For Educators
What is the Reading program?
Our Reading program is designed around the concept of exploration, repetition, and practice. It is designed
to expose learners to the 1,000 most common words in the English Language through a series of interactive
activities and exercises. Learners can explore the sounds of letters and words, see images and videos of
words, hear them used in sentences and paragraphs, and practice matching words and sounds. The words are
grouped in a series of categories that allow learners to practice a related set of words. Launched in April
2010, the program is expected to continue to add content and activities throughout 2010-2011. See our up-to-date
word list to track our progress.
How can I use the Reading program to help my learners?
In addition to the categories of words, there are five distinct ways to learn. Upon entering the Learn to Read
interface, the learner will see a collection of icons on the left and right. The icons on the left represent
Learning Tools and the icons on the right represent a category or words. Learners simply click on a way to learn
and a category to get started.
Letters: The Letter tools will really help learners who are just beginning
to learn to read English or who want to explore the relationship between letters and their
sounds in different words. The Letter Explorer allows the learner to see every letter
in the alphabet. When they select a letter or common group of letters, related examples will
appear. They can then click on each word and hear it pronounced.
Words: The Word tools are great for giving your learners exposure to a variety of words
and can be thought of as a virtual dictionary. By clicking on the Word Explorer, learners will
see a word cloud of all the words in the category and click on a word to begin exploring. Once
they have selected the word they can hear the word pronounced, hear the word used in context,
view an image of the word, and watch a video that defines the word. This is a great tool for
visual learners.
Texts: Learners that want to explore pieces of text will enjoy exploring the Text tools.
We have a variety of different text formats including forms, cover letters, news articles, and
short-stories. When learners pick a category they will see a variety of texts. Male and female
voices read the different text as the cursor highlights the word being read. This is a great
way to read and follow along while hearing a correct pronunciation of the word. Learners can
also click on words and explore them within the piece of text.
Videos: The Video tools are a great asset for your visual learners. In the Video Explorer,
each of the words in the category that they choose will be represented by a video. The learner
hears the word read aloud and then watches a video that defines the word. The videos range from
being comical to being serious. Keep in mind that these videos are tailored to an adult
audience and use realistic imagery and situations.
Activities: Look here for a collection of game-like tools. The first one available is called
"Fill Ins". The learner hears a sentence and has to complete the text by dragging and dropping
the appropriate word in the blank. When the appropriate word is chosen the learner is given
positive reinforcement for their correct answer. Additional games and categories will be added
to this section as we continue to expand the Literacy Project, so make sure you check back
frequently.
How do my learners begin using the Reading program?
Simply go to www.gcflearnfree.org/reading and begin using
the interactive learning tools available. The Reading program is free for all users and does not
even require a GCFlearnFree.org user account. Again, don’t forget to check back frequently as we
will continue to add more words, more categories and more learning tools throughout 2010!
Feedback
To help us improve the Reading program, please provide us with feedback by completing the
Contact Us form.
Tell us how your students are using this program and provide us with other strategies that we can use to help
your learners improve their reading skills.