HOW IT WORKS



HOW IT WORKS

The Developmental Educators’ Handbook applies the user friendly “point and click” selection features of web browsers for use on Windows PC or Macintosh computers. This provides useful information in the pursuit of college prep developmental reading/writing resources.

The Developmental Educators’ Handbook features files of data pertaining to such subjects as: classical novels, writing prompts, public domain novel videos, categorized public domain novel resources, editing gobbledygook from writing samples, adaptation of Voice of America public domain articles to classroom exercises, correlation of audio read and sight read stories for enhanced comprehension, free computer programs (Bookshelf, Readability Calculator, Text to Audio Player software), and numerous other innovative resources developed by the authors or included from freely available Internet resources. All content is included to enhance classroom activities and instructor lesson preparation.

Select Information Interactively

The Handbook’s homepage links to the major topics embodying the developmental reading/writing encyclopedia. Clicking on any of the icons or hot link words opens the selected topic. The WEB address is: ,

DEVELOPMENTAL TOPICS

Topics seek to make reading pleasurable for the student, devoid of the intimidation depicted below:

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Topics included in the Developmental Educators’ Handbook number in the hundreds. A partial listing includes: Prompt Writing; Public Domain Novel Library; Categorized Student Books; Comprehension Short Stories with exercises, vocabulary lists and audio narratives; Gobbledygook Workshop, and many others including a Developmental Reading Library (over 200 .pdf documents. Featured topics from the Handbook main pages are listed as follows:

Matching Students with Novels

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"How do you choose novels to match students` interests and abilities?"

Through a questionnaire, the authors suggest a means of correlating novel content with student interest and reading ability using the DEH’s digital library.

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From a digital library of 250+ public domain novels and other works, categorized by theme, the student can be matched to optimum reading content. Each work is available, on screen, as a .pdf or html file resident on the DEH DVD or DEH website.

Many of the works can be read as “book-like” displays using the program Bookshelf. Bookshelf provides a “reader-friendly” page-like format of two pages per screen view.

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Using other public domain programs the DEH offers an audio version of many of the selected novels employing a text-to-audio program. In this way, the student can sight-read the text while simultaneously hearing text words spoken.

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To assist in matching novel and selection reading difficulty to the student, a readability calculator program is resident on the DEH DVD.

READABILITY CALCULATOR PROGRAM

This is a most useful tool for determining both the difficulty of reading and writing content. The program, known as FLESH, is in the public domain. It is based on the Flesch-Kincaid reading algorithm which calculates grade level reading ease, average sentence and word length and other data depicted in the image below:

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The above calculation is from the author’s short story The Across the Tracks Girl. The same readability assessment proves helpful in authoring developmental prompts and other instructor narrative products.

WatchIT!/WriteIT!

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WatchIT! – WriteIT! uses public domain full length movies as a developmental education resource. Ten movies in the .mp4 format are resident on the DVD and website. Among them are: King Solomon’s Mines, The Lost World, Oliver Twist, The Jungle Book, Farewell to Arms, and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Developmental

Reading/Writing Prompt Workshop

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A major facet of Developmental reading/writing instruction is composing timely, provocative, and thought provoking prompts. The DEH devotes considerable effort to assisting the developmental educator in prompt writing. Not only are many sample prompts included but resources for authoring others are addressed.

The Developmental Educators’ Handbook (DEH) was conceived in 2009 as a spinoff application of NASA’s Multimedia Space Educators’ Handbook (SEH). Conceived in 1989, the SEH evolved into a NASA web site, CDROM and DVD. The DEH, like the SEH, consists of hundreds of graphic, text, audio and video files, all in the public domain, arranged in an organized “point-and-click” fashion. Materials cover a broad range of students, fashioned for pre-school through community college and university education.

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The Handbook is currently resident on the World Wide Web at:



Multimedia

Developmental Educators’

Handbook

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The Developmental Educators’Handbook

is created, authored, edited and programmed

by Jerry and Betty Woodfill

e-mail: drugfreereading@

Mailing Address:

Developmental Educators’ Handbook

P.O. Box 58081

Houston, TX 77258

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Multimedia

Developmental Educators’

Handbook

To examine the Developmental Educators’ Handbook on the World Wide Web, enter the following URL in the HTML browser:

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(The Handbook is also available on DVD for Windows and Macintosh Computers [html format])

The program is provided free of charge to those providing a blank 4.7 gigabyte DVD-R with an accompanying request letter to:

Developmental Educators’ Handbook

P.O. Box 58081, Houston, TX 77058.

For additional information, e-mail: drugfreereading@

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