Name: Learn to Read at Starfall
www.starfall.com/
Level and Skill: Pre-Benchamark, Literacy to Low Level Learners in the skill of reading, phonic instruction and vocabulary development
Interactive: Yes
ESL/Non-ESL: Could apply to either but the site is primarily designed for young children and the beginning reader.
What makes it good? During my practicum, my mentor teacher pointed this site out to me. She uses this site with many of her learners who are adults enrolled in a literacy level course. At first, the site appears to be quite juvenile, however, for many of the adult learners who are unfamiliar with the Roman alphabet, the ABC exercises are an opportunity to explore the letter sound relationships and develop some word recognition skills. The interactive aspect of the exercises in all 4 categories is easy to use, so for those learners who have had little or possibly no experience with computers, the elementary steps to using a mouse, moving and clicking on an area of interest, is ideal. There are lots of visuals with arrows, animations and hands that point. Even though the explicit phonic instruction in this Starfall reading programme along with the repetition might seem tedious, for the emergent ESL learner who often has trouble making the letter sound connections and building on vocabulary, this site offers a good starting point.
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