New Review: Learning A-Z’s Headsprout

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[Source: Learning A-Z]
Learning A-Z’s Headsprout is a supplemental online program to support reading instruction in grades K-5. Learning List recently reviewed the program’s early reading component for grades K-2. Alignment reports are available for grade K only. Instruction is presented in sets of sequential “Episodes” that teach foundational skills using engaging, animated characters in interactive videos. Printable “Sprout Stories” and flashcards provide opportunities for students to practice new skills.

The early reading component of Headsprout provides 80 Episodes that address foundational skills, such as phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, as well as punctuation and capitalization. The first 40 Episodes are also appropriate for pre-K classrooms.

Episodes are 20-minute interactive videos that provide direct instruction and guided practice in a game format. Episodes are organized in sets that address sequential reading skills (e.g., letters represent sounds, sounds combine to make words, words combine to make sentences, sentences combine to make stories). Sets are built around a unifying theme (e.g., Sea World, Space World) and include thematic, animated characters (e.g., Pip the Fish) and age-appropriate humor.

Headsprout includes a set of 90 decodable readers, or “Sprout Stories” that may be read online, printed, and displayed using classroom projection devices (e.g., interactive whiteboard, LCD projector). Beginning at Episode 5, each Episode has a corresponding Sprout Story that allows students to practice new skills. Sprout Stories present short blocks of text and incorporate Episode characters and colorful illustrations.

 About Learning A-Z*

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[Source: Learning A-Z]
Learning A-Z started as an idea. Bob Holl and Francis Morgan, two entrepreneurs with years of experience in the education industry, believed that every child deserved developmentally appropriate books and activities — at school and at home. With the support of a handful of staff, many of whom still hold key positions today, the pair started LearningPage, a free website that provides teachers with printable activities, and Reading A-Z, a subscription-based website that offers teachers effective, differentiated reading resources and instructional tools.

Today, Learning A-Z provides a number of dynamic websites that deliver hundreds of thousands of resources to students and teachers across the world. As a leading PreK-6 online curriculum provider, Learning A-Z is now used in over half the school districts in the U.S. and Canada, and in more than 165 countries worldwide.

*The content in this section is provided by or adapted from Learning A-Z.

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