Website: Reading Bear
Reading Bear
Reading Bear (https://www.readingbear.org/) is a free, web-based literacy program that was published alongside the WatchKnowLearn (http://www.watchknowlearn.org/) non-profit projects of the St. Charles Place Education Foundation. The resources offered on this site are entirely accessible without requiring an account registration. However, creating an account can be done in one simple step; entering your email address. Parents can find registering for this website to be beneficial as it saves and tracks their child's progress. For teachers, registering with this website can allow them to create 40 free subaccounts (without the hassle of entering multiple e-mail addresses) for students. Students are able to utilize it during classroom instruction or at-home learning as teachers are able to observe their individual progress.
Reading Bear was creatively designed for a target audience of four- to seven-year-old children. However, the skills offered can easily be used with older English-Language Learners (ELL) or children receiving speech therapy. This program's main mission is to help children learn how to be efficient readers. This website is developed to be completely "learner-centered" as the program is self-paced. Reading Bear teaches beginning vocabulary concepts while introducing phonics patterns. Since the lessons are on advanced literacy skills, children should have the basic understanding of letter sounds. Nonetheless, Reading Bear offers "First Learn the Letter Sounds" development plan that prepares children to grasp the alphabet prior to beginning their set lessons.
Teachers, parents, and students will find this program easy to navigate. The program begins with introducing short vowel sounds and continues with phonograms and syllables. The format of the website is entirely student-teacher friendly. Every lesson is laid out in a consistent seven components. However, students or teachers can begin at any point of the lesson depending on their comfort and comprehensive level.
At the beginning of every lesson, the skill in focus is "sounded out slowly". In this step, a video is shown with a person enunciating each phonogram. As the speaker sounds out the word, the letters are illuminated in a color to make the letter-sound connection. Next, children will practice the skill by "sounding it out quickly". Similar to the previous video, the speaker will now pronounce the word more quickly which introduces the skill of blending. As blending practice is performed, sentences and illustrations are shown to introduce the meaning of the word. This step is followed by independent practice, "let me sound it out". The printed word is displayed and gives the children time to practice pronouncing it on their own. After these three introduction videos, children are then taken into more comprehensive reading activities.
In the next four steps, children will interact with flashcards and sentences. Audio flashcards with the printed word displayed are matched with voiceover prompting. This step includes a video of a person saying the word naturally alongside images portraying the meaning. Children will then have silent flashcards, in which they will independently practice the skill. If a child stumbles upon the word, they can click on it for voiceover assistance. Then, the same procedure is repeated for the last two steps utilizing sentences: Audio Sentences and Silent Sentences. Children follow the entire lesson at their own speed/level. The option to repeat a step or go back for further review is always available.
Finally, every lesson concludes with a quiz. Teachers and Parents are encouraged not to present this quiz to the children until they have completed and showed independent comprehension of the seven steps mentioned previously. Each lesson contains three to six sections for constant practice. After every five sets of lessons, a review lesson is offered for the skills in that section. Ultimately, children will get the full benefits of repeated instruction for building vocabulary with phonics and reading comprehension.
With 50 representations that cover lessons on phonics principles and illustrating over 1, 200 vocabulary words, Reading Bear proves to be an effective literacy website for educators, parents, and students.
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