Foundations II exercise interventions

When intervening with a student, make sure the student clearly understands the task of the exercise. Ask the student to explain the exercise to you. Do they understand the expectations of the exercise, and how to use the mouse or keyboard? Ask: Can you tell me what this exercise wants you to do?

Use questioning and observation to assess the situation and adjust instruction or intervene appropriately. You can also watch a video for general tips on how to help students use Fast ForWord.

The object of Cosmic Reader is to listen to a story while looking at pictures, and then answer questions and follow instructions related to that story.

Cosmic Reader helps improve the ability to understand successive sentences and derive meaning from a story (listening comprehension). It helps improve the ability to listen to spoken directions of increasing length and complexity, comprehend them, and keep them in memory long enough to plan and carry out the required action (following directions). Cosmic Reader also helps build an understanding of English language conventions and vocabulary.

Listen with the student during the exercise

  • Listening Comprehension - Is the student listening closely to the story in preparation for the comprehension questions?

  • Language Conventions Questions - Listen in as the student works on the exercise. Ask the student to repeat the sentence back to you and explain why he or she would choose one picture over the others before clicking on the picture. This will help you identify if the student is having trouble with listening comprehension and/or attention skills or if the student is not familiar with some of the grammatical concepts. Proceed with the rest of the interventions below to help the student.

  • Following Directions Questions - When presented with a 2-step direction, have the student immediately move the mouse to the correct shape as soon as he or she hears the first step. Once the sentence is done, the student simply needs to click the first object and complete the second part of the sentence.

Who, what, where, when? (one-on-one activity or small group/classroom activity)

Resources: Picture cards showing people, places, things, clocks, sunset, sunrise, calendars.

Activity: Using the picture cards, discuss with the student the meaning of "who", "what", "where" and "when." Ask the student to choose a picture card and create a question sentence based on the picture, e.g., Who is sitting on the bench? or Where is the dog hiding?

Following directions (one-on-one activity)

Resources: Assorted items from the classroom such as a pen, pencil, colored sheet of paper, scissors, eraser, or print the Cosmic Reader Sample Shapes.

Activity: If the student is having difficulty following multi-step directions, practice a few commands with him or her using the items from the classroom. For example, (1) "Touch the red piece of paper and the yellow pencil." (2) "Put the eraser on top of the scissors and the pencil on the red piece of paper." Reverse the activity by having the student say the commands and the teacher follow them, with the student acknowledging if the commands are correct.

Additionally, you may find it useful to demonstrate these directions or have the student practice sentences you have identified from the Error Report using the Cosmic Reader Sample Shapes.

Use chapter text

Resources: Cosmic Reader Practice Text

Activity: The Listening Comprehension activity challenges students to answer questions that are specifically designed to build comprehension and memory for details, main ideas, and relationships within the story. Use your best judgment when using the text because the main goal of this section is to strengthen listening comprehension. However, at times it may be beneficial to share the text of the story with the student. Students who need extra support may read the story before listening to the exercise. For other students who are struggling, review the Completion Report Details and Error reports to determine if the student is missing the same questions repeatedly. Give these questions to the student and help them find the answers in the text. Alternatively, review the text with the student and have him or her answer some of the questions below. This is a great group intervention as well.

What did ______?

Who did ___________?

When did _______?

What does _________?

What is _____?

Where is ___________?

Name ________.

What happened before _______?

What happened after _________?

Why did the main character_________?

How did the main character ________?

How did the main character feel when _____?

What did the author mean by _________?

What did the main character learn about _________?

What would you do if _________?

What did you learn about ___________?

What are the reasons why ____________?

Use questioning and observation to assess the situation and adjust instruction or intervene appropriately. You can also watch a video for general tips on how to help students use Fast ForWord.

The object of Jumper Gym is to help Tumbalina the gymnast perform tumbling tricks by correctly identifying sequences of sound sweeps.

Jumper Gym helps improve the ability to distinguish differences between sounds, the ability to accurately identify three or more sounds in a series (advanced listening accuracy), and the ability to recognize and remember the order in which a series of sounds is presented (auditory sequencing).

Slow students down with “Say it, Touch it, Click it”

Resources: Post It Notes and a Y-jack splitter attached to the student’s headset and a second headset so you can listen in as the student works.

Activity: “Say it, Touch it, Click it” slows down a struggling student who may be clicking erratically and helps him/her to focus before selecting a response. Ask the student to name the up and down tones. For example, call the UP sound “wheep” and the DOWN sound “whoop.” (Some coaches have also used other names – me/jo, bird/frog for the two tones. Use whatever works best for your students.)

After naming the sounds, write down the names on two sticky notes and place them next to the corresponding arrows on the screen. Have the student click the yellow planet to listen to a pair of tones. After carefully listening to the tones, ask the student to repeat the sounds out loud. If the order was an UP tone followed by a DOWN tone, the student would SAY “wheep/whoop” or the names of the tones the student came up with. Then have the student SAY “wheep/whoop” while TOUCHING the stickers labeled “wheep” and “whoop.” Finally, have the student SAY “wheep/whoop” while clicking the arrows with the mouse.

Challenge students to "Three in a row"

Explain that accuracy is the key to moving through the content in this exercise. Students make progress based on the 3-Forward/1-Back Rule: they move forward when they get 3 answers in a row correct, but they move backward when they get 1 answer incorrect.

Because streaks record the number of correct answers in a row, charting this can help the student self-monitor by providing visual feedback of their number of correct answers in a row. Students can use the Three-in-a-Row Worksheet.

