Left-Right Top-Down Progression

To help beginning readers learn the convention of reading English from left to right and top to bottom, encourage them to follow the highlighting of the text with their cursor as the story is read.

Procedure

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1. Go to the Read area and set the computer reading and highlighting to word-by-word.

• Move the cursor up to the top of the screen and the menu bar will appear.
• Under the "Settings" menu select "Reading Style."
• Select "Word-by-Word Slow Speed."

  
  

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2. Challenge the children to keep pace with the computer highlighting as they listen to the story.

• Click the "Read" button to begin the reading
• Demonstrate how to move the cursor along with the computer highlighting

  
  

3. Encourage children to pay careful attention at the end of a line when they will have to go down and left for the beginning of the next line.

Customize this Activity

For children who need more focus (e.g., because of attentional difficulties, visual impairment, development level), you can:

• select "Bigger Cursors" under the "Settings" menu
• select "Large Text" under the "Settings" menu

For children who need more challenge (e.g., because of greater awareness of reading conventions, better hand/eye cordination, greater facility with using the mouse), you can:

• set the Reading Style to "Word-by-Word Normal Speed"
• present the challenge of not just following but beating the computer highlighting

WiggleWorks Areas Used

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Related WiggleWorks Basics

• Changing Highlight Settings