ASSIGNMENT 4: Five Digital Early Learning Resources

ASSIGNMENT 4:

Evaluation of Five Digital Early Learning Resources

      Assignment 4 contains the evaluations of five digital early learning resources for helping promote reading readiness/early literacy for parents, librarians, educators and anyone interested in helping a child learn how to read.  These tools will be evaluated  based on their appropriateness, ease of use, and development needs of children ages 0-4 years old.  The five digital early learning resources selected consists of:  LeapFrog: The Letter Factory Video, Tag Junior,  Between the Lions: PBS Television Program, AWE Digital Learning Solutions, and Signing TiME! My First Signs: Volume 1, DVD.

1.  LeapFrog: The Letter Factory Video

 

Website:  http://shop.leapfrog.com/leapfrog/

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:  The Letter Factory is an educational video with dynamic cartoon characters that introduce the letters of the alphabet with their corresponding sounds.  The Leap Frog characters have sweet melodic voices that children are attracted to.  The color schemes are bright and clear, enticing children to interact and sing-along with the video. 

AGE-APPROPRIATE: For children ages 0-4.

EASE OF USE:  The Letter Factory is fun and uses rhymes and sing-along songs to keep children engaged as they learn the alphabet.  Children want to watch this video over and over again. 

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS:   Children instantly gain letter knowledge and phonological awareness skills through repetition and pronunciation. 

FINAL EVALUATION:  This video is a valuable beginning learning tool for children ages 0-4.  Leap Frog's Letter Factory is the perfect beginning for any child learning the alphabet and sets the foundation for many more Leap Frog products.  As children master early literacy skills, the Leap Frog characters grow with them as they get older.  The Leap Frog products follow the natural progression in language development for children ages 0-4. 

2.  Tag Junior

 

Main Website:  http://www.leapfrog.com/tag/tag-jr.html#

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:  Tag Junior is a pen-like child-directed learning tool that a toddler holds and presses on board books to learn early literacy concepts such as numbers, letters, colors and more. 

AGE-APPROPRIATE:  For children ages 1- 4.

EASE OF USE:  The Tag Junior is super easy and fun to use and is called a "book pal."     This interactive child-driven learning tool provides instant interaction with text and spoken words.  The child uses the tag it pen over pictures and touches the book to activate spoken words, sounds, and vocabulary.  The recorded voices have beautiful pronunciation and articulation so the child is instantly corrected and can go over the word as many times as necessary.  All the characters and stories in each of the books are popular cartoon characters such as Disney princesses, Elmo, and more.  Parents can purchase individual books that work with the Tag Junior so children can have even more experiences with familiar characters as they develop their early literacy skills. 

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS:  This digital early learning resource is one of the most tactile experiences a young child comes in contact with and is the younger version of the Tag reading system. The Tag Junior supports early literacy in the areas of vocabulary and phonemic awareness. 

FINAL EVALUATION:  This is an excellent tool to help young children transition to reading on their own. 

3.  Between the Lions: PBS Television Program

 

Main Website:  http://pbskids.org/lions/

Parents and Teachers:  http://www.pbs.org/parents/lions/

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:  Between the Lions is an educational public television program created by educators.  This Emmy award winning children's series is a spin-off of Sesame Street and has many similarities.  The lion puppet characters interact in a variety of scenarios and songs using different approaches to teach the same concepts. 

AGE-APPROPRIATE: For children ages 0-4. 

EASE OF USE:  Between the Lions uses puppets characters and animation to appeal to their audience.  The show uses blends and digraphs with repetition and rhyming to popular songs.  This entertaining program draws children in and teaches reading skills by highlighting and breaking up smaller sounds in words. 

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS: Between the Lions helps children learn to read and recognize words through repetition.  The show reinforces sound combinations and encourages children to sound out words. 

FINAL EVALUATION:  Watch tv and learn to read. 

4.  AWE Digital Learning Solutions

 

Main Website:  http://www.awelearning.com/ 

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:  AWE "Advanced Workstations in Education" are self-directed digital learning stations with preloaded interactive activities and educational software programs for children.   

AGE-APPROPRIATE: For children ages 2 and up

EASE OF USE:  Children can choose different levels of activities that interest them and the content is "engaging and challenging."  In the library, the AWE stations are always full and children cannot wait for their turn on the easy- to-use intuitive stations.  The AWE stations are cross-curricular and incorporates engaging graphics and songs. 

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS:  These individualized "Early Literacy Stations" cover all six pre-reading skills that children must learn in order to learn to read. 

FINAL EVALUATION:  This digital early learning resource is the most comprehensive tool that focuses on pre-reading skills and should be in every public library.  

5.  Signing TiME! My First Signs: Volume 1

Main Website: http://www.signingtime.com/

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:  The Signing TiME! video teaches beginning American Sign Language (ASL) in a playful manner.  An adult demonstrates a word through sign movement and is followed by children mimicking the sign.  The video is set to catchy music and pictures of the object being signed. 

