ea i_e u_e ai e i u i u e
[0222] In the beginning levels, there are two kinds of trials:
regular and feedback. In a regular trial, a new stimulus item is
presented and the user makes an initial response. If a regular
trial is failed, the user will have as many as two feedback trials
(additional attempts at the same item). In the advanced levels,
each stimulus item is paired with a variable number of correct
responses. Each user response constitutes a trial. When a new grid
is presented, the user can have up to 5 regular trials. If a trial
is failed, the grid will be represented up to two times, and all
trials are learning trials. Learning trials never count for
progression, and are awarded fewer points.
[0223] In the advanced levels (Family Matches) several words from
the same "word family" will be presented simultaneously, using a
single stimulus stem, and a grid of response options. Small grids
will have 4 response options including a random number of between 1
and 2 correct responses. Large grid will have 9 response options,
including a random number of between 1 and 5 correct responses.
Each of the 81 grids (or word families) will be presented, in
random order, at both the small grid and large grid levels.
[0224] Referring now to FIG. 33, a screen shot 3300 is shown of an
initial screen in the exercise Magic Bird. The screen 3300 includes
elements similar to the other exercises described above including a
student indicator 3302, a Paw select 3304, a score indicator 3306,
and a time indicator 3308. In addition, the screen 3300 includes a
Magic Bird 3310. The Magic Bird 3300 deals out cards (not shown)
which will be used to implement the method of the present
invention.
[0225] Referring now to FIG. 34, a screen shot 3400 is shown of a
trial within the exercise. In this instance, a first word has
already been presented, graphically and aurally, which rhymes with
the word "stock". Then, the target word "stock" is presented
aurally, and the end part of the word "stock" is presented in card
3420 as "ock". A blank card 3422 is provided as a space to hold a
selected card from one of the four cards 3424. In this instance,
the card "st" should be selected to spell the word "stock". If the
student selects "st", a ding is played, the card "st" is placed on
top of the blank card 3422, and the word is combined together into
a single card to illustrate a correct match. Additionally, the
student receives points for the correct selection.
[0226] Referring now to FIG. 35, a screen shot 3500 is shown
illustrating an incorrect selection during a trial. More
specifically, the target word that has been aurally presented is
the word "frame". In the trial, the student incorrectly selected
the card "sh" 3530. When a student selects an incorrect card, a
"thunk" is played, the card is grayed out, and the student is given
another opportunity to make a correct selection. Further, if the
student has forgotten the word s/he is intended to spell, s/he may
re-select the Paw and have the target word aurally presented again.
If the student makes an incorrect selection, and/or if the student
chooses to replay the target word, points may be awarded, but
further selections will not count towards progression in the
game.
[0227] Referring now to FIG. 36, a flow chart 3600 is shown
illustrating the method of the present invention. The method will
utilize the below table to show the flow through the exercise Magic
Bird, for the stimulus set provided in Appendix A. TABLE-US-00017
Level Mode Spelling cat. Foils Blocks Items Grids Size Min. Trials
1 T. Pairs Initial easy 6 120 -- -- 120 2 T. Pairs Final easy 5 100
-- -- 100 3 T. Pairs vowel easy 3 60 -- -- 60 4 T. Pairs morph.
ending easy 1 20 -- -- 20 5 T. Pairs initial hard 6 120 -- -- 120 6
T. Pairs final hard 5 100 -- -- 100 7 T. Pairs vowel hard 3 60 --
-- 60 8 T. Pairs morph. ending hard 1 20 -- -- 20 9 F. Matches
mixed -- -- -- 81 small .about.122 10 F. Matches mixed -- -- -- 81
large .about.243
[0228] The method begins at block 3602 and proceeds to block
3604.
[0229] At block 3604, an initial training is provided, similar to
that provided in the exercise Magic Rabbit. That is, a word is
presented graphically and aurally, then split apart, then a rhyming
word is presented aurally, and the student is required to spell the
presented word by selecting the appropriate missing letter(s). In
Magic Bird, however, the student is not required to drag the letter
to the open space. Rather, the student is simply required to click
on the letter. Flow then proceeds to block 3606.
[0230] At block 3606, the level is set equal to 1, and all the
blocks for that level are opened. Flow then proceeds to block
3608.
[0231] At block 3608, one of the open blocks at the current level
is selected, and a trial is presented for that block. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 3608.
[0232] At decision block 3608, a determination is made as to
whether the student correctly spelled the target word. If s/he did,
flow proceeds to decision block 3612. If s/he did not, then flow
proceeds to decision block 3610.
[0233] At decision block 3610, the student is given three
opportunities to select the correct spelling of the target word. As
above, if an incorrect letter(s) is selected, they are grayed out,
and the remaining letters are available to choose from. If the
student correctly spells the word in 3 tries or less, flow proceeds
to decision block 3612. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 3611.
[0234] At block 3611, the correct answer is shown. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 3612.
[0235] At decision block 3612, a determination is made as to
whether all of the trials in the present block have been presented.
First, the present trial is marked complete. Then, if other trials
remain, flow proceeds back to block 3608 for presentation of
another trial. But, if all trials in the present block have been
presented, flow proceeds to decision block 3614.
[0236] At decision block 3614 a determination is made as to whether
the student has successfully passed the block. In one embodiment,
the student is required to pass 90% of the trials in a block, but
other measures of success may be used. The student is given three
opportunities to pass the present block. If the student has not
passed the block, flow proceeds to block 3616. Otherwise, flow
proceeds to decision block 3618.
[0237] At block 3616, as in the other exercises, the present block
is left open, and will be repeated at the end of the exercise. That
is, before completed the exercise, the student should pass all of
the blocks at all levels. But, if they are unable to do so, after
three attempts, the block is left open, and will be returned to on
another day, after completing the other blocks.
[0238] At decision block 3618, a determination is made as to
whether the present block is the last block at the current level.
If it is not, flow proceeds to block 3619. However, if it is the
last block in the current level, flow proceeds to decision block
3620.
[0239] At block 3619, the present block is closed, and the next
block in the current level is selected for training. Flow then
proceeds back to block 3608 for presentation of a trial in the new
block.
[0240] At decision block 3620, a determination is made as to
whether the next level is level 9 or 10. If it is not, flow
proceeds to block 3621. But, if the next level is level 9 or 10,
flow proceeds to block 3622.
[0241] At block 3621, the level is incremented. Flow then proceeds
to block 3619 for selection of a block in the next level.
[0242] At block 3622, a different training is presented for levels
9 and 10. In levels 9 and 10, several words from the same "word
family" are presented simultaneously, using a single stimulus stem,
and a grid of response options is provided. Small grids have 4
response options including a random number of between 1 and 2
correct responses. A large grid will have 9 response options,
including a random number of between 1 and 5 correct responses.
Each of the 81 grids (or word families) are presented, in random
order, at both the small grid and large grid levels. Each grid will
be evaluated for 100% correction to pass. Failed grids are
presented up to 2 more times at the end of the level.
[0243] As in the above exercises, after the student has completed
the process shown in FIG. 36, all open blocks are repeated until
successfully passed. At that point, the exercise ends.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--4: Bedtime Beasties
[0244] In the exercise Bedtime Beasties, the goal is to improve
sentence comprehension, vocabulary skills, and reading for meaning.
This exercise uses the "cloze task," in which a written and aurally
presented sentence has a word missing. From four response options,
the student should select the correct picture, word, upper or lower
case letter, or punctuation mark to complete the sentence.
[0245] More specifically, the student is asked to show that he or
she understands the meaning of a sentence by completing a doze
(fill-in-the-blank) task. Vocabulary covered constitutes a core set
of nouns including foods, animals, clothing, classroom items, and
modes of transportation. End of sentence punctuation and the
capitalization of initial words, names, and the pronoun "I" are
also covered in this exercise. Participation builds vocabulary
skills, knowledge of punctuation and capitalization rules, working
memory, and awareness of sentence structure. Brief passages and
individual sentences are used to provide contexts, with both
fiction and non-fiction included. As the student gains mastery,
sentence length increases and reading supports (e.g., voice-over,
pictures) are reduced. Many of the decoding/spelling words and
sight words taught in other exercises are presented here, in the
context of sentences that demonstrate their meanings and syntactic
roles.
