Basic Skills Software for Improving Reading

Software for Older Readers

Estimating the appropriateness of a program for an older student with reading or learning difficulties is especially difficult because his or her skills are typically lower than his or her chronological age and grade placement. However, programs that are skill-appropriate for a student with reading disabilities may be age-inappropriate due to their activities, characters, or themes. When selecting software, you must consider the characteristics, needs, and preferences of the students who will use the program. I strongly recommend you rely on more than a publisher's brief description. Visit the publisher's or distributor's websites (some allow you to download or view an interactive demonstration of a program), read software reviews, and talk to other teachers. Look for opportunities to download time-limited but fully working version of a software program or to order a program for a trial period without cost.

There are fewer basic skills programs from which to choose for students in grades three and up, presumably because they have mastered many basic reading skills by the time they enter upper elementary school. A few programs have been developed specifically for older readers with reading disabilities who are still mastering basic phonological and decoding skills. Above, we mentioned Earobics (Cognitive Concepts). This series includes a program for older, struggling readers. Reading SOS (Strategies for Older Students) (Lexia Learning) is an interactive reading skills development system for students aged 9 to adult. It is based on the Orton Gillingham system of reading instruction and introduces over 4,000 words at five skill levels ranging from letter-sound associations to structural analysis word attack strategies.

The Siboney Learning Group produces several software programs that are appropriate for older readers. Word Crunch, Word Launch, and Word Volcano provide practice reading and defining words. The programs use words from several common word lists (e.g., Dolch words Level K-3) and reading series (e.g., Reading Mastery), or you may enter your own word lists by purchasing Worksheet Magic Plus (available from the same company) or listening for detail, and encourage an appreciation of authors and their works.

Word Munchers Deluxe (Broderbund) follows the classic Munchers format in which students are presented with a question. They then must move a character (the Muncher) to squares containing the correct answers and "munch" them before being eaten by the Troggles. Word Munchers Deluxe provides practice in grammar, phonics, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Its arcade-game format is often appealing to older students, although the Troggles can be disabled for those who prefer a more straightforward practice activity.