AGE-APPROPRIATE:  For children ages 1 and up.

EASE OF USE:   The video is easy to follow and children simply mirror the sign demonstrated. 

DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS:  Signing TiME!  is especially good for children with physical restrictions and/or speech impediments and exposes children to different languages at an early age. 

FINAL EVALUATION:  The Signing TiME! video series is an excellent tool for children that promotes visual learning. 

ASSIGNMENT 3: Five Reading Readiness / Early Literacy Tools

ASSIGNMENT 3:  Evaluation of Five Reading Readiness/Early Literacy Tools

      Assignment 3 contains the evaluations of five reading readiness/early literacy tools for helping promote reading readiness/early literacy for parents, librarians, educators and anyone interested in helping a child learn how to read.  These tools will be evaluated  based on their appropriateness and ease of use in promoting early literacy and getting a child ready to read.  The five tools selected consists of Every Child Ready To Read @ your library , Reading is Fundamental, Starfall, Get Ready To Read!,  and Baby Karaoke. 

1.  Every Child Ready To Read @ your library
http://ecrr2.wordpress.com/ecc1/

 GENERAL INTRODUCTION:     

        
           Every Child Read to Read (ECRR) is a "parent education initiative" and a joint project of the Public Libraries Association and the Association of Library Service to Children, which are divisions of the American Library Association.  ECRR released a 2nd edition in 2011 with updates incorporating new research and suggestions from users of the 1st edition.  ECRR is highly regarded and the six pre-reading skills are often cited in reading readiness/ early literacy materials.

AGE-APPROPRIATE:

      ECRR provides a parent guide for three age groups, Early Talkers: Birth to Two Years, Talkers: Two and Three Year Olds, and Pre-Readers: Four and Five Year Olds. The first page of the guide defines what early literacy is and gives reasons why parents play an important part in preparing their child to read. Parent and caregivers are a "child's first and best teacher" because they know when their child is most receptive to learning.
       The parent guides encourage parents to teach their child six pre-reading skills that will help them learn to read. The six pre-reading skills are: Print Motivation, Vocabulary, Narrative Skills, Print Awareness, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. The second page of the guide gives specific strategies and ways to incorporate each of these simple practices.
       Each of the parent guides is tailored to the intended age and some provide examples of specific phrases parents can use to keep their child engaged and talking. The guides also state the importance of reading aloud with their child and making learning fun. The focus of Every Child Read to Read is what parents/ caregivers can do to "develop early literacy skills in children from birth to age five." 

EASE OF USE:

     
     The1st edition of ECRR used to be accessible free of charge from the PLA website, but is no longer available. The website I provided has links to three parent guides from the1st edition that can be printed.
      The 2nd edition ECRR kit is available for purchase from the ALA website and now focuses on five early literacy practices. 

FINAL EVALUATION: 

          

      Every Child Ready To Read @ your library is the "first stop" and  the definitive guide for any librarian looking to give out the most current, relevant and well designed information to any parent, caregiver or person wanting to learn about early literacy and help a child get ready to read. 

2. RIF: Reading Is Fundamental

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/leadingtoreading.htm

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

       

     Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the "largest children's literacy nonprofit in the United States" whose vision is literacy and accessibility to books.  The organization donates books and literacy resources to underserved children from birth to age 8.  RIF wants to "inspire children to become lifelong readers through the power of choice." 

AGE-APPROPRIATE:
     

     The RIF website focuses on two age groups, babies and toddlers ages 0-2 and preschoolers ages 3-5.  A separate section for "grown-ups" includes video, articles, and links to books and activities suitable to use with their child. 

     The Babies and Toddlers section has stories, nursery rhymes, lullabies, and fingerplays read aloud and interactive games.  The Preschool section has read along stories and songs, activities and games, an "Explore" link to videos and facts about different animals and clickable pictures with characters that talk. 

EASE OF USE:

            

    The website is easy to navigate and is intended to make reading a fun experience for children.  RIF includes outstanding videos that model how to do songs and fingerplays.  This link takes you to the videos that can teach anyone how to incorporate them into storytimes and fun at home:

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/babies-toddlers/finger-plays.htm

FINAL EVALUATION:

            A big GOLD STAR for Reading Is Fundamental:  Reading Is Fundamental is an excellent source for anyone interested in early literacy and helping a child get ready to read.  The outstanding features of this website is that it offers loads of interactive and engaging online play for babies, toddlers and preschoolers and is filled with stories, nursery rhymes, lullabies, games and finger plays.  The website can be viewed in Spanish language.  Another outstanding feature of this website is that it offers a free RIF's eNewsletter for parents and caregivers to receive new updates when information is added to the website.

