I researched Systems 44 instructional software. This software is for students in grades 3 through 12 who need instruction on phonics and coding. The goal is to master the 44 most used sounds and 26 letters that make up the English language. System 44 offers research-based phonics instruction that is motivating to students. The software technology is adaptive to the individual learner and the software includes validated assessments.
The Systems 44 software delivers direct phonics instruction. The students work independently with the software progressing through the levels at a pace that meets the educational needs of the individual. The software is divided into four components, or strands, The Code, Sight Words, Word Strategies, and Success strands.
The Code strand moves students from letter-sound correspondence through fluent word recognition. For example, “a” makes one sound but it changes when combined with “r”, “ar”. The student is prompted to repeat the sounds aloud. Whole word examples are provided, compared between each other, and graphics are incorporated like a picture of a cat and a grocery cart.
Sight Words focuses on the highest used words in the English language and builds automatic recognition of them. Syllable strategies and word analysis are the focus of the Word Strategies section including prefixes, suffixes, roots, endings, and syllable types. This area works toward building reading skills for meaning. Lastly, the students build upon the skills they have learned in the other lessons in the Success Strand. This section introduces full text. However, to synthesize their skills and as an award, the students watch an engaging video related to the text and their overall integrated learning experience.
The Scholastic Phonics Inventory is a built in diagnostic tool. It determines the student’s current level of knowledge to help identify core reading issues with students. The system continually tracks data and organizes the assessed data in charts and graphs within a diagnostic report.
Although I am not teaching yet, I saw this software in action when I volunteered at my daughter’s elementary school in the special education resource room. The special education teacher served students with specific learning disabilities in reading comprehension, basic reading skills, and reading fluency. In addition, students in the class have mild mental retardation and emotional behavioral disorders.
System 44 was integrated into a learning structure that was initiated with whole-group instruction. Then the children were divided into small groups that included teacher-led instruction, modeled or independent reading, and the Systems 44 computer software program. All of the students were engaged with this software program. Those who displayed inappropriate behaviors during other aspects of the lesson used appropriate behaviors during the computer portion. The student with mild mental retardation has language challenges that make it difficult to understand him. He contributed minimally verbally during the small group sessions. However, I heard him continually responding to the verbal prompts the Systems 44 program required.
I would design my instruction goals based on the Individual Education Plans (IEPs) of the special education students. Specific reading and language objectives can be devised and measured with frequent assessment using this program. Both the instructor and the student can receive instant feedback. I would then apply this data to my small group sessions making applicable instructional strategy adjustments to support and enhance the students' progress with this Systems 44 software.
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