[0246] In operation, a sentence is presented (text+aural or just
text) with a blank indicating where a word is missing. The four
response options are presented then in an area below the sentence
The student selects the correct word or picture+word to complete
the sentence. Granny elephant reads Baby elephant a story. The
sentences are presented on a window shade, and the responses are
available at the bottom of the screen. The sentences vary in
length, depending on level (range: 4-19 words; mean: 11 words).
Some sentences stand alone, and others are presented in sequences
making up a brief fiction or non-fiction passages. Passages are 4,
5, or 6 sentences long. To help the student know whether they are
reading part of a story or a stand alone sentence, there will be a
passage length indicator at the bottom of the window shade. The
passage length indicator will show a row of "page" icons mirroring
the number of sentences (1, 4, 5, or 6), and highlighting the
position of the current sentence within the passage.
[0247] The scope of the words includes mostly nouns, with a few
attributes, prepositions, and verbs. It also includes punctuation
and capitalization. Levels of difficulty are created by
manipulating Text type (story and single-sentence), Length of
sentence (short [mean: 8.1] and long [mean: 14.5]), Response type
(picture+text, text-only, capitalization, punctuation), Stimulus
type (aural+text and text-only). After the student clicks the OR
button, a sentence with a missing word or punctuation will appear
on screen, along with four response options. If there is aural
presentation, the blank created by the missing word is marked by a
"blank" sound effect and a visual highlighting of the blank marker.
The student selects the correct word or word+picture from the four
response options to complete the sentence.
Progression:
Terms:
[0248] Level: Determined by stimulus type, response type, text
type, and sentence length. [0249] Unit: A unit is always the
smallest group of trials to be evaluated for advancement. In this
case the unit consists of all the trials in a category of a given
level. Stimulus Type: [0250] 1. Aural+Text Stimuli presented
aurally and as text [0251] 2. Text Stimuli presented in text-only
format; very easy to read Response Type: [0252] 1. Pictures /Text
Responses are pictures with text [0253] 2. Text Responses are easy
sight words; clearly wrong foils [0254] 3. Punc/Cap Responses are
letters, words, punctuation marks Content Type: [0255] 3. Stories
Multiple items that create a passage--presented in a block Passages
(stories) are presented in random order. [0256] 4. One-liners
Facts, puzzles, etc.--presented in random order Stimulus Length:
[0257] 1. Short Sentences are 10 words or less (<=9 for text
sentences)
[0258] 2. Long Sentences are 13 words or more (>=11 for text
sentences) TABLE-US-00018 Difficulty levels: Overview Stimulus
Difficulty Total Type Foil Type Content Type Length Level Items
Aural + Pictures + Text Stories Short 1 20 Text Long 2 20
One-Liners Short 3 20 Long 4 20 Text One-Liners Short 5 20 Long 6
20 Punc/Cap One-Liners Short 7 20 Long 8 20 Text Pictures + Text
Stories Short 9 20 Long 10 20 Text One-Liners Short 11 20 Long 12
20 240
[0259] Referring to FIG. 37, a screen shot 3700 is shown of an
initial screen in the exercise Bedtime Beasties. As in the other
exercises, this exercise includes a student indicator 3702, a Paw
select 3704, a score indicator 3706, and a time indicator 3708. In
addition, Granny 3710 is provided to read stories to the baby
elephant.
[0260] Referring now to FIG. 38, a screen shot 3800 is shown of a
trial within the exercise. After a student selects the Paw, a shade
3820 unfolds and Granny reads a sentence from a story. Somewhere in
the sentence is a blank 3822 that the student is required to fill
in. Beasties from under the bed present a number of options 3824 to
complete the sentence. In this instance, the correct word to
complete the sentence is brush.
[0261] Referring now to FIG. 39, a screen shot 3900 is shown
illustrating the correct selection made in FIG. 38. More
specifically, the correct answer selected by the student is placed
into the sentence, and the correct tile is highlighted to show the
correct answer. As in the other games, a "ding" is played, and the
score is incremented. If an incorrect answer is selected, a "thunk"
is played, and the correct answer is shown.
[0262] As shown above, there are twelve levels within Bedtime
Beasties, varying in difficulty between the length of the sentences
and/or stories. In addition, in levels 1-8, the stimulus provided
to the student is both aural and graphical (text), whereas in
levels 9-12, the stimulus provided is text only.
[0263] Referring now to FIG. 40, a flow chart 4000 is provided
illustrating the method of the exercise Bedtime Beasties. Flow
begins at block 4002 and proceeds to block 4004.
[0264] At block 4004 a training trial is presented. Flow then
proceeds to block 4006.
[0265] At block 4006, the level for training is set equal to 1.
Flow then proceeds to block 4008.
[0266] At block 4008, a trial is presented to the student. As
above, this indicates that a sentence (or story) is read to the
student, with or without pictures depending on the level, and the
student is required to fill in the blank. The students correct or
incorrect response is recorded. Flow then proceeds to decision
block 4010.
[0267] At decision block 4010, a determination is made as to
whether all trials within a level have been presented. If not, flow
proceeds back to block 4008 for presentation of another trial. If
the last trial in a level has been presented, flow proceeds to
decision block 4012.
[0268] At decision block 4012, a determination is made as to
whether the student has passed a level. In one embodiment, the
student is required to correctly respond to 90% of the trials.
Since each level has 20 trials, the student should correctly
respond to 18 out of 20 trials. They are given three opportunities
to pass each level. If they do not pass the first time, the level
is repeated. If not passed on the 2nd try, the level is repeated.
If not passed on the 3rd try, flow proceeds to block 4014. If
however, the student passes the level, flow proceeds to block
4016.
[0269] At block 4014, the level is kept open to allow the student
to retry the level at the end of the exercise. Flow then proceeds
to block 4020.
[0270] At block 4016, the present level is closed. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 4018.
[0271] At decision block 4018 a determination is made as to whether
the student has passed all levels in the exercise. If not, flow
proceeds to block 4020. If s/he has, then flow proceeds to block
4022.
[0272] At block 4020, the level is incremented. Flow proceeds back
to block 4008 for presentation of a trial within the new level.
[0273] At block 4022, all levels have been completed, but if there
are any levels that were not passed, and thus still open, they are
repeated. After those are passed, flow proceeds to block 4024 where
the exercise ends.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--4: Leaping Lizards
[0274] The goal of this exercise is to improve vocabulary skills,
sentence comprehension, and knowledge of word and sentence
structure. This exercise uses a type of cloze task, presenting
written sentences that have a word, upper or lower case letter, or
punctuation mark missing. The student should select the correct
word, letter, or punctuation mark to complete the sentence from
four choices.
[0275] The student is asked to show that he or she understands the
meaning of a sentence by identifying which of four choices
completes that sentence. Participation builds vocabulary and
awareness of word and sentence structure. Basic rules in
capitalization and punctuation, syntax, and inflectional morphology
are covered. Both individual sentences and short passages (original
fiction and nonfiction) are used for the context sentences. One
longer passage is also included, that gives an informal lesson on
grammatical concepts such as nouns & verbs, vowels &
consonants, compound words, and syllables. After the student clicks
the OR button, a sentence with a missing word, letter, or
punctuation will appear on screen. (In levels 1 and 2, the
sentences will also be presented aurally.) Four choices to complete
the sentence also appear on screen. (In levels 1 and 2, the
responses do not appear until the aural presentation is complete.
In all other levels, the responses appear simultaneously with the
stimulus sentence.) The student selects the correct choice to
complete the sentence. The student selects from the four choices to
complete the sentence. Some sentences stand alone, and others are
presented in sequences making up a fiction or non-fiction passages.
