by
Assistive Technology Coordinator
Many people have questions about the phonics software programs that are currently on the market. This is one article in a series about selected phonics software programs. It is not intended as an endorsement but to provide information and details about some of the software that is available.
Phonics software can be used to help teach students to read by helping them learn the letter/sound relationships of our language (Standard American English). Once these relationships are understood then students can combine sounds to build words, and to break apart words to sound them out. Phonics Mastery is a mastery-based software program that uses high quality speech to help build these associations.
Phonics Mastery offers a choice of three levels: Level A, Level B, and Level C. Level A focuses on enrichment activities using the consonants, short and long vowels, and consonant digraphs (ch, sh, and th) and phoneme word families: -at, -an, -ap, ack, -ake, -all, -e , -et, -eel, -eam, -eep, -en, -ill, -ick, -ice, -ight, -ot, -op, -ock, -one, -un, -ug, -ub, -ut, and -ute. Level B concentrates on core skills with the letters/letter combinations: x, s(z), wh, kn(n); consonant blends including sc, st, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, tr, bl, cl, fl, pl, sl, sm, sn, tw, -ld, -nd, -lk, -nk, -mb; and vowel digraphs and dipthongs. Level C focuses on the consonant/consonant digraphs c(s), g(j), ph(f),, -tch(ch), gn(n), -dge; vowel diagraphs and diphthongs (oo, ey, ue, ou, aw) and r-controlled schwa sounds (ar, er, ir, or, ur, oor, ear, our, eer, and schwa)
The goal of Phonics Mastery program is to teach a skill, and verify that it has been learned and retained. The program is organized in four component sections, which evaluate, instruct, and provide practice and review. Both speed and accuracy of a student’s response is evaluated to determine if he/she needs further instruction and practice on any particular phoneme. Mastery is achieved when the student demonstrates 100% accuracy and retention for each phoneme in the three activities: sound to letters, sounds to pictures, and sounds to words.
In the sound to letter instruction/practice mode, instruction begins by introducing a letter on screen and speaking the sound, and then allowing the student to listen to the sound as many times as desired. An errorless practice session follows during which the student is asked to click on the sound made by the letter displayed on the screen. The number of foils provided is adjusted to promote success by starting first with one letter and moving to two and then three letters. The number of questions given per letter can be adjusted from two questions to up to 20 questions. If the student misses a question at any time, the program will back up one level to provide additional practice. If the student continues to miss questions on a particular phoneme and they have recycled through the program from beginning twice already, then the program will move on to the next phoneme but return later to the phoneme that is proving difficult. This gives the student an opportunity to move ahead and master other phonemes. If a student has a total of 5 incorrect answers per phoneme, then the pretest will be triggered and the phoneme will be presented again later. The instructor can determine which phonemes are difficult for a student by checking the Student Data file. When the student masters all questions at a given level, then he/she is rewarded with an instructional game or with a graphic transition.
Timed activities are incorporated in the practice modules. In order for a question to be considered to be correct, the student needs to make a selection before the time runs out. The timer speed can be adjusted from 1 to 99 seconds to individualize the settings as needed depending on student need (i.e. to adjust for motor issues, increased time for students with auditory processing issues, etc). The speed of the student’s response offers some insight about the student’s ability to use his/her newly learned skills. The student’s speed and fluency with this information are factors that will affect the decoding process when reading.
In the sound to picture instruction level a set of three pictures is displayed one at a time while saying the phoneme and the word associated with the targeted picture. Errorless practice and activities follow in the same sequence as the sound-to-letter instruction section.
The third level of instruction is sound to word. Words are presented one at a time while saying the phoneme and the word. Pictures are presented with the word in the default setting but can be omitted by changing the program parameters. Again, errorless practice and activities follow instruction.
Students can get help at any time within the program by clicking on the question mark at the bottom of each screen. They can quit at any time by clicking the stop button. When he/she starts the program again he/she will be returned to the appropriate activity. This allows the quit feature to be used to pause an activity.
Phonics Mastery incorporates three instructional games to maintain motivation. Students may elect to play one or skip the game, while teachers may select how often game choices occur. Three difficulty levels are offered: easy, medium, and hard, the teacher may preset the difficulty level or allow the student to select it. One game is "Leaping Lobster" and it is offered in all three levels of Phonics Mastery. To play the game the student must move the lobster underneath a bubble of the phoneme of the sound he/she hears. If correct, the bubble pops; if incorrect, the lobster gets a small shock. This game requires good hand/eye coordination and relatively quick motor ability. "Mystery Match" is a game similar to Concentration and is offered in Levels A and C. The student tries to match the sound with a letter, word, or picture depending on the activity just completed. Memory is more important in this game than motor skills. The third game, "The Phonics Game Show" is offered in Levels B and C. In this game the student competes with two other contestants (played by the computer) to answer questions and score points. To answer a question the student needs to "buzz in" and will receive points for correct answers but lose points for incorrect answers. If the student takes too long to buzz in one of the other contestants will buzz in and answer correctly 60% of the time.
The Phonics Mastery has a program manager allows the instructor to set up classes, enter new classes, rename or delete classes, print class records, set the programs and the specific parameters available to each class, change student enrollment, and view or print individual student records. To operate the program manager one must log in and enter a password, thus providing a security system. For instance, the program manager allows the instructor to create a customized phoneme list to target the specific needs of a particular student or class. Additionally, individual students in a class can have a list that is predetermined to meet specific needs by creating new class list for that student.
A review of student records can indicate if a student is in Instruction/Practice mode or has mastered a particular phoneme. It will also indicate if the student missed a review of a previously mastered phoneme and will automatically reenter it into the list of phonemes to be mastered.
Can the program be made switch accessible?
Technical support personnel for the program indicate that the program does not include a switch accessible design.
Can modifications be made for students with visual impairments?
Neither the letter size nor the paintbrush area used to start the lesson can be adjusted to provide a larger size or type. The background color and font color cannot be adjusted for students with visual impairments. The paintbrush must be used to start a lesson - no hotkey is provided as an alternative.
I set the preferences to eliminate a pretest and begin working on phonemes that I targeted but I keep getting a pretest. What went wrong?
You need to set the preferences and enroll the student before the student logs on; otherwise, the program will default to the pretest.
Sometimes the sound is not clear and precise. What can I do to make it sound better?
Close out of any unnecessary programs to reduce the memory load if you notice problems in the voice quality. Also, try adjusting the volume level.
Phonics Mastery is available through GAMCO Educational Software on CD-ROM in Mac/Win versions. PURCHASE PRICE: Purchase price per level (A, B, or C) is $69.95 for one copy, for a lab (5 copies) $169.95, and Net or Site (unlimited) $599.95. A bundle (all three levels) can be purchased at $188.95 for one copy, $458.95 for 5 copies (lab), $1619,95 for net/site licenses.