For 26 years Reading Horizons has helped struggling readers of every age and every background. Now with the release of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 software, this program has the strength to help even more students learn to read! This post is a continuation of a 5 day post series focusing on 5 different features of the new Reading Horizons v5 software.

Day 1: Lessons
Day 2: Library
Day 3: Pronunciation Proficiency Tool
Day 4: Vocabulary Tool
Day 5: Administration System

The new Reading Horizons v5 software's greatest improvement centers around its efforts to create a more student-focused reading program. Several of the options available in the Administration System help the software fulfill this goal.

The Administration System allows teachers and administrators to set student tracks which determine the entry level and speed students will go through the program. There are three default tracks that teachers can assign: emerging, basic, or accelerated. These defaults help teachers and administrators ensure a proper fit with student ability and program curriculum.

This screen shows the Student list in the Administration system

Another way the Administration System helps ensure the program caters to student needs is through the assessment function. Through the Administration System teachers and administrators can test the skills of students to determine entry level and progress. These assessments also help teachers catch the areas that students need additional help with in order to improve their reading skills.

 
Aside from assisting instructors in creating a more student focused program, the Administration System also helps instructors maintain the program and run reports to track group and student progress. The Administration System makes it easy for teachers to add students to the system as well as assign them to groups.

This is an example of the Lesson Reports available in the Administration System

The Administration System strives to make the program more user-friendly for teachers and administrators, and more student-focused for those striving to grasp the fundamentals of reading.

Question

In order to be entered into a drawing for a free giveaway at the end of the week, answer the following question in the comment section of this blog, answering the question on each separate post will provide you with additional chances to win (up to 5):

In this post several features of the Administration System of Reading Horizons v5 were explained. From reading this post, what do you think of Reading Horizons approach to make the Administration System and the entire program more student-focused?

Thank you for your participation in “v5 in 5 Days.” The winner will be announced Monday morning on the blog through a video-taped drawing. Subscribe to Reading Horizons RSS Feed to recieve additional information and updates from Reading Horizons blog.

For 26 years Reading Horizons has helped struggling readers of every age and every background. Now with the release of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 software, this program has the strength to help even more students learn to read! This post is a continuation of a 5 day post series focusing on 5 different features of the new Reading Horizons v5 software.

Day 1: Lessons
Day 2: Library
Day 3: Pronunciation Proficiency Tool
Day 4: Vocabulary Tool
Day 5: Administration System

Reading Horizons v5 software is effective for English Language Learners (ELL) because of the program design as well as the new Pronunciation Proficiency Tool. As previously discussed, Reading Horizons v5 software is effective in teaching the fundamentals of reading. The same fundamentals ELL students need to learn to be able to effectively learn to read.

Lesson and Passage Narrations

ELL students often need additional support when learning to read English because it is not their native language. To support these students Reading Horizons v5 provides narrations and texts of the Lesson Summaries in the student’s native language. These narrations help ELL students ensure they understand the key concepts taught in each lesson.

The following languages are currently available:

•    Mandarin Chinese
•    Japanese
•    Spanish
•    Haitian-Creole

This screen shot uses a Language translation (green area) to describe the material in the lesson

Also, the new v5 software provides English narrations of each reading passage in the Library portion of the software. This feature helps ELL students improve pronunciation and grasp the English language by hearing the narrator’s voice intonation and word stress throughout the passage.

PRONUNCIATION PROFICIENCY TOOL

To help ELL students adjust to the English language and improve their pronunciation, Reading Horizons has created the Pronunciation Proficiency Tool. This tool is an improvement from the ESL Say tool found in prior versions of the software.

Pronunciation Video Footage

The Pronunciation Proficiency Tool presents video footage of a mouth pronouncing each sound in the English language. These video clips provide ELL students with a visual to mimic when trying to grasp proper pronunciation. 

Tongue Animations

The Pronunciation Proficiency Tool also includes animated tongue placements. These animations show ELL students the movements their tongue should make in order to create the sounds of the English language.  

This is the visual which presents the tongue animations of the Pronunciation Proficiency Tool

Letter Formation Animations

To help students see how letters should be formed, the Pronunciation Proficiency Tool provides animated letter formations. 

