• What’s New – Merit Reading Comprehension Software Cited by California Learning Resource Network
• Customer Feedback - Reading Shape-Up
• Recommended Resource - Colorín Colorado!
• Grants for U.S. Educators

The California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) has just cited two more Merit Software reading comprehension programs as resources for 3rd-5th grade students who need skill development and practice: Reading Comprehension Booster, and Read and Respond Punch. CLRN concludes that Merit’s reading software meets review criteria for California’s state content standards.

Reading Comprehension Booster contains tutorials on specific reading skills. Read and Respond Punch helps students relate reading to writing. Both programs, which are part of Merit’s 2004 Basic Skills Pack, emphasize a step-by-step approach.

Find out more: www.meritsoftware.com/software/reading_comprehension_basic

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“We like the software and the program is working fine. We are very happy with it,” remarks an educator at Amelia Middle School in Batavia, OH, about Merit Software’s Reading Shape-Up. Students use tutorials, read short passages and answer questions in a mixed practice format. They may track their own progress and enhance their test-taking skills.

For a complete software description or to try the downloadable evaluation version, go to: www.meritsoftware.com/software/reading_shape_up

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Colorín Colorado! is an English-Spanish web site useful for teachers working with parents. The site offers home activities as well as research-based answers for common questions about reading development in children, such as, “But what if I don’t speak English?” Colorín Colorado! is the companion web site to the U.S. Department of Education-funded Reading Rockets.

To learn more, visit: www.colorincolorado.org

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Verizon Foundation provides cash eGrants for schools and non-profit organizations under the funding priority Verizon Reads. Proposals should target basic and computer literacy. Online applications, which may include the purchase of educational software, may be submitted through November.

Visit: foundation.verizon.com/

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