WiggleWorks® Scholastic Beginning Literacy System

• Review WiggleWorks' Universal Design for Learning features in the Examples and Illustrations area
• Visit Teaching with WiggleWorks, also in the Examples and Illustrations area of the CAST Web site
• Visit the publisher's Web site: http://teacher.scholastic.com/wiggleworks/index.htm

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For many children, especially those with learning disabilities, physical challenges, visual impairments, and lagging skills due to a variety of social and economic factors, learning to read can be a laborious and frustrating task. These children may have difficulty seeing or recognizing letters or word patterns, be unable to turn pages, or may have little experience with English at home. Ironically, print-based material, which constitutes a great deal of early literacy curricula, is virtually inaccessible to many youngsters and is inflexible for most. At CAST, researchers have found that young readers, regardless of ability, are more engaged in and successful at learning to read if the literacy curriculum includes flexible, universally designed multimedia tools and inclusion strategies. WiggleWorks (codeveloped by CAST and Scholastic Inc.), offers just such a curriculum by providing a balance of challenge and support to beginning readers through a combination of speech, sounds, graphics, text, and customizable access features.

Product Highlights

• instructional options, such as reading, writing, and book-making
• customizable presentation options, such as text size, background color, recorded sound, or graphics
• read-aloud options, such as word-by-word, or line-by-line
• single-switch access
• customizable settings to support different disabilities and learning styles
• customizable word lists to enhance spelling
• book-making capabilities that allow students to create their own stories, complete with text, graphics, and sounds

With all of these innovative features, WiggleWorks allows children to read, write, speak, and record themselves reading. In addition, it allows them to create books, print them, and bring them home. The curriculum also provides a variety of resources for teachers, including audiocassettes, and lesson plans. With its blend of technology, literature, and teacher support, WiggleWorks has set the standard for beginning reading software.

Product Market and Impact

As one of the first commercial universally designed curriculum programs, WiggleWorks has set a precedent for publishers and software developers. WiggleWorks illustrates that accessible, flexible learning tools are essential for helping all learners reach their potential. These new materials not only impact student learning, but also empower teachers and students, thus enriching the total learning environment.

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