Record and Compare Capabilities

As illustrated, the Pronunciation Proficiency Tool presents many features which help students see proper pronunciations, but the tool also allows ELL students to hear proper pronunciation.  The tool allows students to record their own pronunciation and compare it to a narrator’s pronunciation. This helps a student know if their pronunciation is accurate or if they still need improvement. This feature requires that students are equipped with a microphone. 

Video

This is video of Reading Horizons ESL Director, Heidi Hyte, and her thoughts on how Reading Horizons v5 can assist ELL students:

Question

Answer the following question in the comment section of this blog:

In the video clip Heidi Hyte discussed the Pronunciation Proficiency Tool and the benefits of the program design in assisting ELL students. From reading this post, which feature do you think will be most beneficial for ELL students?

Be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow to learn more about the Vocabulary section of Reading Horizons v5 software and to see a video clip from Reading Horizons Reading Specialist, Shantell Berrett.

Three years of long hours, new ideas, and improvements is finally paying off: Reading Horizons finally gets to celebrate the release of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 software! This post is a continuation of a 5 day post series focusing on 5 different features of Reading Horizons v5 software.

Day 1: Lessons
Day 2: Library Component
Day 3: Pronunciation Proficiency Tool
Day 4: Vocabulary Tool
Day 5: Administration System

The Library component of Reading Horizons v5 software is the NEWEST aspect of the program.  This new feature was added as an effort to help students transfer Reading Horizons emphasis on decoding skills into comprehension and fluency in everyday reading situations. Without a doubt the Library component will help students in their quest to learn to read!

Reading Horizons v5 Software Library Lesson Manager

Presents Extensive Range of Topics

The new Library component of Reading Horizons v5 accomplishes its task of transferring reading strategies into everyday reading situations through over 225 reading passages in 15 different genres.

Here is a list of the genres and a corresponding passage:

•    Animals- Piranhas
•    Culture- "American Idol"
•    Earth Sciences- Tornadoes
•    Fact or Fiction?- Vampires
•    Famous Firsts- Dolly, the Cloned Sheep
•    Famous People- Elvis Presley
•    Famous Places- Mount Rushmore
•    Health- Stress
•    Nature’s Mysteries- Hiccups
•    Overcoming Obstacles- Leonardo da Vinci
•    Space- Rockets
•    Sports- The Olympic Games
•    Sports Heroes- Lance Armstrong
•    Technology- Laser Eye Surgery
•    World Leaders- Mohandas Gandhi

When creating the passages, the Curriculum department kept each individual student in mind. Students are not required to read every passage, they are instructed to select passages which are the most interesting to them. By allowing students to select passages which appeal to them they have more motivation to sincerely try to read a passage. 

Provides Reading Practice

Aside from providing motivation for students to make a real effort in reading, the Library also provides practice. Practice is necessary for anyone trying to change their habits and learn a new skill. The more time an individual invests into using a particular skill the more natural and second nature that skill becomes. The Library component of Reading Horizons v5 will make reading a more natural process for students. 

One of Reading Horizons v5 Library Passages

Ensures Progress

To ensure students are truly gaining effective reading comprehension and fluency skills, each passage is timed and followed with a series of reading comprehension questions. In order for students to pass off a reading passage they must answer the questions with the percentage set by the administrator.  

To view selected reading passages with corresponding comprehension questions, visit: http://www.readinghorizons.com/solutions/materials/samples/reading-library-samples.aspx

Testimonial

One of Reading Horizons customers, Mike Feeney, the Clearfield Job Corp Coordinator, reviewed the new Library component and expressed: “The Library you've added is fantastic. This is just the component we have needed to bridge the gap [for struggling readers].”

Video

Here is a video clip of Reading Horizons Reading Specialist, Shantell Berrett, discussing the benefit of adding the new Library component to Reading Horizons v5:

Question

Answer the following question in the comment section of this blog:

In the video clip Shantell Berrett discussed the benefit she sees in adding the new Library component to Reading Horizons v5.  From reading this post, what are your thoughts about this new feature?

Be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow to learn more about the English Language Learners (ELL) components of Reading Horizons v5 and the new Pronunciation Proficiency Tool.

For 26 years Reading Horizons has helped struggling readers of every age and every background.  Now with the release of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 software, this program has the strength to help even more students learn to read! Each day this week I will post content, video, and screen shots highlighting one of the features of the NEW Reading Horizons v5 computer software.