Most passages are just 5 or 6 sentences long, but one passage is 40
sentences long. To help the student know whether they are reading
part of a story or a stand alone sentence, there will be a passage
length indicator at the bottom of the window shade. The passage
length indicator will show a row of "page" icons mirroring the
number of sentences (1, 5, 6, 8, or 12), and highlighting the
position of the current sentence within the passage. With respect
to re-entry and the passage length indicator, the 40 sentence
passage is broken into 4 "chapters" of 8 or 12 sentences (the 4
chapters will always be presented in sequence). TABLE-US-00019
Content overview grid: Block Sub Stimulus Across Total Category Cat
Level Type Linguistic Target Levels Items Vocabulary V1 1 Aural +
Text Top 200 high frequency words No 20 V2 2 Aural + Text Top
200-400 high frequency words No 20 Usage: U1 3 Text Capitalization:
Initial word Yes 20 Punctuation U2 4 Text Capitalization: Proper
noun Yes 20 & Capitals U3 5 Text Punctuation: Sentence end Yes
20 Syntax: S1 6 Text Tacit: Easy foils (diff root) No 20 Parts of
S2 7 Text Tacit: Hard foils (same root) No 20 Speech S3 8 Text
Explicit labeling No 20 Morphology: M1 9 Text Plural noun/verb:
regular No 20 Inflectional M2 10 Text Verb tense: regular No 20 M3
11 Text Comparatives: regular (-er, -est) No 20 M4 12 Text Plural
noun/verb: irregular No 10 M5 13 Text Verb tense: irregular No 10
M6 14 Text Comparatives: irregular No 10 Vocabulary V1 15 Text Top
200 high frequency words No 20 V2 16 Text Top 200-400 high
frequency words No 20 290
[0276] The sequence of progression will follow the content grid
shown above, starting with level 1 and ending with level 16.
Students who have made plateau-based transitions will return to
uncompleted levels after being exposed to all of the content.
Within a unit, items will be presented in random order unless they
are part of a story. Items within a story should be presented
together and in the specified sequence. The long (40 item) story
that spans the two vocabulary sections is broken into 4 chapters (2
in each level, 8 or 12 items each). The two in each level chapters
should be presented in the specified sequence.
[0277] Referring now to FIG. 41, a screen shot 4100 is shown of an
initial screen in this exercise. Like the other exercises, this
screen 4100 includes a student indicator 4102, a Paw select 4104, a
score indicator 4106, and a time indicator 4108. In addition, the
screen 4100 includes the side of a slide 4120 for presentation of
sentences, which will be further illustrated below.
[0278] Referring now to FIG. 42, a screen shot 4200 is shown which
is similar to that described with respect to Bedtime Beasties. A
sentence 4220 is presented after a student selects the Paw. In
levels 1 and 2, the sentence is presented aurally and textually. In
levels 3-16, however, the sentences are presented textually only.
Below the sentence 4220 are a number of choices 4222 that the
student should select from to fill in the missing part of the
sentence 4220. In this instance, the choice "smaller" is
appropriate. If selected, it will be highlighted, and placed into
the sentence 4220. If another choice is selected, the incorrect
choice, and all other incorrect choices, will be grayed out, and
the correct choice will be highlighted. As in the other games, a
"ding" is played for a correct choice, and the score is
incremented. If an incorrect choice is made, a "thunk" is played,
and no points are awarded. The method of Leaping Lizards is
essentially the same as that of Bedtime Beasties, with respect to
progression through the various levels. However, it should be noted
that the types of sentences utilized in Leaping Lizards include
Capitalization, Syntax, and Morphological/Inflectional training,
not present in Bedtime Beasties. A complete stimulus set for this
exercise is found in Appendix A.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--5: Buzz Fly
[0279] The goal of this exercise is to improve listening
comprehension and working memory skills as measured by performance
on multiple choice questions. In this exercise, the student listens
to a passage and answers comprehension questions relating to each
passage. The passages are presented on sheets of paper coming from
the newsroom typewriter, and answer choices are presented by flies
in the room. The passage is broken down into a number of "blocks"
of text. The block is "read aloud" to the student and also
presented as on-screen text. At the end of the block, the student
should answer multiple choice question(s) to evaluate comprehension
of that block. The questions are presented aurally and written, and
the response choices are presented as pictures. After these
questions, the student continues with subsequent blocks of text to
complete the passage.
[0280] To begin a trial, the student clicks the OR button. The
student is then presented with a block of text (written and aural).
To help the student follow along with the aural presentation, the
written text is synched to the audio with line-by-line highlighting
(note: this is different than sentence-by-sentence). When a line of
text is highlighted, the letters are black. All the other lines of
text are non-highlighted, so the letters are in a lighter shade of
gray. Once the last line of a block has been aurally presented, the
text block disappears and the first question appears.
[0281] On a correct response, the response choice is aurally
presented and the correct answer is highlighted in yellow. The
points counter increases and the student hears a "ding" point by
point. For example, if the student has 6 points and gets 3 more
points for the trial they are on, rather than seeing the point
total change from "6" to "9" and hearing one "ding", the student
will see the point total change from "6" to "7" to "8" and to "9",
with a "ding" for each point accumulated. The student then moves on
to the next question of the block. If there are no more questions
in the block to be answered, the OR becomes available. The student
clicks the OR to move on to a new block.
[0282] On an incorrect response, the student will hear a "thunk".
The correct answer is not revealed--that is, the student will
probably have another chance to get it right. The incorrect choice
will first display in the rollover state, then change to a grayed
out state.
[0283] The questions are presented written and aurally. Questions
are presented with regular bold text (as they are just one
sentence). The responses are presented as pictures (no aural
presentation unless correct selection is made). To help the student
know where they are in a passage (and when a passage begins and
ends), there will be a passage length indicator at the bottom of
passage text display. The passage length indicator will show a row
of "page" icons mirroring the number of blocks of text and
highlighting the position of the current block within the
passage.
[0284] A trial is evaluated as correct if the student clicks on the
correct answer to a question the first time it is presented. A
correct answer to a learning trial does not evaluate as correct for
progression. To successfully pass a unit, the student should answer
8 out of 9 questions correctly (for a unit of 9) or 11 of 12
questions correctly for a unit of 12. Passages with 6 questions are
grouped in pairs to make a unit of 12, passages with 9 questions
are their own unit. Only the first response to every trial is
evaluated. If a trial (question) is repeated in the form of a
learning trial, the additional response is not evaluated for
progression, though points are awarded on a correct response. If
the student meets the criteria for passing the unit (answering the
question correctly on the first try), the unit is closed.
Otherwise, all failed units will be repeated at the end of the
level. The student will have a total of 3 tries to pass each unit
(not including learning trials), before moving on to the next
level.
[0285] A table below illustrates advancement in this exercise
through five difficulty levels. If one or more questions were
responded to incorrectly, the student gets another opportunity to
answer the question(s)s correctly before moving on to the next
block. The block is displayed again. The student moves on to the
question or questions about the block of text. The incorrect
response previously chosen is inactive and displayed in a grayed
out state. The student responds again. This continues until all the
incorrectly answered questions have been presented again. If one or
more of these were responded to incorrectly, the block is displayed
again followed by the presentation of the incorrect question. This
time both incorrectly chosen responses are inactive and displayed
in a grayed out state. If the student makes an incorrect response
at this point the correct answer highlights and there is a short
delay before the next question is shown. The questions are not
shown a fourth time. If a student has not met criteria for a unit
(after 3 attempts, not including the learning trials), then the
student plateau transitions to the next open unit in the
progression. However, all failed units will be repeated at the end
of the exercise until passed. TABLE-US-00020 Reading Questions Non-
Difficulty Rate Grade per Fiction Fiction Level (wpm) Level Passage
Passages Passages Passages Questions 1 90-115 K 6 6 2 8 48 2 90-115
1 6 2 6 8 48 3 115-140 K 9 2 2 4 36 4 115-140 1 9 2 2 4 36 5
115-140 2 9 2 2 4 36 Total: 28 204
[0286] The stimulus sets for this exercise are located in Appendix
A.
