Scholastic W.O.R.D
[Scholastic (800) 387-1437] - Website

         W.O.R.D. (Words Open Reading Doors) is a research-based vocabulary and comprehension program for students in Grades K-5, designed to encourage intellectual and personal growth.
         Colorful child-friendly graphics, animations and audio prompts guide the child through whole language reading, with instant scoring and feedback. The many research-based learning strategies and drills promote mouse skills, logic and critical thinking, and help students to become fluent readers with a rich vocabulary and greater comprehension.
         Based on the research of Dr. Elfrieda Hiebert, there are 2,500 morphological word families that make up 90% of all text. Through 10 thematic modules (per grade level) in W.O.R.D., students learn the 2,500 word families and are also introduced to words with multiple meanings, increasing their reading comprehension. The program's theme uses: Show what you know; Choose a book to read, and Activities with collected words where students can earn rewards. After reading, the student is challenged to group words into categories and start a word collection. 
         How it works: (1) A placement test at the beginning of each module is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their existing knowledge of vocabulary before being placed on a personalized track. (2) Using Passage One, W.O.R.D. utilizes a student's existing vocabulary knowledge to deliver thematic, contextual, and grade-appropriate passages, introducing new concepts and words. (3) With Megacluster Activity, students deepen comprehension and word knowledge by matching a word to one of eleven megacluster categories. (4) Through Learning Games, each module's words are approached from a different angle, achieving a variety of learning objectives in fun and engaging ways. (5) Free Play, during a set period, encourages students to explore and reinforce newly acquired skills. Teachers can observe individual and class progress and identify opportunities for enrichment, theme exploration, or additional support.
          The curriculum in W.O.R.D addresses homonyms & polysemy, synonyms & antonyms, expressions & phrases, heavy-lifting words & megaclusters, picturable words, tenses, inflected endings, affixes, compound words, simple comparisons, analogies, idioms, and derivatives.
          Children will love the simple, easy-to-maneuver interface and motivating content. For example, in the Amazing Animals unit, the Crabby Crates activity uses word puzzle drills and exercises to teach about analogies. The book, Reading about the World, combines a wonderful science lesson about Bugs, classifying them according to name, group name, and diet.
           

ASSIST Integrated Education Management System
[ASSIST Education (866) 984-3384] - Website

          Anyone who has ever worked for an educational institution knows what a challenge it is to manage all the information necessary in order to properly maintain a school or district's records. This can detract from the primary goal of teaching and learning. Student records, curriculum management, attendance, parental access, and so on, all require separate systems. Expensive, confusing, and time-consuming.
          ASSIST Education has an elegant and all-inclusive solution: ASSIST Integrated Education Management System.  A robust and functional platform, ASSIST combines all discrete information and integrates it into one cloud-based program.  Combining all aspects of student data, student learning management, curriculum management, parental outreach, library records and more, ASSIST is economical and user-friendly.
          Developed for use in K-12 schools, ASSIST Integrated Education Management System is among the newest generation of educational technology products (cloud-based) and deserves a close look by schools worldwide.