Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress

Post date: Dec 4, 2012 9:33:01 PM

I registered my class for a 30 day free trial for this last Friday, and I have to say I'm really impressed. Because I was allowed to register up to 30 students (and I've only 28) I also put in my own two girls names, just to be able to try it out at home (and because they always want to go on the internet!) Once you register you can print out parent letters, plus passwords, so that the kids can log on. They will then see the screen opposite; according to the site Reading Eggs is aimed at 4-8 yr olds and Reading Eggspress at 7+ (obviously depending on ability).

When I got my class to log on on Friday last, I got them to go onto Reading Eggspress; when they enter they are presented with this Floating Island, with 4 different areas. I haven't explored all of this so I asked them to go to the Comprehension Gym (blue area) and to enter the lift when they get inside. Immediately they were all individually presented with a multiple choice assessment test which increased in difficulty; when they got 3 questions wrong they were put onto an appropriate level by the computer. They can also go to the Library, where they can select a virtual book, read it and answer a short quiz on the book at the end. All the correctly completed activities earn the children eggs, that they can used to trade for items in the Mall to dress their avatar or virtual apartment.

At home, I logged in my 5 yr old to the Reading Eggs part of the site and she had to complete a similar but much simpler test so that she could be put on the correct activities. The early units in this focus on letter sounds, cvc words etc before progressing on to blends etc. Again, I was really impressed with the appropriateness of the activities and how well they were all differentiated for the different children. My 8 yr old tried out the same as 5 yr old but she got all of the assesment questions correct, so I deleted her name and then re-entered her, so she could go on the Reading Eggspress part of the site. Some of it she finds ok and other parts are more challenging. So using this as a guage, I'd say Jnr. Inf. to 1st/2nd for Reading Eggs and 2nd/3rd to 6th on Reading Eggspress. You also don't need to decide at beginning what they should do; if in doubt let them try the Reading Eggs assessment and then move them to the other section if they do really well in the Assessment Test.

I would really recommed you giving this a go, even if you only register to put your own children on it. To me, I would see this as something the children would do more at home, as well as at school when suitable.

You will also need the younger children to wear headphones as the sounds/sentences are read out.

Annual subscription costs range from €6-€9 per child, depending on the number of pupils that subscribe, although, at the moment, they are offering schools the option of a six month subscription at half the usual rate, to allow schools to try it out before making a bigger commitment. It is much better value to subscribe as a school; eg if a parent independently registered their child with the site it would be £40/yr.

To register for a 30 day free trial:

Go to www.readingeggs.co.uk/teachers/signup

· Each teacher will be able to register up to 30 students to trial Reading Eggs. Each student can be set to follow a reading path suited to their individual level through the ‘Reading Placement Test’.

· Parent letters with individual student usernames and passwords are available to download from the teacher centre, so students can continue their Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress journey at home!

· Check out the ‘Teacher Toolkit’ resources for additional games, posters, online books and teacher guides, printable worksheets and lesson plans.