Secondary school can be stressful for students – even more so if they’re having to catch-up with their reading and spelling.
Wordshark has a lot to offer as a literacy intervention, and is one of the few products that can be used with older students:
- Games are non-age-specific. During the development on the online program secondary-aged students were specifically asked for their views on the graphics
- Content ranges from cvc words through to complex multi-syllabic words, with the option to add your own
- Settings, speeds and games options help to make the program highly adaptable. In addition, you can choose to use automatic progression or to set work.
Year 7 and 8 catch-up premium
Wordshark is the perfect tool for raising reading and spelling ages whilst maintaining motivation.
To meet catch-up premium criteria and to make a real impact, use the program 15-20 minutes several times per week, at school or at home. You can work one-to-one with the student, or they can work independently with the option of using automatic progression, or completing tasks set by you.
Using Wordshark in secondary school
- Students can work independently and at their own level and pace – without feeling judged and without comparing themselves to their peers.
- The word lists in the ‘Wordshark’ course make no reference to age or year group and you can exclude games that students might find too ‘young’.
- Wordshark is ideal for helping students with specific learning needs such as dyslexia, or those learning English as an additional language. Read more about Wordshark for SEND and for EAL.
- You can add your own vocabulary – record and upload images, if needed.
Monitoring impact
Even if students are mostly using Wordshark outside of school, you can view their progress via on-screen/downloadable reports.
Wordshark has done so much for so many – it takes the tension out of intense learning.
I have been a Wordshark user for more years than I care to remember, both when working in the Dyslexia Base of a large Secondary School and in my own private practice. I have always been impressed by the product in every way, including how it keeps up to speed with current research and the changing needs of practice.
I have used Wordshark over 15 years. Originally this was in a Comprehensive school whose Learning Support Department had purchased a multi user program. I was supporting students with dyslexia and reading and spelling difficulties generally. This was teaching students in groups as well as 1:1 situations. Since retirement, I have taught some children with dyslexia privately 1:1, for which I purchased a single user Wordshark program. For both situations I found the program very useful and appealing to students. They can work as independently as possible and have choice of games to play. I can monitor them. The availability of Alpha to Omega phonic patterns as well as National Curriculum vocabulary is ideal to cater for individual students’ needs.