Reading Speller: A New Method of Teaching Spelling, Volume 2

Product Information

An installation CD for Windows can be licensed, which avoids the use of an internet connection, and any restrictions on Flash.

I will post the link below, but you can also access it from the Doorway online link at the side, under parents. Touch Typing is just that. There should be no keeking* at the keyboard. Do not look at the keyboard or your hands, all the information you need is on the screen in Doorway Touch Type. Assessment and Learning– Most of our activities have two modes, or different sub activities, that are for either learning or assessmentPlease use the full-screen option. This is what the design is based around. The screen format is more “letterbox” than in TT2. This has led to a certain amount of pressure on the vertical presentation. This was felt to be the best solution to creating multi-device activities. Please note that full-screen option does not work as you would expect on an iPad. Apple have gone their own way.

Doorway Activities have been developed in Flash. This is a very suitable medium for creating these learning activities. However since the original development work was done, Flash has become less popular. The first blow was that Flash was not allowed on the iPad. Number up to 100 from counting up to pre-tables work and addition with carrying and subtraction with decompositionThis new version has been developed because it is usually run with an IWB. These are fitted at varying heights, that often do not suit pupils. Problem solved, we hope! Curriculum for Excellence. The same wordlists have been reorganised according to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. If you have been using original Speller for some time, you may have to take some time to get used to the way the lists have been re-arranged. All the lists remain the same.

Where do Speller’s wordlists lists come from? Originally, Speller took its exercises from a scheme developed by Mrs Isabel Middleton of Howdenburn Primary School, Jedburgh. She devised it when the 5 – 14 Curriculum was being introduced from 1991 onwards. It gave a rational structure and wordlists to match the (then) new levels. The scheme covered Levels A to D in the Curriculum for Excellence. There is now a rough Words Per Minute (WPM) score. This is only available after exercise 27. Accuracy is more important than speed, however, as our QTVI has reported, occasionally a young learner will continue to type at a very slow speed, once all the letters and common punctuation are established. WPM is a motivator but a very crude score and should only be used for comparing your own speed with previous scores. This has been totally re-written in HTML5 and JavaScript. We had to save up the funds to cover this development. Our next conversion is Text Type, the touch typing activity that is widely used by visually impaired learners, as well as general learners. Touch Type will be a complete re-write with new features for VI learners. We are seeking funding for this and future conversions, and you can help by donating, or perhaps having a fund-raiser in your school. Learning mode is when the word is said and visually displayed for the child to practise typing to spell it.All the same features are there except for Practice Talking Keyboard. This feature will be included in Phase 2. Letter and Number Formationhas been programmed and it’s looking good. It’s important to stress that motor skills are easily learnt but hard to unlearn. That’s why getting the direction right in letters in handwriting is important.

Doorway Text Type is a series of exercises that, followed properly, can lead to a high rate of accuracy in typing and a good rate in terms of words per minute. In handwritten exams with a lot of writing involved. Writing at a rate of 20 words per minute is an arduous task.* “keeking” scots for peeping, or peeking

Students from Glasgow University have been working on updating some activities to up-to-date web standards; The menus look rather different, however, we think they are an improvement, as they make the available options clearer. In Phase One, the program has been re-coded in html5 and JavaScript for a future-proof implementation. A few bugs have been corrected. Most keyboard types are now supported, including Mac; Windows US; Bluetooth keyboard for iPad or Android device.