If you are a Reading Teacher, ESL Tutor, or just want to help someone with their reading – be sure to check out the Reading section of our site. Since its launch in April of 2010, GCFLearnFree.org has helped over 40,000 learners improve their English reading skills.

Now, in addition to our popular self-paced “Learn to Read” program we have added eight new stand alone activities that teachers can use in their classrooms. Presented in a classroom friendly format, these activities make it easier than ever to choose an activity, select a category of words, and start learning!

If you want to know more about the program, take a look around, view our educational objectives and check out the word list. Many of our videos can also be seen on  YouTube, and finally – be sure to stay tuned for the launch of our mobile apps in early 2011.

The new category, Direction, includes words that are used to give people directions. Words such as north, south, east, west, left, and right are included in this category. These words will help struggling reader’s learn terminology that aids in listening, reading, or giving directions about how to get to a particular destination.

Try the new category, Direction, with the new activity called Sound Match. When you get to the Reading Program page, select the Activity Icon on the left and the new Direction category on the right. Click on the Tape Deck icon, which is outlined in red on the left. This will get you started on the new activity.

A boom box appears on the screen, with three tape decks. Hover over the tape deck to hear a word read aloud. When the reader hears the word that is displayed, simply drag that tape deck to the boom box and insert the tape. If this is not the correct word, the boom box will spit the tape back out. If this is the correct word, then the boom box will accept the tape and play a short song. The activity helps the learner to reinforce the relationship between how a word sounds and how a word is spelled. To start learning, go to http://www.gcflearnfree.org/reading/.

How does the Reading Program work?

Learners simply go to http://www.gcflearnfree.org/reading/ and click “Learn to Read.” Once there, they will see a series of icons on the left and on the right. The icons on the left represent the different learning tools available and the icons on the right represent the different word categories. To begin, the learner chooses a learning tool and a category.

What reading tools are available?

A Letter tool allows the learner to explore the relationship between letters and their sounds in different words. The Word tools are like a virtual dictionary and provide learners with a verbal and visual representation of the words. The Text tools allow the learner to explore a variety of different text formats that are found in everyday life situations such as forms, questionnaires, and newspaper articles. The Video tool represents each word with a short video. Lastly, there is an Activity tool. This contains game-like activities that allow the learner to practice using the words in a variety of ways.

Getting Started

Your learners simply go to http://www.gcflearnfree.org/reading/ to get started learning. Its free and users are not required to create a member account with GCFLearnFree.org. We encourage you to explore the variety of different activities so that you can help your learners gain the skills they need to be proficient readers. There is also an Educator’s page that will provide additional resources for educator’s.

Feedback

The Reading Program has just begun and we would love to hear your feedback. Tell us what you like about the program, how you use it, or what we could do to improve the Reading Program. And, don’t forget to check back often because we will be adding to the program throughout 2010.

Learn to Read – The GCF Reading Program

The interactive learning tools in the Reading Program are designed in a way that learners can choose how they learn to read. We offer a Letter Explorer, which allows the learner to choose a letter and then see and hear different words that contain that letter. The Word Explorer allows a learner to pick a category of words, such as Transportation, and then see a group of words that fall into that category. When a word is clicked on, learners can choose to watch a video about the word, see a picture or hear it pronounced. If a learner wants to practice reading larger portions of text, the Text Explorer allows them to choose a category and listen as a male or female voice reads the original text to the learner. The Video Explorer allows a learner to pick a category of words and watch videos that define the word. Lastly, we have included an Activities section which will contain game-like word activities. Learners can decide which activity will best help them learn to read English.

GCFLearnFree.org decided to develop the Reading Program because of the large portion of adults who struggle with reading proficiently. There are over 43 million American adults who cannot read and over 50 million adults who cannot read higher than a fifth grade level. Our goal is to help these adults become more confident in their reading abilities.

We will continue to expand upon the Reading Program in 2010. GCFLearnFree.org will be developing more sample texts, more categories to choose from and more interactive learning tools. If you know someone who struggles with reading or would like to see the Reading Program yourself, visit www.gcflearnfree.org/reading/. This is an excellent reading resource and is free of charge. Please help us spread the word about this free Reading Program.