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Educational: 4.6
Overall Design: 4.6
Ease of Use: 5.0
(4.0 = good, 4.5 = very
good, 5.0 = excellent)
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Program Description Commentary Who Is This Program For
Why We Selected This Program Computer Requirements
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Clifford Reading is an early literacy program that focuses on phonics, letter, and sound recognition. The game is centred around the lives of Emily Elizabeth and her big red dog Clifford as they explore Birdwell Island looking for adventures. The object of the game is to meet their friends and to help them solve their word and letter problems. In doing so, the player earns tickets that can be traded in for prizes.
One encounter is with Clifford and Emily Elizabeth's grouchy neighbours, (see top right) who are trying to clean out their garage. They have two boxes with letters on them, and a series of objects that start with either letter. As the player clicks on an object, one of the neighbours says the name of the object, and the player must place it in the appropriate letter coded box. Once the task is complete, a ticket is earned, and the neighbours even begin to warm up to the big red dog.
Another encounter is with an artist who loves to paint pictures of Clifford (see middle right). She needs the player's help in coming up with ideas for her paintings, which Clifford will then pose for. The player's job is to write two, three, or four letter words from what they have learned earlier, and the artist will interpret them for her paintings. Once a certain number of words have been created, the player earns a ticket.
Aside form the many other characters to encounter, there is also the base of operations, Emily Elizabeth's bedroom, (see bottom right) where the player gets to store prizes and books she or he earns. This is also where the map of Birdwell Island is found, and where the player can learn more about letters and sounds. There are letter tutorials that Emily Elizabeth delivers, which explore the beginning and ending consonant sounds, as well as beginning and middle vowel sounds. The player can select from an alphabet banner which letter she or he wants to learn more about. This also affects what letters will be explored in later adventures. The tutorials are simple and effective, using repetition of audio and visual cues to assist in learning the letter sounds.
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" My daughter loves the stories of Clifford and she loves this program. What I really liked what that she enjoyed doing the games (exercises) and what she was learning was incidental to her and yet she really was learning some of the basics of the alphabet and starting to spell. All learning experiences should be this much fun." Arlene, mother of Sandra, age 5.
" The character of Emily Elizabeth is a delightful personality and captures the sense of fun in exploring and my daughter really enjoys this program." - Arthur, dad of Jane, age 6.
This program is intended for very young players (ages 4 - 6) who are in the early stages of reading and letter recognition. In addition it may be suitable for some older children who are experiencing learning difficulties or who have cognitive delays.
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Clifford is a very popular and very easily recognized figure in early literature for children. He and Emily Elizabeth instill trust and confidence in young children because of their friendly, non-threatening personalities.
The program is simple, both in its ease-of-use (even very young players will soon be able to play the game independently) and in its purpose. It seeks to reinforce sound-symbol connections, letter recognition, and phonetic cueing in early readers, and it accomplishes these straightforward goals without complicating the game.
The game allows a good deal of choice for players, and although there is no broader goal for the game, the series of short adventures is very captivating for young players. Clifford Reading is a fun, purposeful game that will instill confidence in young readers, as it helps to teach them some basic reading skills.
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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PC: Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Pentium 90 or higher, 16MB Ram, 4X CD-ROM, 8-bit sound card, 256 colour 640x480/SVGA monitor, 35 MB free hard drive space.
Macintosh: Power Mac, 7, 8, 9,OS X Classic Mode, 16 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 640 X 480 display with 256 colours, 13" monitor, 35 MB free hard drive space, 4X CD-ROM,
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or see other reading programs
Disney Ready to Read With Pooh - ages 3-6
Clifford the Big Red Dog: Phonics - ages 4-6
Let's Go Read 1: An Island Adventure - ages 4-6
Ariel's Story Studio - ages 5-9
Carmen Sandiego Word Detective - ages 8-14
Robinson Crusoe - ages 8 -16
Language Trek Grades 5 & 6 - ages 10 -12
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