| Preschool-K | Apple 64K | A164 |
| Young children practice such alphabet skills as distinguishing letters, matching upper- and lower-case forms, and recalling alphabetic sequences while helping songbirds find their way home and completing connect-the-dot puzzles. | ||
Introduction
Fun from A to Z is a collection of three programs designed to give preschool and kindergarten children individual practice in a variety of early reading skills involving the alphabet.
In BIRDS, students practice discriminating among the letters of the alphabet and matching upper- and lower-case letters by helping a bird find its house.
DOTS gives students practice in learning the sequence of the alphabet while connecting dots in alphabetical order to create a variety of pictures.
RUNNERS helps students sharpen their knowledge of the alphabet sequence. Students help a team of animals win a race by selecting the missing letter that will complete a randomly selected alphabet segment.
Management Options are available that enable teachers to tailor the material to the needs of individual students or classes by specifying certain program parameters. See page 2 for information on how to use the Management Options.
A hand-shaped pointer allows students to enter their answers easily. They need to move the hand to the answer they wish to choose and then press the Return Key.
They can move the hand to their next choice by pressing the Space Bar, the Right-Arrow Key, or the Down-Arrow Key. If they wish to move to a previous choice, they can press the Left-Arrow Key or the Up-Arrow Key. Students familiar with the keyboard can also enter their responses by directly typing the letter keys if the Management Options have been set to this.
Each program ends with a Score screen that graphically shows how many items were presented and how many were answered correctly.
Sound effects may be turned on or off before starting a program by selecting Option 5 on the main menu or during the program by pressing Control-S (hold down the Control Key and press the S Key.
Students can exit the program at any time by pressing the Escape (Esc) Key twice whenever the computer is waiting for a response.
Fun from A to Z is a product from the MECC Early Learning Series. This series presents opportunities for children to practice a wide variety of readiness skills.
Additional products currently available include Paint with Words, First-Letter Fun, Counting Critters, and Arithmetic Critters.
This program requires an Apple II series computer with 64K memory, one disk drive, and a monochrome or color monitor.
Curriculum Area: Language Arts
Subject: Pre-Reading
Grade Level: Preschool-Kindergarten
Topics: Letter Discrimination; Alphabet Sequence; Upper- and Lower-case Matching
Description: Students practice matching identical letters in either upper or lower case, associating upper- and lower-case letters, and placing the letters of the alphabet in the correct sequence. Colorful animated graphics serve to motivate students and help reinforce the skills being practiced.
Computer Rationale: The computer randomizes the presentation of the material and presents immediate feedback.
Features:
- letters can be displayed in upper or lower case
- varied ways of entering a response are allowed
- Management Options enable teachers to tailor the presentation of the material to their classroom needs
- score screens indicate levels of student success
Menu Options:
BIRDS – Students help birds find their way home by matching letters. Through the use of the Management Options, teachers can determine whether the program will drill on letter identification or upper- and lower-case matching.
DOTS – Students connect the dots of a dot-to-dot puzzle by identifying the letters of the alphabet in sequence.
RUNNERS – Students complete a randomly selected segment of the alphabet and help a team of racing animals reach the finish line.