[0287] Referring now to FIG. 43, a screen shot 4300 is shown of an
initial screen in the exercise Buzz Fly. As in the other exercises,
the screen 4300 includes a student indicator 4302, a Paw select
4304, a count indicator 4306 and a time indicator 4308. In
addition, a horse reporter 4310 is shown which will type the
stories and present them to the student. Further, flies 4312 are
provided to show the student the possible responses.
[0288] Referring now to FIG. 44, a screen shot 4400 is shown. This
screen 4400 occurs after the student selects a trial by clicking on
the Paw select 4304. The horse reporter 4310 presents part of a
story 4320 to the student. At the bottom of the story 4320 is a
progress indicator 4322 to show the student where in the story the
presented part of the story is. The story 4320 is aurally presented
to the student, a line at a time, with each line being highlighted
as it is read.
[0289] Referring now to FIG. 45, a screen shot 4500 is shown. The
screen 4500 occurs after the story shown in FIG. 44 is presented to
the student. At this point, the horse reporter 4310 asks the
student, aurally, and textually in balloon 4530, a question related
to the story. The flies 4312 provide a number of answers 4530,
graphically, to the student. In this screen 4500, the correct
answer to the question 4530 is "in the woods". The picture 4530 in
the lower left corner, that is highlighted (because the select
cursor is over this answer), best illustrates the answer "in the
woods". If the student selects this picture, the pictures 4530
disappear, and "dings" are played as the score increases.
[0290] Referring now to FIG. 46, a screen shot 4600 is shown after
a student incorrectly answers a question. The correct answer is "in
the fog" and is best illustrated by the picture in the upper left.
However, the student selected the picture in the lower left. When
s/he did, a "thunk" is played, and that answer is grayed out. The
student then has another opportunity to select the correct
answer.
[0291] Referring now to FIG. 47, a flow chart 4700 is shown
illustrating the method according to the present invention. Flow
begins at block 4702 and proceeds to block 4704.
[0292] At block 4704, an initial training trial is presented. The
student is read instructions regarding the exercise, and a first
story. Then s/he is presented answers to the story. Correct or
incorrect answers in the trial are not counted towards progression.
Flow then proceeds to block 4706.
[0293] At block 4706, the unit number is set to 1, the passage is
set to 1, and the block is set to 1. In one embodiment, in levels 1
and 2, there are 2 passages per unit, and 4 units per level. There
are thus 8 passages per level. Further, there are 6 blocks per
passage, with 1 trial per block for a total of 48 trials per level.
In levels 3-5 there is 1 passage per unit, and 4 units per level.
Thus, there are 4 passages per level. Further, there are 6 blocks
per passage, with 9 trials per passage, with either 1 or 2 trials
per block. Thus, there is a total of 36 trials per level. Flow then
proceeds to block 4708.
[0294] At block 4708, a block is presented. That is, a block is a
portion of a passage, as shown above in FIG. 44. The block is
presented aurally and textually. Then, the pictorial answers are
provided, and the student responds. Flow then proceeds to decision
block 4710.
[0295] At decision block 4710, a determination is made as to
whether the student correctly responded to the block. If so, flow
proceeds to decision block 4714. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block
4712.
[0296] At block 4712, the student is given a 2nd chance to
correctly answer the question. Recall from FIG. 46, that the
previous incorrect selection is grayed out. Flow then proceeds to
decision block 4716.
[0297] At decision block 4716, a determination is made as to
whether the student correctly responded to the question, on the 2nd
try. If s/he did, flow proceeds to decision block 4714. If they did
not, flow proceeds to block 4718.
[0298] At block 4718, the student is presented a 3rd chance of
responded correctly (with two incorrect selections grayed out).
Flow then proceeds to decision block 4714.
[0299] At decision block 4714, a determination is made as to
whether the just completed block is the last block in the passage.
If not, flow proceeds back to block 4708 for presentation of the
next block in the passage. Otherwise, flow proceeds to decision
block 4720.
[0300] At decision block 4720 a determination is made as to whether
the student passed the unit. In one embodiment, to pass a unit, 11
out of 12 trials (in levels 1 and 2) and 8 out of 9 trials (in
levels 3-5) are required to pass a unit. If the student passes a
unit, flow proceeds to decision block 4728. If the student does not
pass a unit, flow proceeds to decision block 4722.
[0301] At decision block 4722, the student is given 3 opportunities
to pass a unit. That is, the unit is repeated twice more, following
the flow of blocks. 4708-4720. If they do pass the unit within
three attempts, flow proceeds to block 4726. Otherwise, flow
proceeds to block 4724.
[0302] At block 4724, the unit is moved to the end of the level.
Flow then proceeds to decision block 4728.
[0303] At block 4726, the unit is moved to the end of the exercise,
as in the other exercises described above. Flow then proceeds to
decision block 4728.
[0304] At decision block 4728, a determination is made as to
whether the present unit is the last unit in the level. If not,
flow proceeds to block 4730. But, if the present unit is the last
unit in the level, flow proceeds to decision block 4732.
[0305] At block 4730, the next unit in the present level is opened.
Flow then proceeds back to block 4708 for presentation of the first
block in the new unit.
[0306] At decision block 4732, a determination is made as to
whether the present level is the last level (e.g., level 5 ) in the
exercise. If it is, flow proceeds to block 4736. If it is not, flow
proceeds to block 4734.
[0307] At block 4734, the next level in the exercise is opened.
Flow then proceeds back to block 4708 for presentation of the 1st
block in the 1st unit of the next level.
[0308] At block 4736, all of the levels have been completed. But,
if the student was unable to pass any of the units, they are
repeated until passed, in block 4736. Flow then proceeds to block
4738 where the exercise ends.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--5: Dog Bone
[0309] The goal of this exercise is to improve a students listening
comprehension, sentence and reading skills, and working memory
skills as measured by performance on multiple choice questions.
Students listen to passages while reading along, and demonstrate
their comprehension by answering questions. They will also be asked
to reread the same passages independently, and answer a new set of
questions. "What," "where," "who," "when," and "how" type questions
will be asked, along with "Why" questions, and questions about
cause and effect. Some questions will focus on story elements such
as plot, setting and characters. Questions about word or story
ambiguities will also be asked. In addition to fiction and
nonfiction passages, students will be presented with other types of
informational material such as graphs and charts which they should
interpret to answer questions. During the aural presentation of
passages, the written text will also be presented, with line by
line highlighting to help the student follow along. Questions will
be presented intermittently throughout each passage, to maintain
engagement and reduce memory demands. To build sustained attention
and working memory, the length of the passage blocks between
questions will increase as students progress through the exercise.
To support comprehension and help students follow along in the
text, the exercise begins with 1 st grade level vocabulary and a
slower aural presentation rate. Later in the exercise, the aural
presentation rate is increased and vocabulary up to the 3rd grade
level is used. Passages will be aurally presented at controlled
reading rates, falling within optimum wpm ranges identified for
each difficulty level. To develop comprehension skills for a
variety of text types, both fiction and nonfiction passages are
presented throughout the exercise.
[0310] This exercise has two modes. In Mode 1, the student listens
to a passage and answers comprehension questions relating to each
passage. The passage is broken down into a number of "blocks" of
text. A block is "read aloud" to the student and also presented as
on-screen text (highlighted to synch to the aural presentation). At
the end of the block, the student should answer multiple choice
question(s) to evaluate comprehension of that block. Unlike the
Buzz Fly exercise, the response choices are presented as text and
not as pictures. After answering one or two questions, the student
continues with subsequent blocks of text to complete the passage.
In Mode 2, the student reads the on-screen text (the passage blocks
and the questions) with no aural presentation. Passage blocks in
the Reading Mode are repeated from the Listening Mode. However, the
Reading Mode contains different comprehension questions than the
Listening Mode. To help the student know where they are in a
passage (and when a passage begins and ends), there will be a
passage length indicator at the bottom of passage text display. The
passage length indicator will show a row of "page" icons mirroring
the number of blocks of text and highlighting the position of the
current block within the passage.
[0311] A trial is evaluated as correct if the student clicks on the
correct answer to a question the first time it is presented. A
correct answer to a question repeated as a "learning trial" does
not evaluate as correct for progression.
