CO-SKILLS PROGRAMS (version 5.1)

(Pépin & Loranger, 2007)

Visual Sustained Attention	Auditory Sustained Attention	Divided Attention	Visual Memory	Figural Memory
Pattern Memory	Visual Verbal Memory	Letters-Syllables-Words	Reading-Decoding	Pictograms
Spelling	Anagrams	Classification	Series Completion	Analogies
Visual Tracking	Hand-Eye Coordination	Perceptual Speed	Field Independence	Shape Recognition
Puzzles	Spatial Orientation	Labyrinths	Spatial Relations	Spatial Visualisation
Visual Perspective	Arithmetic	Strategies

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Equipment required          Cost of programs          CO-SKILLS Main Page

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Reading-Decoding

(Pépin & Loranger, 2007)

Target Clientele

Children and adults (5 years and older) who:

• are involved in a literacy program
• have reading difficulties

Target Skills

Mode: Visual
Principal skill(s) targeted: Decoding and automatic word recognition

Reading-Decoding aims to improve reading skills by developing automatic recognition of the most common words used in texts of average readability. A text of average readability is comprised of around 40 percent grammatical words such as "to", "at", "the", etc., and 12 percent everyday verbs such as "to come" and "to be able". Identifying these kinds of words thus counts for more than 50 percent of a text's sight reading. Developing automatic recognition of these words not only enables the client to increase his/her ease and speed of sight reading, but allows him or her to devote more attentional resources to understanding the text as a whole.

Exercises

Scenario and task: A man is out fishing. While there is a wide variety of fish available to be caught, he is looking for fish containing a certain letter, syllable or word. The client can see what element the man is thinking about and must select the fish that contain this element from among decoy fish. The number of potential correct catches in the exercise is indicated by a series of boxes at the top of the screen. Each time the client catches one of the target fish, one of the boxes is filled in; the remaining boxes thus informing the client of the number of fish that remain to be caught.

Throughout the exercise, one can access the «Session» menu by clicking on the right-hand button of the mouse, thus making the curser appear.

Response mode(s): Click on the mouse or use arrow keys and the space bar to select.

Feedback:

Well Done!	Correct response
Oops…	Incorrect response

At the end of each scenario, feedback regarding the number of correct and incorrect catches, as well as fish that were missed is provided.

Difficulty Level Variables

• type of target sought (syllables are considered to be more difficult than letters alone)
• number of distracters
• time allocated to complete the exercise

Level Completion Criterion: 3 consecutive successfully completed scenarios

The exam

There is no exam offered for this program. To assess mastery of this program’s content, refer to the Letters-Syllables-Words program exam.

Background

Instructions

« Catch the fish that contain the targets. »