|
The
PM Story Books Software offers many useful features, including:
It
provides a clearly spoken reading of each story, and many related activities.
READING
Children
can listen to the stories while looking at the text and
illustrations on the screen. They can also click on an individual
word to hear it spoken. Stories are spoken clearly in an Australian
accent. A different voice is used for single words. This makes it
ideal for ESL and special needs students, too.
WRITING
Older
children can write their own stories based on the illustrations
provided. Their stories can be read aloud by the computer at any
stage and, if required, printed.
TREASURE!
Treasure!
is a variation of the ever-popular "Hangman" game, in
which the computer speaks the mystery word. Words are chosen from the
current story, or (at the teacher's discretion) from another story or
from composite wordlists of many stories.
SLIDE
Slide
is another word game included with the software. In this game the
mystery word is spoken, then children must spell it sequentially. As
with all the activities, the teacher can adjust the game to suit the student.
CLOZE
EXERCISES
Using
the illustrations and text from the PM Library books, the Cloze
exercises offer a simple and educationally sound way for children to
apply their reading skills. In the simpler exercise, they choose the
correct word from the alternatives shown. Harder exercises for older
children require the child to type in the missing word.
POWERFUL
TEACHER CONTROLS
Teachers
have considerable control over which features and which books are
made available to each child, and the degree of difficulty. Teachers
can, if they wish, provide different settings for each child to suit
individual needs. The teacher can, optionally, keep track of each
child's progress. The computer can maintain a log of how long each
child spent on each activity or story.
REVIEW
Read
the Education
Dept WA review of the PM Story Books Software.
|