[0312] To successfully pass a unit (a passage), the student should
answer 10 or 11 of 12 questions correctly. More specifically, each
passage contains 12 questions, 6 in "Mode 1" and 6 in "Mode 2." 5
of 6 correctly answered questions are required to pass Mode 1, 5 of
6 correctly answered questions are required to pass Mode 2. Only
the first response to every trial is evaluated. If a trial
(question) is repeated in a learning trial the additional response
is not evaluated for progression, though points are awarded on a
correct response. If the student successfully meets the criteria of
a unit, the unit is closed. Otherwise, it will be repeated up to
two more times at the end of the level.
[0313] To successfully pass a unit in Charts and Graphs, a student
should answer 9 of 10 questions correctly. A unit consists of
multiple charts, graphs, or tables of a specific type and a total
of 10 questions.
[0314] The table below details the advancement from level to level.
TABLE-US-00021 Reading Vocab Non- Tables/ Difficulty Rate Grade
Questions Fiction Fiction Charts/ Level (wpm) Level per Passage
Passages Passages Graphs Passages Questions 1 115-140 1 12 4 2 0 6
72 2 115-140 2 12 2 4 0 6 72 3 140-165 1 12 2 2 0 4 48 4 140-165 2
12 1 1 0 2 24 5 140-165 3 12 1 1 0 2 24 6 NA 2 2-4 0 0 11 0 40
Total: 10 10 11 20 280
[0315] All fiction passages within a level will be presented first,
in random order. Nonfiction passages for the level will then be
presented, also in random order. Tables and graphs are presented
separately, at the end of the exercise. There are 4 units in the
tables/charts/graphs portion. A unit consists of 2 or more
tables/charts/graphs of the same type and 2 to 4 questions
pertaining to each table/chart/graph. Each unit will have a total
of 10 questions.
[0316] A student starts with an aural+text story (Mode 1) and if
they pass it, would go on to the text-only version of the same
story (Mode 2). If the student doesn't pass Mode 1, they transition
to a different story in Mode 1. If the student fails while in Mode
2, s/he has to complete Mode 1 again when s/he returns to that
story, before moving on to Mode 2.
[0317] Referring now to FIG. 48, a screen shot 4800 is shown of an
initial screen within this exercise. Like in the other exercises,
the screen 4800 includes a student indicator 4802, a Paw select
4804, a count indicator 4806, and a time indicator 4808. In
addition the screen includes a Quiz dog 4810, and four contestants
4812.
[0318] Referring now to FIG. 49, a screen shot 4900 is shown of a
scene after the student begins a trial by selecting the Paw select
4804. A portion of a story 4920 is presented. In mode 1, as
mentioned above, the story is presented textually, and aurally,
with each line highlighted while it is being read. In mode 2, the
story is presented textually only. At the bottom of the story 4920
is a progress indicator 4922 which indicates the place the present
portion 4920 is within the entire story.
[0319] Referring now to FIG. 50, a screen 5000 is shown, which
directly follows the screen 4900. A question 5030 is posed to the
student (aurally and textually in mode 1, and textually in mode 2).
The answer 5032, along with a number of incorrect answers, are
provided below. The student is to select the correct answer from
the number of choices. If s/he correctly answers, either another
portion of the story is read, or possibly another question might be
presented. If s/he incorrectly answers, the portion of the story is
read again, and the question is asked again. This time, the
previously selected incorrect answer is grayed out.
[0320] Referring now to FIG. 51, a flow chart 5100 is shown to
illustrate the method of Dog Bone. Flow begins at block 5101 and
continues to block 5102.
[0321] At block 5102, an initial trial is presented to the student.
Instructions are presented aurally, and then a trial is presented
aurally and visually, such as that shown in FIGS. 49 and 50. The
purpose of the initial trial is to train the student what to do in
the exercise. Flow then proceeds to block 5104.
[0322] At block 5104, the unit, block, level and mode are all set
to 1. Flow then proceeds to block 5106.
[0323] At block 5106, a new block is presented. As in Buzz Fly, a
block is a portion of a story. In level 1, unit 1, there are 6
blocks. The first block is presented in block 5106. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 5108.
[0324] At decision block 5108, at determination is made as to
whether the block was answered correctly. If so, flow proceeds to
decision block 5112. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 5110.
[0325] At block 5110, the block is repeated. That is, the story is
presented again, and the question is asked again, this time, with
the previously selected incorrect response grayed out. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 5114.
[0326] At decision block 5114, a determination is made as to
whether the block was answered correctly. If so, flow proceeds to
decision block 5112. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 5116.
[0327] At block 5116, the block is presented a 3rd time, this time,
with the previous two incorrect answers grayed out. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 5118.
[0328] At decision block 5118, a determination is made as to
whether the block was answered correctly. If so, flow proceeds to
decision block 5112. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 5120.
[0329] At block 5120, the correct answer is highlighted. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 5112.
[0330] At decision block 5112, a determination is made as to
whether the present block is the last block in the unit. If not,
flow proceeds back to block 5106 for presentation of the next block
in the unit. However, if the present block is the last block in the
unit, flow proceeds to decision block 5122.
[0331] At decision block 5122, a determination is made as to
whether the present unit, in the present mode has been passed. For
levels 1-5, the student is required to correctly respond to 5 out
of 6 questions for each unit. For level 6, the student is required
to correctly respond to 9 out of 10 questions. If the student
passes, flow proceeds to decision block 5124. If the student does
not pass, flow proceeds to decision block 5128.
[0332] At decision block 5124, a determination is made as to
whether the passed unit was in mode 1. If it was, flow proceeds to
block 5126. However, if the present unit was in mode 2, flow
proceeds to decision block 5128.
[0333] At block 5126, mode 2 for the present unit is opened. Flow
then proceeds back to block 5106 for presentation of the unit,
again, but this time in mode 2.
[0334] At decision block 5128, a determination is made as to
whether the present unit is the last unit in the level. If it is
not, flow proceeds to block 5132. However, if the present unit is
the last unit of the current level, flow proceeds to decision block
5130.
[0335] At decision block 5130 a determination is made as to whether
any of the units in the present level were failed. If not, flow
proceeds to block 5132. But, if any of the units were failed, flow
proceeds to block 5134.
[0336] At block 5134, the failed units are repeated, one by one.
Flow then proceeds to decision block 5136.
[0337] At decision block 5136 a determination is made as to whether
any of the units in the present level were failed. If not, flow
proceeds to block 5132. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 5138.
[0338] At block 5138, the failed units are presented for a 3rd
time. Flow then proceeds to decision block 5140.
[0339] At decision block 5140 a determination is made as to whether
the student has failed any of the units, for a 3rd time. If not,
flow proceeds to block 5132. However, if the student still has
units that s/he has not passed, those units are left open, to be
repeated at the end of the exercise, and flow proceeds to block
5132.
[0340] At block 5132, either the next unit in a level, or the next
level is proceeded to. That is, if the path to block 5132 is from
decision block 5128, then the next unit in the present level is
chosen for presentation, and flow proceeds back to block 5106.
However, if the path to block 5132 is from either decision block
5130 or 5136, then the present unit is the last unit in the level,
so the next level is chosen for presentation, and flow proceeds
back to block 5106. If, the path to block 5132 is from decision
block 5140, as a result of the student having no failed units, then
the present unit is the last unit in the level, so the next level
is chosen for presentation, and flow proceeds back to block 5106.
If however, the path to block 5132 is from decision block 5140, as
a result of the student having failed units still open, those units
are left open, and will be repeated at the end of this exercise.
But, in the meantime, the next level is opened, and flow proceeds
back to block 5106.
Program Set--Reading 1
Exercise--6: Quail Mail
[0341] Each of the exercises described above have had corresponding
games in the program sets Reading 1 and Reading 2, albeit often
differing methods. The present game "Quail Mail" in Reading 1, and
the last game to be described "Ant Antics" in Reading 2, do not
correspond to each other.