3.  Starfall

http://www.starfall.com/

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:   

            Starfall is a free online educational service founded in 2002, which primarily focuses on teaching children to read with phonics. They also claim that the phonic system can be useful for English development programs, such as English as Second Language (ESL).  More recently, they launched Starfall Kindergarten Reading and Starfall Language Arts Curriculum that also provide teachers and parents with valuable teaching tools for reading.

AGE-APPROPRIATE:


     Starfall uses a step-by-step process of reading instruction that follows the natural progression of children at the different stages of learning how to read and then continues on with more advanced curriculum when a child is reading to learn.  Starfall starts at the very beginning with early literacy instruction in their online section, labeled, ABCs, Learning to Read.  This section deals with the youngest learner and introduces the ABCs, the vowel sounds, phonemic awareness and more and models them with interactive, real people singing the alphabet and vowels in little sections.  Each time a sparkly spot on the page lights up, one can click on the letter or section and reveal another section or activity.  The "sparkly" section is seen below over the "Aa" section:

EASE OF USE:

           The website is nicely designed with enough graphics and video to allow children to stay  engaged. In addition, there are a lot of useful user pointers that help children navigate.  As they focus on using phonics to enhance language learning, one can see that the graphics and animation are well-meshed with the playback of the different phonics. For  example, to emphasize the “i” in “it”. They use phrase such as “the big hit” and pictures  of a “tin man” hitting a baseball to make the phonic more impressionable to the children.

          The website also offers a download center where excellent skill sheets can be printed out for tactile use and practice at home :

 http://www.starfall.com/n/N-info/abcprint.htm?n=abc

FINAL EVALUATION:  

         Starfall is an excellent source for early literacy and reading readiness.  All of the school districts in our area and our library's blog have Starfall bookmarked for parents to access the website at home, in order to help their children get ready for Kindergarten.

4.  Get Ready To Read!

http://www.getreadytoread.org/

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

        
     "Get Ready to Read! is designed to support educators, parents, and young children in the development of early literacy skills in the years before kindergarten. Intended for use with all children, the resources and information provided on this site promote skill-building, communication between adults, and ways to address concerns." 

AGE-APPROPRIATE: 

     The title of website states it all, " Get Ready to Read!" and is age appropriate for children birth to 5 years of age.

EASE OF USE:

  

       The Get Ready to Read! website is super easy to use and has large buttons along the right-side which include, Early Literacy Games, Early Literacy Webinars, Literacy Checklists and Tips for Parents.  Along the bottom, it has large, yellow buttons that include Screening Tools, Transitioning to Kindergarten Toolkit, Skill-Building Activities and Early Learning & Childhood Basics. 

FINAL EVALUATION:

     The Get Ready to Read! website has loads of early literacy and reading readiness resources.  One has to really look around to find all the gems this site has to offer.  The top three valuable resources this site contains are:

1. Printable Activity Cards:

http://www.getreadytoread.org/skill-building-activities/activity-cards-individual-child

2.  Links to current Early Literacy and Reading Readiness news

3.  The "Transitioning to Kindergarten: A Toolkit for Early Childhood Educators Index" free download: 

http://www.getreadytoread.org/transition-kindergarten-toolkit/print-the-toolkit

5.  Baby Karaoke

http://raisingchildren.net.au/baby_karaoke/baby_karaoke_landing.html

GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

      Baby Karaoke is part of an Australian parenting website with articles and short video clips on parenting babies and young children.  One general topic is Play & Learning which describes what parents can do with their child at different ages and stresses the importance of reading aloud with children to promote language and brain development.  
     My favorite section in this website is the Baby Karaoke feature.  Baby Karaoke is a fun interactive application that can be downloaded to an iPhone or a smart phone.  It has large easy to read text and as the song plays the text lights up for each word being sung which indicates to the very youngest child that text has meaning.  The graphics are very attractive and simple to babies and young children.  

AGE-APPROPRIATE:  

     Baby Karaoke is appropriate for babies and young children, all the way through preschool to learn, practice, and master early literacy songs and rhymes set to music and video. 

EASE OF USE:  

      Baby Karaoke is the easiest application to use and has large colorful buttons that will start and stop and replay a song as much as a little learner wants.  The Baby Karaoke page has a song menu that plays an animated video of the song.  The words of the song are displayed at the bottom of the screen and light up when sung, making it easy for children to follow along.  For example, some of the tried and true age-appropriate songs are ABC, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Old MacDonald, Open Shut Them, Row Row Row Your Boat, and many more.  The songs come with printable song sheets and can be played "karaoke style" with your child as the singer. 

FINAL EVALUATION:

     Baby Karaoke is an amazing resource for parents and is downloadable as a free iPhone app for use on the go.  Having such an easily accessible tool that is fun for children encourages learning and helps parents keep the little ones busy while they're shopping, cleaning, or even cooking in the kitchen.  I highly consider downloading this application and testing on a child of your own, it's sure to be a favorite.