Day 1: Lessons
Day 2: Library
Day 3: Pronunciation Proficiency Tool
Day 4: Vocabulary Tool
Day 5: Administration System

Effective Strategies

The new Reading Horizons v5 software uses 68 lessons to teach students ages 10 to adult, the basics of reading. The lessons are designed to teach students the skills they need to build a solid reading foundation which will support successful reading in the future. Some examples of these lessons include:

•    Lesson 17: Special Vowel Combinations
•    Lesson 38: Many Jobs of Y
•    Lesson 54: Digraph Words with Plural Endings

One of Reading Horizons v5 Lessons in Progress

The lessons in Reading Horizons v5 software use a marking system which is unique to Reading Horizons products.  This marking system teaches students the skills they need to sound out (phonetic skills) and break down (decoding skills) the words in the English language.  Here are examples of some words which have been marked with this system:

5 Phonetic Skills

2 Decoding Skills

Student-Centered

In order to increase the effectiveness of the lesson material, Reading Horizons v5 takes a more student-centered approach than previous versions. Because many students learn at a different pace, administrators can now choose between three different student placement options: emerging, basic, and accelerated. These placement options will help teachers and administrators cater the lesson material to each individual, enhancing the success of each student.

Lesson Manager for Reading Horizons v5

Reading Horizons v5 responds to student needs by allowing students to personally adjust the following settings:

• Narrator- Male or Female voice
• Volume control
• Background color*

*Students who struggle with reading can benefit from changing the appearance of the screen, especially those with Visual Processing Disorders.

The new v5 software also caters to student needs by administering 6 chapter tests which evaluate each student’s strengths and weaknesses.  Based on student performance on chapter tests, the software adjusts the lesson tracks to provide additional help when needed or less material when a student reveals he or she firmly grasps a concept. 

By taking a more student-centered approach, Reading Horizons v5 lessons will positively improve the attitudes of students. Students will feel productive because they are not forced to spend time where they clearly do not need additional help. Because the program has become more flexible it can better respond to individual needs and help them feel successful and empowered.

Video

This video highlights Reading Horizons President, Tyson Smith, thoughts on the new v5 computer software lessons:

Question

Answer the following question in the comment section of this blog:

In the video clip Tyson Smith discussed the features of the v5 lessons which he is the most excited about.  From reading this post, which feature are you the most excited about, interested or intrigued by?

Be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow to learn more about the feature new to Reading Horizons v5: the Reading Library.

According to recent research, music can improve speech and reading skills by increasing one’s ability to distinguish between different sounds and understand the patterns of language. Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University explained: “People's hearing systems are fine-tuned by the experiences they've had with sound throughout their lives. Music training is not only beneficial for processing music stimuli. We've found that years of music training may also improve how sounds are processed for language and emotion. For example, the trained brain gets better at detecting patterns in sounds, so that musicians are better at picking out the voice of a friend in a noisy restaurant.”

Kraus also added: “Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice… When people first learn to talk and when they talk to babies they often use musical patterns in their speech.”

This understanding of sound patterns would be very beneficial to students learning how to read, especially ESL (English as a Student Language) students. It would help ESL students increase their awareness of the sounds in the English language (phonemic awareness). Students would still need to learn how to connect sounds to their letter representations, but music exposure would help language and reading make more sense as they learn more and improve their skills.

Another link between music and the ability to read is the overlap of the brain connections which process music and language. Aniruddh D. Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego said: "Nouns and verbs are very different from tones and cords and harmony, but the parts of the brain that process them overlap." From analyzing recent research Patel also believes that music doesn’t appeal to a few areas of the brain, but to large proportions of each side of the brain.

Research also showed that the brain connections which result from music exposure help strengthen the brains ability to complete tasks unrelated to music. Gottfried Schlaug, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, explained how this works by stating: “Music making is a multisensory experience, activating links to several parts of the brain.”

These two articles further relate music to education:

“How Music Feeds and Steers Your Imagination”: about how music can enhance creativity.

“Music On Your Child’s Mind: Improving Focus Through Song”: about how music can increase focus.

P.S.

One of the ways music can impact reading performance is by building phonemic awareness, Reading Horizons Free Pronunciation Tool can also help students improve their phonemic awareness. Try the tool today! >