[0342] The goal of Quail Mail is to improve vocabulary, concept
knowledge, and decoding skills. The student is asked to sort words
into semantic and linguistic categories. This exercise encourages
flexibility during reading and automatic access to the various
dimensions of vocabulary.
[0343] In this exercise the student will sort pictures and/or
words, one at a time, into different categories. The categories
will include the following: Basic (Dogs, Trees, Flowers);
Super-ordinate (Foods, Animals); Thematic (Animals on a farm,
Things in a classroom); Descriptive (Functions: Clean with it;
& Features: Bigger than a car); Linguistic (Syntax: Where,
When, Who, What; & Morphology: Plural, Verb+ing, Verb+ed).
[0344] When first starting the exercise, the student will be
presented with a single bin, representing a single category from
the "Basic" category type, with items presented in blocks of four.
Next a second category will be added, with two bins presented, and
items presented in blocks of eight. Finally, four bins will be
presented, representing all four categories from the group, with
blocks of 32 items presented.
[0345] An Introductory Level presents simple stimuli to familiarize
students with the sorting task. For this level the "Basic" category
type is presented, including categories like "Dog" and "Tree."
Although easy to sort visually and conceptually, the members of
these categories have subordinate-level names (e.g., dalmation and
poodle; redwood and elm). These vocabulary items are too advanced
to teach first graders. For this reason, all the items to be sorted
at this level will be presented as pictures only, with neither text
nor aural labels. Beyond the Introductory level, all stimulus items
will initially be presented in a picture-word stage
(picture+text+aural; PTA), and after students pass all of the
categories in a category group, they repeat those categories in
word-only stage (text+aural; TA). Finally, fluency Rounds are
provided to give the student an opportunity to test fluency. A
visual cue (full mailbag of cards or letters and the use of a
timer) will indicate to the student that this is a "Fluency Round",
a speeded and time-limited version of the usual trial.
[0346] When beginning a new unit, the student will be required to
click the OR button (there is no OR press in between trials, only
at the beginning of a new unit). At this time, a new category bin
or set of bins will be presented along with an aural description of
each category. Next, a stimulus is presented visually and aurally.
(The student can click the OR during a trial to repeat the aural
presentation of the stimulus.) The student responds by clicking on
the category bin to sort the word. New stimuli are presented
automatically, until the unit is complete.
[0347] The basic interaction in the Fluency Round is essentially
the same as with the rest of the exercise. A Fluency Round will
occur whenever a student has reached the passing criterion for a
category group in the text+aural stage (there is no Fluency Round
in the picture+text+aural stage). The sorting bins will remain in
the same positions but the content sampling will be newly
randomized. The bin categories are not presented as they are at the
beginning of a new unit with regular trials. In one embodiment, the
Fluency Round is timed at one minute. If the student completes all
the available trials before the time is up, a new random sampling
of the stimulus for the current category group is presented. If the
Fluency Round occurs at the end of a session, the student is
allowed to complete the Fluency Round before the session times out.
If the student exits manually from the Fluency Round, the round
will be exited immediately.
[0348] The exercise includes the following content: 384 items (8
per category, 32 per category type) in the following categories:
TABLE-US-00022 Basic Super-ordinate Thematic Dog Foods Animals on a
farm Tree Animals Animals in a zoo Flower Body parts Things you
find on clothing Chair Clothes Things on someone's head Cup Fruits
Animals in a pet store Shoe Vegetables Animals that can fly Sign
Bugs Things in a classroom Truck Birds Things at a circus
[0349] TABLE-US-00023 Linguistic: syntax & Descriptive:
Functions Descriptive: Features morphology Clean with it It is
bigger than a car Where is it? Go places with it It is smaller than
your When was it? hand Eat with it Cold weather clothes Who does
it? Make art with it Hot weather clothes What is it? Take a bath
with it You see it in the sky Many (Plural Noun + s) Cook with it
You see it in the water One (Singular Noun) Carry things with it
Careful, it's sharp! Happening now (Verb + ing) Garden with it
Careful, it's hot! Happened before (Verb + ed)
[0350] TABLE-US-00024 Minimum trials to complete all material: 1 2
4 category categories categories Total Picture only 4 16 64 84
Picture + Word 0 80 320 400 Word only 0 0 320 320 Total 4 96 704
806
[0351] Below is a list of definitions that will be used to describe
the progression or flow of the method used in Quail Mail: [0352]
Category: The individual categories into which the student should
sort the words (i.e. "Animals"). [0353] Category Group: Refers to a
set of 4 categories that are always contrasted with each other. A
4.times.8 grid will always include all 4 categories from a single
group. A 2.times.4 grid can include any two categories from a
single group. Categories from different groups should never be
presented together in the same grid. [0354] Category Type: All the
individual categories come from six category types: Basic (will
sort unlabeled pictures--no text or aural), Super-ordinate,
Thematic, Descriptive: Functions, Descriptive: Features,
Linguistic: Syntax & Morphology. [0355] Grid: Refers to the
number of categories being contrasted and the number of items in a
unit. There are three grid-sizes 1.times.4, 2.times.4, and
4.times.8. 1.times.4 occurs ONLY when the student enters the
exercise for the very fist time as a familiarization to the
exercise. [0356] Stage: Refers to the type of stimulus being
presented (with or without a picture). The items from each category
type are presented twice. First they are presented in the
Picture-Word stage (picture+text+aural stimuli: PTA), then in the
Word-Only stage (text+aural: TA). [0357] Unit: A unit is always the
smallest group of trials to be evaluated for advancement.
[0358] A trial is evaluated as correct if the student responds by
clicking the correct category for the word. For units of less than
10 trials (i.e., 1.times.4 and 2.times.4 grids), the student should
get 100% correct. To successfully pass a 4.times.8 unit, the
student should get 90% of the trials correct; 29 correct out of 32
items. Evaluation of the unit should happen at the completion of
the unit. It is possible for a student to pass a unit if they miss
the last item in the unit, however any reward animation should be
delayed.
[0359] Picture-word and word-only stages--Categories are initially
presented at the picture-word stage (picture+text+aural stimuli:
PTA). After a student meets passing criteria for a 4.times.8 unit
in the PTA stage, that category group is repeated at the word-only
stage (text+aural: TA) with a 4.times.8 unit. The same items are
presented at the PTA and TA stages. Only the visual stimuli and the
random order of presentation change. Note: students who transition
out of the PTA stage of a Category group due to plateau-based
transitions should proceed to the PTA stage of the next open group,
not the TA stage of the same group. Those that plateau-transition
out of the TA stage should repeat the PTA stage for the category
group at the 4.times.8 grid level, when they return to this
group.
[0360] The first time a new group is entered, two bins are
presented at the PTA stage. Items are presented in blocks of eight
(randomly sampled from the two categories). To pass this unit, the
student should correctly answer all eight items. If the 2.times.4
PTA unit is passed, four bins will be presented at the PTA stage,
representing all four categories from a group. To pass this unit,
the student should correctly answer 90% of the items (i.e., 29 of
the 32). If the 4.times.8 PTA unit is passed, four bins will be
presented at the TA stage. If the 4.times.8 TA unit is passed, four
bins will be presented at the fluency stage.
[0361] In the PTA stage, the 2.times.4 grid is presented after the
1.times.4 grid or the first time a student enters any other
Category Group. The 2.times.4 grid is also presented after a
student fails a 4.times.8 grid in the PTA stage. Students get 3
chances to reach criterion and pass the 2.times.4 grid. If a
student does NOT pass the first 2.times.4 grid, they will
transition to a second 2.times.4 grid for the same group. The
second 2.times.4 grid should be constructed from the two remaining
categories in the same Category Group. Again, the student gets 3
chances to pass the new 2.times.4 grid. If a student passes any
2.times.4 grid, they will proceed to the 4.times.8 PTA grid in the
same Category Group. If a student does NOT pass any 2.times.4 grid,
they will proceed to the next open unit (i.e., plateau-based
transition to a new Category Group).
