Posted 28 July 2008

Helping to Change the Lives of Children in Zimbabwe - the THRASS Synthetic
Phonics Programme

The THRASS synthetic phonics programme has been welcomed as heralding the
start of a new era in the teaching of English in Africa and now Zimbabwe is
the latest country where THRASS is helping to change children's lives...
http://www.thrass.co.uk/zimbabwe.htm (should be live by late Tuesday!)

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FOR SING-A-LONG
Here are some example questions, for each of the 44 phoneme songs and the
theme song, for teachers, assistants and parents to adapt and/or extend to
suit the ability of their learners.

Where possible, encourage your learners to use the pictures and words in
the Sing-A-Long Book or Interactive Book to provide the evidence for their
answers. Later, tell them an answer and ask them to formulate a question!

We hope that you find the answers informative and, in some cases,
entertaining!
http://www.thrass.co.uk/sing-a-long.htm

SING-A-LONG MESSAGE BOARD
Teachers, Assistants and Parents: The purpose of this message board is to
give children the opportunity to practise their writing, typing and reading
skills. Encourage your learners to write and/or type their messages and to
then Copy & Paste them into the TOPIC Box (if the message is a new topic)
or the REPLY Box (if the message is a reply). We very much welcome messages
from children of all ages and abilities, provided that the messages and
spellings are largely their own work. Thank you for helping us to make this
an interesting and enjoyable forum for children.

SCOTTS THE READING DOG AND THE THRASS SING-A-LONG SONGS

Tony Nevett is a Blue Cross education volunteer who owns a retired
greyhound called Scotts. Scotts is a Blue Cross education dog, a Pets at
Therapy dog and also Britain's first Reading Education Assistance DogR
(READ), who helps children who are otherwise too shy to read aloud to do so
by listening to them and providing a calming and motivating presence.
http://www.thrass.co.uk/scotts.htm

NEW TO DOWNLOADS
THRASS 120 Articulation Test
Say the Word. Say the Phonemes. Alternative phonemes are acceptable,
provided that the articulation is accurate. One mark for each word.

THRASS 120 Reading Spelling Test (A4)

Standardised Reading and Spelling Tests
Schonell Reading Test 68KB
Schonell Spelling Test B 68KB
Burt Reading Test 88KB
http://www.thrass.co.uk/downloads.htm

GRAFFITI FIRST AND SOON TO BE EXCLUSIVE BOOKS

This week, SING-A-LONG resources went on sale at the well known Graffiti
Bookshop, in the Kolonade Centre, Pretoria, South Africa and they will soon
be on sale at some of the nationwide Exclusive Books chain - from which
they can already be ordered using 'PWS' - as a registered vendor.