Fast ForWord Home Learner Success Manual for Parents Language v2: Sky Gym
Fast ForWord Home Interventions for Parents One of the very first things you can do to assist your child when they are experiencing difficulty with a particular exercise is to sit with them and watch and listen as they work. You can either use a Y-splitter so that you can listen in on your own headphones or you can remove the headphones for a short time so that you can hear what is going on. That way, you will be able to identify if your child is having difficulty understanding the goal of the exercise or if it is the content. Check for Understanding 1. Ask your child to explain the exercise to you. 2. Do they understand the expectations of the exercise? 3. Do they understand how to use the mouse or keyboard? 4. Ask: Can you tell me what this exercise wants you to do? Listen with Your Child 1. Listen in with your child (we do recommend a stereo audio splitter that enables you to plug two headsets into the computer). 2. Listen to what they hear. 3. Ask them to tell you what they hear. 4. Naming sounds can be helpful too. 5. Help them to understand the difference between sounds that are the same and those that are different. The next step is to do the exercise with them. This can be achieved by using the Demo mode. These are the steps to work on the Demo. Keep in mind that no data will be recorded when using the Demo mode. To use the demos: 1. Go to www.myscilearn.com 2. Choose student login on the bottom left of the box. 3. Choose school district: BrainPro OnDemand District 4. Sign in as usual. 5. When the page comes up with the assignment look at the tabs at the top and choose DEMOS (it will say you need your teacher's permission, please let your consultant know you are going to do the Demos). 6. Choose the exercise that your child is struggling with and work together for a while until you are sure they are familiar with the task and have answered at least three in a row correctly. 7. Exit demos and allow them to work as usual.
Sky Gym Object: In this exercise, the learner listens to a pair of sounds comprised of a high and low tone and then clicks the up and down arrows in the correct order in which the tones were presented. Slow Learners down with Say it, Touch it, Click it Say it, Touch it, Click it slows down a struggling learner who may be clicking erratically and helps him/her to focus before selecting a response. Ask your child to name the up and down tones. For example, call the UP sound Wheep and the DOWN sound Whoop. Other parents have used other names me/jo, bird/frog for the two tones. Use whatever works best for your child. After naming the sounds, write down the names on two sticky notes and place them next to the corresponding arrows on the Sky Gym screen. Have your child click the yellow planet to listen to a pair of tones. After carefully listening to the tones, ask your child to repeat the sounds out loud. If the order was an UP tone followed by a DOWN tone, your child would SAY UP/DOWN (or whatever words you came up with to represent those sounds.) Then have your child SAY UP/DOWN while TOUCHING the stickers labeled on the screen. Finally, have your child SAY UP/DOWN while clicking the arrows with the mouse. Beat the Parent -You can either use the sheet attached, or your own sheet of paper to record responses. In this helping activity, learners compete with you, the parent, to earn more points by being consistently accurate. Progress in Sky Gym is based on the 3 - Up, 1 - Down rule. Under this rule of progression, learners take one step forward every time they get three answers in a row correct. If they miss one answer, they will go back a step in the exercise. On the sheet of paper, make two columns and put your name on the top of one column and the learner's name on the top of the other column. 1. Use a y-jack splitter to listen in with the student during the exercise. 2. When the learner gets three in a row correct, mark down one point for them. 3. When the learner makes an error, mark one point for yourself. 4. At the end of the time in the exercise, total the points for each column. 5. Calculate the number of learner points earned minus the number of parent points earned. This number represents the total number of steps forward the student has progressed. Consider setting a goal for the number of net points earned; this will help your child strive for even greater consistency and progress more quickly.
Use the Help Mode In Sky Gym, once the learner is above zero percent, the help mode becomes available (While at zero percent, there are other forms of assistance such as arrows that light up to provide a visual cue and tones that are farther apart). Have your child click on the question mark symbol to enter the help mode. While in the help mode, the learner can listen to examples of the current level he or she is working in. Make sure to click the button for a visual cue plus tone example.
Beat the Parent Worksheet Exercise: Parent: Learner: Total Points: Exercise: Parent: Learner: Total Points: Exercise: Parent: Learner: Total Points:
10 in a Row Another way to keep track of getting three in a row correct is to use the 10 in a row document. 1. Print out the document 2. Each time your child gets three in a row correct, they can cross of a circle 3. If they get one wrong, they start over on the next line 4. Continue marking off circles and see if they can get 10 in a row and how many times they can get 10 in a row. You can also use the document to play another version of beat the parent. 1. Print off two of the sheets (one for you and one for your child) 2. Each time you child gets three in a row correct, they can cross off a circle 3. If they get one wrong, you get to cross of a circle 4. Continue in this fashion until the exercise is over for the day and see who was able to cross off more circles
10 in a Row Worksheet Can you get 10 correct answers in a row? Cross out the circles below to see how many you can get in a row!