[0362] Students get 3 chances to reach criterion and pass the
4.times.8 grid. If a student passes a 4.times.8 grid, the student
progresses to a 4.times.8 TA (word only) grid for the same Category
Group. Once a Category Group has been passed at the 4.times.8 grid
level, the student will not return to the 2.times.4 level for this
group. If a student fails a 4.times.8 grid, they will transition to
the next open unit (i.e., the next Category Group). When the
student returns to this category group, they will begin at the
2.times.4 grid level.
[0363] In the Text-Aural (word only) Stage, once a Category Group
has been passed at the PTA stage, it is repeated at the TA stage
with text+aural stimuli only (no picture). Only 4.times.8 grids are
presented at the TA stage. When the criteria have been met in the
Text-Aural stage for a Category Group, the student advances to the
Fluency Round for that group (there is no Fluency Round for Basic
categories at the Introductory Level or in the Picture-Text-Aural
stage). After completion of the Fluency Round, this Category Group
is closed. If a student fails a 4.times.8 grid in the TA stage,
they will transition to the next open unit. When the student
returns to this Category Group, they will begin at the 4.times.8
grid level in the PTA stage.
[0364] Referring now to FIG. 52, a screen shot 5200 is shown of an
initial screen in the exercise Quail Mail. As in the other
exercises, screen 5200 includes a student indicator 5202, a Paw
select 5204, a count indicator 5206, and a time indicator 5208. In
addition, the screen 5200 includes a bear postman 5210, a number of
mailboxes 5212, and a number of speakers 5214. In operation, the
bear 5210 will present a target item, as a picture-text-aural, or
as text-aural, and the student must sort the presented target item
into one of the mailboxes 5212. If the student forgets what the
mailboxes refer to, s/he may click on the corresponding speaker
5214 and have the category associated with that mailbox
repeated.
[0365] Referring now to FIG. 53, a screen shot 5300 is shown of a
trial within the exercise Quail Mail. In this trial, a target 5320
(a picture of a tree) is presented to the student, pictorially, and
aurally, and the student must select the appropriate mailbox for
the target 5320 to go in. The choices are: dog, flower, chair and
tree. The correct selection is tree 5322. If the student selects
this mailbox, a "ding" is played, and the score is incremented. If
the student selects another mailbox, a "thunk" is played, the score
is not incremented, and the correct answer "tree" is
highlighted.
[0366] Referring now to FIG. 54, a screen shot 5400 is shown of a
slightly more advanced trial. In this trial, the student is given a
target stimulus 5420 that includes an aural presentation, a
pictorial presentation, and, a textual presentation. The student is
required to sort the target stimulus 5420 (i.e., "mouth") into the
correct bin or mailbox "body parts".
[0367] Referring now to FIG. 55, a screen shot 5500 is shown of
another trial. In this instance, the target 5520 is not shown
pictorially, but simply aurally and textually. The student must
sort the target 5520 "lizard" into one of the four categories.
Further, the Paw select has been replaced with a timer 5540,
indicating that this is a timed fluency round, as described
above.
[0368] As mentioned above, there are two types of target stimulus
in the present exercise: basic types; and advanced types. Basic
types present pictures of stimulus only. Advance types present
either pictures+text+aural, or just text+aural. Basic type
presentations are referred to as Type 1. Either of the advanced
types are referred to as Type 2.
[0369] Referring now to FIG. 56, a flow chart 5600 is shown which
illustrates the method of the present exercise. Flow begins at
block 5602 and proceeds to block 5604.
[0370] At block 5604, an initial training exercise is presented.
More specifically, a 1.times.4 grid is started. That is, four
trials are presented using just 1 mailbox for sorting. The purpose
of the initial training is to teach the student to select the
target stimulus that corresponds to the category in the mailbox.
There is no incorrect answer in the initial training. Flow then
proceeds to decision block 5606.
[0371] At decision block 5606, a 2.times.4 grid is presented. That
is, 4 trials are presented where the student has two mailbox
options for sorting. Two sets of 2.times.4 grids are presented, or
eight total trials. The student is required to correctly respond to
all eight trials to advance. If they do, flow proceeds to block
5612. If the student does not correctly respond to all eight
trials, they are given 3 more opportunities, at decision block
5608. If they still do not pass, flow proceeds to decision block
5610.
[0372] At decision block 5610, a second 2.times.4 grid is
constructed from the two remaining categories in the same category
group. Again, the student gets three opportunities to pass the new
2.times.4 grid. If the student passes this grid, at 100%, flow
proceeds to block 5612. Otherwise, flow proceeds to decision block
5616.
[0373] At decision block 5616, a determination is made as to
whether there are any remaining groups in the present type (type
1). If so, flow proceeds to block 5614. Otherwise, flow proceeds to
block 5618.
[0374] At block 5614, the next group within type 1 is opened, and
flow proceeds back to block 5606 for presentation of another
2.times.4 grid. The student is required to pass any 2.times.4 grid,
before they are allowed to advance to block 5612 for presentation
of a 4.times.8 grid. If they cannot pass any of the 2.times.4 grids
in type 1, a next group is opened, in type 2, and flow proceeds to
block 5620.
[0375] At block 5612, a 4.times.8 grid set of trials is presented
to the student, in type 1. Flow then proceeds to decision block
5613.
[0376] At decision block 5613 a determination is made as to whether
the student has correctly passed 90% of the trials (or 29 out of 32
trials). They are given 3 chances to pass this grid. If they do,
flow proceeds to decision block 5616. If they do not, flow still
proceeds to decision block 5616, but the present unit remains
open.
[0377] At block 5618, the next group is opened in type 2
(picture+text+aural). Flow then proceeds to block 5620.
[0378] At block 5620, a 2.times.4 grid is presented for the new
group in type 2. Flow then proceeds to decision block 5622.
[0379] At decision block 5622, a determination is made as to
whether the student has passed this grid. For this 2.times.4 grid,
the student is given three chances to pass at 100% (or 8 out of 8
trials). If they do not, flow proceeds to decision block 5624.
However, if they pass, flow proceeds to block 5623.
[0380] At decision block 5624, a new 2.times.4 grid is presented
from another group in the same category. The student is given 3
opportunities to pass this grid. Whether they pass or not, flow
proceeds to block 5628. However, if they pass, the present group is
closed, whereas if they do not pass, the present group remains open
for completion later.
[0381] At block 5628, the next group is opened. If all of the
groups have been closed for the present type in type 2 (PTA), then
another group is opened for the next type (TA). Flow then proceeds
back to block 5620 for presentation of another 2.times.4 grid for
the new group and/or type.
[0382] At block 5623, a presentation of a new 4.times.8 grid is
presented. Flow then proceeds to decision block 5626.
[0383] At decision block 5626, a determination is made as to
whether the student has passed the 4.times.8 grid. As above, the
student is given three chances to pass the 4.times.8 grid at 90%
(or 29 out of 32). If they do not, the present unit remains open
and flow proceeds to block 5628. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block
5627.
[0384] At block 5627, a new 4.times.8 grid is presented. This grid
is stage 2 of type 2 (text+aural). Flow then proceeds to decision
block 5630.
[0385] At decision block 5630, a determination is made as to
whether the student correctly passed this grid. As above, for a
4.times.8 grid, the student is given three chances to pass at 90%
(or 29 out of 32). If they do not, the unit remains open, and flow
proceeds to block 5628. Otherwise, flow proceeds to block 5632.
[0386] At block 5632, a timed fluency round is presented to the
student for the present unit. Upon completion, flow proceeds to
block 5628.
Program Set--Reading 2
Exercise--6: Ant Antics
[0387] The goal of this exercise is to improve vocabulary skills,
syntax skills, and sentence-level comprehension. The student is
asked to choose which one of four sentences (or phrases) best
describes a picture. The sentences sample the basic grammatical
structures of spoken English as mastered by the second grade. Foil
sentences use vocabulary that is relevant to the picture, but say
something that is not true about the picture, often by changing
word order and/or word. To respond correctly, students must focus
on the syntactic features of the sentences. Because this task
requires students to carefully read, analyze, and compare the
possible answers, it exercises working memory and logic skills as
well as syntactic abilities.
