Who can use the program?
To use My Reading Coach, a student must be able to identify all the letters of the alphabet, comprehend the spoken English-language and possess average hearing and visual capabilities.
The Platinum Edition allows the monolingual Spanish speaker to use the program via the Spanish language option. This provides either full Spanish language instruction or directions in Spanish. In addition, the student must be able to physically operate a computer mouse and keyboard.
Is this a new reading program?
My Reading Coach is not a new reading program. It is a teacher tool that is designed to provide one-on-one reading instruction to all students. It supplements and supports any reading program currently in place. This program is based on the research recommendations outlined by the National Reading Panel. The techniques have been used in the classroom for more than 25 years and 8 years as a computer software program.
What is different about My Reading Coach?
It works! My Reading Coach has taught over a million students to read – students who had previously failed with every other method. A speech pathologist and other educators are the Emulated Teachers™ embedded in My Reading Coach. The program has been infused with Teacher Intelligence™ gained through experience teaching speech and reading to students in low-socioeconomic schools. My Reading Coach makes it possible to provide individualized, direct instruction for every student. My Reading Coach makes one-on-one instruction and intervention affordable. The program provides complete systematic phonics instruction, grammar instruction and teaches reading comprehension strategies. This approach enables the teacher to focus on oral reading and literature appreciation.
For what reading levels is this program appropriate?
The program has been used effectively with students who score at or below stanine 6 for their grade level. Since the program starts with a placement test, students are assigned only the lessons that they need. It is the only software program that works consistently with students in the lowest stanines.
Is there a version of My Reading Coach for the Macintosh®?
Yes, My Reading Coach is available for Macintosh machines.
Will it work for Special Needs students?
Yes. My Reading Coach works well with special needs students because it is systematic and methodical.
Will it work for ELL students?
Yes. My Reading Coach works well with ELL students who comprehend English, even if they are not yet speaking English. The program includes a lesson assignment feature specifically designed to accommodate ELL students.
The Platinum Edition makes it possible for monolingual Spanish students to learn to speak and read in English quickly via an expanded feature that provides either full Spanish instruction or directions in Spanish.
Does the program test the student?
The program initially tests the student on his/her ability to clearly distinguish sounds and recognize other rules for pronunciation and spelling. The program also has four cumulative review tests to ensure long-term memory retention.
My Reading Coach analyzes, monitors and reports student achievement by equivalent reading level and grammar level.
Is the program difficult for students?
With only a brief teacher-assisted introduction, a student will be able to complete the lessons and the associated on-line activities independently. Even reluctant students become enthusiastic learners as they progress through lessons and see their progress. It is important that teachers acknowledge the student’s hard work and rapid growth. Students excel quickly when teachers monitor student progress and complete the Expert Oral Reading Sheets with homogeneous groups of students identified by the program.
Is the program difficult for teachers to use?
A one-day training session is recommended for teachers to learn the program content, to feel comfortable with its terminology and to adapt the program into their curriculum. The training session will introduce teachers to all the options of the Management System, as well as explaining the diagnostic features and monitoring students through the embedded reports. During training, teachers will also become familiar with remediation techniques and the use of the off-line support materials.
Who should receive training?
Anyone who will have students using the program, as well as those who will administer the program, should be trained. This includes teachers, classroom aids and administrators.
How many students can use the program?
On average, each workstation (i.e., available computer) may be used to teach reading skills to 6 - 10 students per school day.
What does the program cost?
Please call MindPlay at 1-800-221-7911
How can you receive future updates of My Reading Coach?
A My Reading Coach institution can download updates from our website: http://www.mindplay.com/ or call MindPlay and request the Latest Version for free during the first 12 months of use. Thereafter, a nominal fee will be charged. Please see MindPlay’s Maintenance Policy for more information.
How can I get middle and high school students willing to use My Reading Coach?
One successful approach is to have students attempt to read the wordlist for lesson 61 (Wordlist Tab in the Teaching Guide). If they can easily read these words, tell them they do not need to use the program. If they cannot read the words, explain that if they complete My Reading Coach, they will easily read these words and become proficient readers. Another approach is to have the students listen to the before and after oral reading of students who have used the program.
If I have a student who has speech problems, will the program correct pronunciation difficulties?
In this release of the program, the responsibility rests with the student to compare his/her voice to the correct pronunciation by the instructor. A voice recording component exists within the MRC program and students are able to record and play back their own voice productions. However, even without activating the voice recording component, many sites have indicated that students have made significant speech improvement after consistently using My Reading Coach.
Is this program self-sufficient or do we need additional resources?
It depends upon the student. For most students, the on-line activities and the off-line support sheets are sufficient to teach the student to read. For Learning Disabled or special needs students, expect to augment the program with additional intervention on some lessons and inclusion of outside materials for additional practice.
For ESL students, expect to repeat certain exercises - for example, “sh” and “ch”. These students will also need supplemental vocabulary exercises. Students should be encouraged to practice skills taught in My Reading Coach as they read.
Is this just a phonics program or does it teach reading comprehension?
My Reading Coach teaches students to easily and automatically decode words. As early as lesson 9, students read multiple words, quickly progress to reading a sentence, then multiple sentences, and ultimately paragraphs. By lesson 30, most students begin reading grade appropriate stories. The program teaches grammar, visualization and inflection to help students comprehend what they read. This is done interactively with the student as they work on the program. In addition to the interactive instruction, the program comes with thirty comprehension sheets. The teacher is highly encouraged to work with a student or small groups of students using the sheets to improve oral reading and supplement the comprehension exercises embedded in the program. ELL students begin the syntactic processing portion of the program at Lesson 30 and reading comprehension at Lesson 46.
What if there is a technical problem with the program?
Technical Support is available between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. MST, Monday through Friday. MindPlay is closed on all major holidays. Call (800) 221-7911. Technical Support is free for the first year.
Will the program be boring for middle and high school students?
When students progress beyond lesson 12 and begin to see their progress, any reluctance they might have had is replaced with confidence. Please review teacher comments below.
“Every day we have new WOW moments! Today we had one of our 11th graders working fast and furious to finish his 2nd Review Test before noon. He finished at 11:58, threw up his arms and yelled "YES, I made it!" (This is a 6', 200 lb. football player). The entire class cheered for him. Then he went over to the printer, got his certificate and asked me if I needed to sign it. This was the same student who felt embarrassed to take home his first certificate, because he thought they were silly! A true WOW moment!” -Marci Goforth, Victoria ISD, Victoria TX
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