Learning to Read on the Promenade
Reviewer: Sarah K. Ross, Teacher
Barksdale Elementary School
Rockdale County Public Schools Conyers, GA
EMail: sross@rockdale.k12.ga.us
Learning to Read on the Promenade by Sunburst, 1998
Comes on a Mac/Win CD-ROM
Package includes teacher's guide with activities and blackline masters.
Evaluated on a Dell PC
Date reviewed: 12/98
List price: $79.95
Rating: 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Way Cool.
Learning to Read on the Promenade teaches basic pre-reading and earlyreading skills through a series of games and activities to Kindergartenlevel students. The games and activities take place within locations foundalong the Promenade, such as a baseball field, theater, bookstore, and sodafountain. Animated rewards encourage students to visit their favorite activitiesto build their reading skills. Reading skills and activities include: matchingletters and their names, identifying initial word sounds, finding rhymingpairs, matching words with pictures, recognizing and writing uppercase andlowercase letters, exploring colors and patterns, creating personal artworks,listening to and responding to stories, matching words and word sounds,recognizing letter order, reading three-letter words.
Learning to Read on the Promenade applies a balanced approach to readinginstruction by combining systematic phonics and alphabet instruction withliterature experiences, phonemic awareness, critical thinking skills, andcreative expression activities. The software tracks the learner's progressand adjusts the flow of information to optimize learning. For example, ifa child is having difficulty recognizing uppercase letters, the programautomatically selects this type of question for drill. The software includesThe Teacher Zone, which allows the teacher to set up class lists and monitorchildren's progress. The Teacher Zone presents detailed information abouteach child's skills by presenting tables that record both correct and incorrectresponses. The program also automatically generates Parent Reports to printand send home to strengthen the home/school connection.
There are ten varied educational and entertaining activities that keepthe child engaged. This software is relevant for pre-reading and languageand would work well with either regular education or special education students.The Teacher Zone is very useful in that it allows teachers to monitor progress.
The students actually have fun using this software! Students in Kindergartenthrough First grade would enjoy using it?
The software seemed a little slow in running, but other than that it'sgreat.
This software was used successfully in a Special Education resource programwith K - 2nd grade students with learning disabilities, attention deficitdisorders, and intellectual disabilities.
Return to ConnSENSE Bulletin