These programs are the latest from SEMERC to support the development of early literacy skills by focusing on two discrete skills; understanding how words are built up from phonemes, and visual perception.
The first, Phoneme Tracker, provides three sorts of activities around the 44 phonemes in English, requiring students to manipulate the sounds to create new words. In one students have to delete a phoneme to create a new word, then write and say that word, then choose it from a list. In another they substitute one phoneme with another to create a given word and in the third they create a chain of words, changing one phoneme at a time.
These activities will not be unfamiliar. Teachers have been doing them with pencil and paper or pieces of card for a long time. What’s different, however, is how they are presented. Monsters chivvy users along and real speech and animations help them understand what to do, although these are kept to a minimum and explanations are not restated repeatedly, only if you click on the necessary icon ñ creating a good balance between user autonomy and software support. Although one piece of support, emboldening the phoneme to be replaced, might actually provide a distraction as pupils who cotton on will begin to work with the visual prompt rather than the aural one.
Eye Track, on the other hand, mainly has activities that won’t have been created with card or paper, with the possible exception of the ‘spot the difference’, or ‘pelmanism’ ones. Here four sorts of games at five different levels are provided to help promote different aspects of visual perception ñ how pupils understand and process what they see. The games are set around a police chase to recapture arch villain Ronnie Retina and are fun and can be quite challenging.
Matching keys to cell doors begins easily enough but progresses to include intermittent lighting and revolving key rings. Similarly, spotting objects in a cell becomes harder when the room is dark, go out side and you can only look through a key hole. Or following a car from a helicopter at night rather than just remembering a sequence of vehicles. Once all activities at all levels are completed Ronnie is caught, although this doesn’t stop pupils using any of the activities again.
Both programs are easily configurable to turn features on and off or to focus pupils on particular activities. This doesn’t go so far, however, as to add words to Phoneme Tracker’s lists, but with over 100 words already there good coverage is achieved. The comprehensive recording systems let teachers quickly see what pupils have been up to and any difficulties they had. They also come with a range of activities to complete away from the computer, as a work book or printable sheets, to reinforce what is being learnt or for homework. Pitched at a level that young children beginning reading and older pupils with special educational needs will find both appealing and good fun. These are straightforward, and engaging classroom tools, which are also fully switch accessible.
Both titles from SEMERC, www.semerc.co.uk
Phoneme Tracker, £39 + VAT
Fitness for purpose 4/5
Ease of use 5/5
Features 4/5
Quality 4/5
Value for money 4/5
Eye Track, £39 + VAT
Fitness for purpose 5/5
Ease of use 5/5
Features 5/5
Quality 5/5
Value for money 5/5