[0388] The participant sees one picture along with four sentences
(or phrases), and must pick the sentence (or phrase) that correctly
describes something in the picture. Sentences will be created based
on 24 selected syntactic forms. These forms are syntactic
constructions that typically develop between ages 3 and 9.
TABLE-US-00025 Items per Reading Reading Syntactic Structures
vocab/ Difficulty: Difficulty: Complxity per Items per length
Vocabulary Length levels level structure level Easy Short 8 3 4 96
Easy Long 8 3 4 96 Hard Short 8 3 4 96
[0389] Difficulty will be manipulated along 2 primary dimensions,
reading difficulty and syntactic complexity. The dimension of
reading difficulty is a combination of non-grammatical factors:
sentence length and vocabulary. Sentence length increases across
two levels: short and long. Short sentences are the minimal length
for that sentence structure: on average 3-6 words long. Long
sentences are the minimal length for that structure plus 1 to 3
extra words: on average 4-8 words long. The extra words consist of
adjectives, complements, and prepositional phrases, in order to
make sentences longer with minimal impact on syntactic complexity.
Vocabulary increases across two levels: easy and hard. Easy
vocabulary items were based on a restricted set of 74 familiar
and/or easily decodable Kindergarten level words, designed to
minimize the burdens of decoding and word recognition. Hard
vocabulary items were based on an unrestricted set of 1st and 2nd
grade level words. No items will use both long sentences and hard
vocabulary.
[0390] Syntactic complexity increases across 8 levels. The age of
acquisition for the targeted sentence structures increases across
syntactic levels from an average of 2.8 to 5.5. In addition, the
average minimal length (shortest sentence that can have the target
structure) increases from approximately 3 words at the lowest
levels (e.g., "The cats read.") to approximately 6 words at the
highest levels (e.g., "The cow that is sad is walking.").
[0391] There are eight grammatical levels and three reading
difficulty levels (sentence length+vocabulary). Because individual
students will respond differently to these two dimensions of
difficulty, it is possible for students to proceed through these
levels following different sequences (see "Progression" section).
There are 24 forms--three per grammatical difficulty level. Reading
difficulty refers to the combination of a sentence's
length/vocabulary. There are 3 levels of reading difficulty:
short/easy, long/easy, and short/hard. There are 24 units--one for
each combination of grammatical level and reading difficulty level.
As shown below, syntactic difficulty increases moving left to right
across columns, with reading difficulty increasing moving down the
rows. TABLE-US-00026 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24
[0392] All students will begin with unit 1, with all units marked
"open." If a unit is passed, that unit is marked "closed," and the
student proceeds to the next row in the same column (i.e., if unit
y is passed, move to unit y+8.) If a unit in row 3 is passed, move
to the next open unit. If a unit is not passed, repeat the same
unit. If a unit is not passed on the third attempt, it should be
marked as "attempted," and the student should make a plateau-based
transition to the next open unit. When the student transitions from
unit 24 (i.e., there are no open units, because all have been
marked closed or attempted) those units not yet passed should be
marked open again, and the student should return to the incomplete
units, following the same progression rules.
[0393] A unit includes all trials from a given level (12 trials).
All the trials from a unit are presented before any trials are
evaluated. At that point, the trials are evaluated for criterion.
Each syntactic structure within a level is evaluated separately,
and the student must correctly answer 3 of the 4 trials for each of
the three structures to pass a unit. Students cannot pass
individual syntactic structures, rather, they must reach criterion
for all three structures in a single evaluation cycle and pass the
entire unit.
[0394] As the student begins taking trials in unit 1, the syntactic
structures and items within that unit will be chosen randomly. Once
all trials in all syntactic categories have been presented the unit
is evaluated. If the student attains the passing criterion they
will advance to a unit with the same grammatical structure but more
challenging reading level, otherwise the same unit is repeated,
with the trials presented in a new random order.
[0395] Referring to FIG. 57, a screen shot 5700 is shown of an
initial screen in the exercise Ant Antics. As in the other
exercises, the screen 5700 includes a student indicator 5702, a Paw
select 5704, a count indicator 5706 and a time indicator 5708. An
ant eater 5710 is provided to present slides to the student on a
slide screen 5712. As mentioned above, the student is required to
match the best description of the slides with the presented
slide.
[0396] Referring now to FIG. 58, a screen shot 5800 is shown of a
trial. A slide 5820 is presented at the top of the screen. At the
bottom are four sentences 5822. that describe the slide 5820. As
mentioned above, it is possible that several choices are true. The
student is required to select the best description from the
choices. In this trial, the best description (not readily viewable
in this description) is "She is blue." If the student selects this
choice, the counter increments, and a "ding" is played. If the
student does not select the correct choice, a "thunk" is played,
all incorrect sentences are grayed out, and the correct sentence is
highlighted.
[0397] As mentioned above, the present exercise includes 3 levels
of reading difficulty, and 8 levels of grammar complexity. For each
level of reading difficulty (level 1=short/easy, level 2=long/easy,
level 3=short/hard) there are 3 types of structure (ID 1=short/easy
(4 trials), ID 2=long/easy (4 trials), and ID 3=short/hard (4
trials)). A unit=1 level of reading difficulty.times.1 grammar
complexity for a total of 24 units. The content is presented
visually only (and textually), no audio.
[0398] Referring now to FIG. 59, a flow chart 5900 is shown which
illustrates the method of Ant Antics. Flow begins at block 5902 and
proceeds to block 5904.
[0399] At block 5904, the reading difficulty (RD) is set to 1, the
grammar complexity (GC) is set to 1, and the Unit is set to 1. Flow
then proceeds to block 5906.
[0400] At block 5906, a trial is presented. In one embodiment,
there are 12 available trials for each unit, four from each of
three ID's. The method randomly selects one of these 12 for
presentation to the student, as shown in FIG. 58. After the student
responds, Flow proceeds to decision block 5908.
[0401] At decision block 5908, a determination is made as to
whether another trial remains. As just mentioned, there are 12
trials within each unit. The loop between block 5906 and decision
block 5908 continues for those 12 trials. If another trial remains,
flow proceeds back to block 5906. Otherwise, flow proceeds to
decision block 5910.
[0402] At decision block 5910 a determination is made as to whether
the subject passed the unit. In one embodiment, the student must
past 3 out of 4 trials for each ID in a unit. If they do, flow
proceeds to decision block 5914. If not, flow proceeds to decision
block 5912.
[0403] At decision block 5912, a determination is made as to
whether the student has tried to pass the unit 3 times. If not,
flow proceeds back to block 5906 where the unit is repeated.
However, if the student has attempted the unit unsuccessfully 3
times, flow proceeds to block 5916.
[0404] At block 5916, the present unit is marked uncompleted (or
open). Flow then proceeds to decision block 5914.
[0405] At decision block 5914, a determination is made as to
whether the present unit is the last unit in the exercise. If not,
flow proceeds to block 5918. However, if the present unit is the
last unit in the exercise, flow proceeds to block 5920.
[0406] At block 5918, the unit is incremented. Then, flow proceeds
back to block 5906 for presentation of a trial in the next unit.
This loop continues until all units have been presented.
[0407] At block 5920, all units have been presented. But, if any
units were not passed, they remain open. These units are repeated,
per the above, along 3 chances for each open unit, until all units
have been completed.
[0408] What has been described above, in the provisional
applications which were incorporated by reference, in the drawings,
claims and attached appendix, are two sets, each set having
multiple exercises which taken alone, and in combination, provide a
methodology for helping students cognitive skills in reading and
learning. Several embodiments have been illustrated in the
described exercises for accomplishing this purpose. However, one
skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications to scenes,
presentation form, and even content, can be made without departing
from the scope of the present invention. Further, what has been
described is a methodology for use on a computing device. But, any
device capable of producing visual and auditory stimulus, along
with a mechanism for recording selections and feedback could be
used. That is, the methodology taught in the present application
should not be limited to use on the computing device described in
FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0409] Finally, those skilled in the art should appreciate that
they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific
embodiments as a basis for designing or modifying other structures
for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by
the appended claims.
* * * * *