If you print this page you will want to know that its URL is:
https://www.angelfire.com/ab2/literacy/win.html
Read a paper on these programs
Here are just about all the programs
from my 'Practise
Your Skills' group, written by a teacher of Adult Literacy of too
many
years' standing (me, Bruce Laidlaw), with much advice and encouragement
from Julia McCall, teacher extraordinaire of English to Speakers of
Other
Languages.
These are now ALL FREEWARE.
If the programs reply "You need to check the instructions." then hold down the Alt key when clicking the "Edit", "Delete" or "Print" button.
Two new standalone programs, "Predict Your Text" and
"Sentence Halves".
Type or paste in a text, then students working singly or grouply build
it up word by word from nothing, clicking on each next word. Fantastic!
Predict
Your Text (1136 KB)
Here's a revised version of Sentence Halves. It runs by itself
(written in Revolution). It can be used for any kind of matching
exercise, eg, vocabulary, definitions, or just working through a text
putting the sentences back together.
Sentence
Halves (1MB)
All the programs here are self-extracting, zipped files.
This is what you need to do to run any of the programs below:
(1) Download the WinPlus runtime file, and install it (the download is a self running file which will create a directory called PYSkills on your hard disk and copy itself into it);
(2) Download and install the sounds file (which will copy a bunch of sounds required for most of the apps below into the PYSkills directory) (If you are only interested in Word Weaver then you don't need the sounds);
(3) Download any of the apps you are interested in, and install them by running the download file (which will copy the program into the PYSkills directory created by the WinPlus installer)
(4) Go into the PYSkills directory, and run the file called plusrt.exe and then choose File | Open and open the PYSkills application (with the .sta extensions) you want to run from the list in the menu.
Thanks to Steven Byrne from Ganggang for the
above.
(Ganggang is THE Guide to Australian Shareware at http://www.ganggang.com.au)
Hardware Requirements
Windows 3.1 or higher.
PC with an 80386 processor or higher, capable of
running
Windows in enhanced mode.
4 MB or RAM, or higher.
Monitor VGA resolution or higher.
Sound Card (Not necessary for "Word Weaver". There is
also a version of the programs below for computers WITH NO SOUND CARD.)
Mouse.
SEPTEMBER, 2004:: LYCOS WILL NO LONGER ALLOW DOWNLOADS OF FILES ENDING WITH .EXE SO I HAVE ADDED A ZIP EXTENSION. IF A PROGRAM WON'T OPEN, THEN REMOVE THE .ZIP AND IT SHOULD OPEN.
Download WinPlus 3.0 (Runtime Version) (664K). This is the free "Player" that will run all the programs below. (WinPlus is a trademark of ObjectPlus Corporation.) LYCOS WILL NO LONGER ALLOW DOWNLOADS OF FILES ENDING WITH .EXE SO I HAVE ADDED A ZIP EXTENSION. IF IT WON'T OPEN, THEN REMOVE THE .ZIP AND IT SHOULD OPEN.
Download The Sounds (284K). You need the sounds for all the programs except Word Weaver and Test Scrambler. LYCOS WILL NO LONGER ALLOW DOWNLOADS OF FILES ENDING WITH .EXE SO I HAVE ADDED A ZIP EXTENSION. IF IT WON'T OPEN, THEN REMOVE THE .ZIP AND IT SHOULD OPEN.
Download All the Programs below in one hit (375K). Save all the fiddling about. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download All the Programs for a COMPUTER THAT HAS NO SOUND (375K). You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above.
Download Choose The Best 2.4 (55K). An easy to use Multiple Choice program that runs as a drill or as a test. Records students' scores. Easy to add your own material. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Cloze 3.0 (49K). Allows the student to become thoroughly familiar with a text by working through it. Words are plucked randomly from the text for the student to find. You can also specify the words, and add alternative answers, right and wrong. Easy to add your own text! You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your English 2.8 (75K) Written initially for adults, this versatile program lets students practise common English patterns. Easy to add to, hard to turn off! You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Jumble 2.3 (46K). Lets students become very familiar with their own text, by rearranging the words of sentences in order. Good for beginning readers as well as for advanced students of ESL. Easy to add your own texts. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Matching 2.5 (51K). A 'Join the Sentence Halves' program that's as versatile as the number of teachers who use it. Match words with definitions, proverbs, tag question endings, foreign language vocabulary, etc. Records students' scores. Easy to add your own lists. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Spelling 2.6 (46K). Works through the student's own texts asking for the missing letter, or the missing word in each sentence. Or click the words in the text you want to practise. Records students' scores. Easy to add your own text. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Stress 2.2 (45K). ESL students practise finding the stressed vowel in a word. Now where's the stress in 'advertisement'? Records students' scores. Easy to add your own lists. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Practise Your Verbs 1.5 (48K). ESL students work through irregular verb drills. This program is as fascinating as I could make it :). Records students' scores. Add to or change the context provided. You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above, and the Sounds.
Download Word Weaver 3.1 (55k). The program that turns that text into worksheets in seconds. Throw away your scissors, glue and those little bottles of white paint! (Worksheets produced: Capitals and Punctuation, Sentence Halves, Spelling Match, Jumbled Paragraph, Jumbled Sentences and Cloze) You must also download the WinPlus Runtime above (no sounds needed).
Download Evaluation copy of Winzip . These files will all self-extract, but they were zipped with Winzip, a great compression program.
Return to Darlinghurst Gaol Literacy Page.
Email me with your suggestions or how you use these programs..