Challenge students to "Beat the Teacher"

Challenge the student to “Beat the Teacher." The goal of this activity is to achieve accuracy and get streaks of correct answers. Students make progress based on the 3-Forward/1-Back Rule: they move forward when they get 3 answers in a row correct, but they move backward when they get 1 answer incorrect.

  1. On a sheet of paper, make two columns. Put your name on the top of one column and the student's name on the top of the other column. (You can also use the Beat the Teacher Worksheet.)
  2. Listen along with the student during the exercise.
  3. When the student gets three in a row correct, record one point for the student. When the student makes an error, record a point for yourself.
  4. At the end of the intervention, total the points for each column. Calculate the number of student points earned minus the number of teacher points earned. This number represents the total number of steps forward the student has progressed.
  5. Have the student set a points goal to help them strive for even greater consistency and faster progress.

Use questioning and observation to assess the situation and adjust instruction or intervene appropriately. You can also watch a video for general tips on how to help students use Fast ForWord.

The object of Paint Match is to match all the words into pairs in the fewest attempts.

Paint Match helps improve the ability to recognize words, the ability to recognize the relationship between letters and sounds, and the ability to understand letter patterns (word analysis). It also helps improve the ability to make correct distinctions based on individual phonemes (phonological accuracy). Paint Match displays paint tubes in groups of four, eight, sixteen, and twenty-four. Each paint tube has a word associated with it.

Teach students a pattern

Activity: Listen in as the student works on the exercise. Teach the student to move through these exercises in the same pattern we use to read—left to right, top to bottom. Clicking in a pattern will usually help the students remember the sound for each location. Additionally, you may want the student to try and remember the first tile he or she clicked on and find the matching pair. Early on, the student may forget the original sound he or she is trying to find. Have the student click the location again to commit it to memory. It is also important to stress that the student needs at least one point remaining once all the matches have been made in order to advance to the next level. The student begins with a set number of points and each click reduces the number of points. Clicking randomly will decrease the number of points more quickly than developing a pattern.

Additionally, have the student repeat the sounds aloud until the matching sound is located. Have the student click the first location and whisper the sound or word out loud softly. Continue to click in the pattern above until the sound matches the sound the student is whispering softly. When the student finds the match to the sound he or she is whispering, go back and click the original location to complete the match. Repeat this process with the next sound. Eventually, the student will be able to remember the sounds of several tiles which will make the matching task much easier.

Match pairs of words (one-on-one activity or small group/classroom activity)

Resources: Grid with four squares. Write in 'cap', 'map', 'lap' and 'cat.’

Activity: For students struggling with matching pairs of words starting with the same initial consonant, draw a four square grid. Ask the student to write one word in each grid: cap, map, lap, and cat. Discuss the initial consonant. Ask the student to then circle the pair of words that start with the same consonant. This exercise can expand using an 8-square grid and then a 16-square grid.

Use questioning and observation to assess the situation and adjust instruction or intervene appropriately. You can also watch a video for general tips on how to help students use Fast ForWord.

The object of Polar Planet is to identify a pronounced target word when presented in a series of pronounced and written words.

Polar Planet helps improve the ability to recognize words, the ability to recognize the relationship between letters and sounds, and the ability to understand letter patterns (word analysis). Additionally, Polar Planet helps improve the ability to identify and manipulate speech sounds in a quick and efficient manner (phonological fluency), and the ability to remain focused on a given task while ignoring distractions and refraining from impulsive behavior (sustained attention). The student also works on visual tracking to strengthen left-to-right reading behavior.

Target Words

Activity: Listen in as the student works on the Polar Planet exercise. When the student clicks the yellow planet, he or she will listen to the target word. A series of spoken and written words then appears on the screen. When the original target word appears, the student must click immediately to register a correct response. Timing is critical to success. Encourage the student to pay close attention so he or she is ready to click when the target word is presented a second time.

Use questioning and observation to assess the situation and adjust instruction or intervene appropriately. You can also watch a video for general tips on how to help students use Fast ForWord.

The object of Tomb Trek is to identify a pronounced target word when presented in a sequence of two pronounced and written words.

Tomb Trek helps improve the ability to recognize words, the ability to recognize the relationship between letters and sounds, and the ability to understand letter patterns (word analysis). Tomb Trek also helps improve the ability to make correct distinctions based on individual phonemes (phonological accuracy), and the capacity for holding speech sounds in memory (phonological memory).

Target Words

Activity: Listen in as the student works on the Tomb Trek exercise. When the student clicks the yellow planet, he or she will listen to the target word. Next, the student will be presented with a pair of spoken and written words, one of which is the target word. After the student listens to the trial, ask him or her what the target word was (the first word he or she listened to) and if this word came first or second when the pair was presented. The student will then select the correct word.

Contrasting words (one-on-one activity or small group/classroom activity)

Resources: Laminated table with five columns and six rows for a total of 30 empty squares

Activity: Using a small erasable marker, demonstrate for the student how you are writing the word “mud” and place this word in the upper left square. Discuss the three different letters in the word, say the sounds together. Then ask the student to write "mud" in another square of his choice, spelling it as he writes. Ask the student to fill in two more squares with the word “mud”. Then ask the student to watch you spell another word that looks almost the same as “mud” but starts with a different letter. Write "cud" and talk about what a cud is and how it sounds and is spelled. Ask the student to write "cud" in another empty square. Discuss the differences between "mud" and "cud." Then ask the student to complete the table squares using either "mud" or "dud" – student’s choice, but saying the word and spelling it for you as he completes the exercise.