Two tools in one
The Lesson Timer helps you manage the flow of a literacy session.
Chunky Pig gives students extra reading practice with chunks and blends in a simple game format.
Both tools are included in your Word Cracking membership and run straight from your browser.
Lesson Timer
The idea behind the lesson timer is to help both students and teachers/tutors manage time.
It is especially helpful for students living with ADHD to be able to see the structure of the lesson and have a sense of when a part of the session will end.
There are three functions:
- The analogue clock with a movable face to show the lesson segments
- Individual timers to use for break times, activity timers or section timers.
- A stopwatch for timing activities like card reviews or reading sheets.
Clock
The analogue clock is set up so that you can drag the overlay (click on the clock and drag) so that the green dot lines up with the start of the lesson. The sectors then show the student (and you) where each lesson section starts and ends. The lesson structure is currently set to align with the following:
- 10 min (Alphabet)
- 10 min (Card review)
- 15 min (Revision)
- 15 min (New teaching point)
- 10 min (Game)
In later versions, we will be adding the ability to customise the segment times.
Individual Timers
The timers (along the bottom of the screen) are activated by clicking on them. They will set in motion the visual timer countdown (centre screen), and there will be a fart noise (sorry, but this gets the kids’ attention 🙂 ). If you want to stop the timer before it finishes or reset the timers, you can click on the time remaining.
Stopwatch
The stopwatch function works by pressing the start button to start, the stop button to stop, the pause button to pause, and the reset button to reset the timer. The timer is hidden while timing because we found that students tended to watch the time more closely than their review cards!
Chunky Pig
The Chunky Pig Game is an exciting way to help students practice blends and word chunks while also encouraging strategic thinking. It combines phonics practice with a fun element of chance, motivating students to engage with literacy skills.
Games are perfect for consolidating phonics knowledge, practising word recognition, and developing reading fluency, all in a relaxed, motivating environment.
Games help students by:
- Encouraging repetition without monotony.
- Providing opportunities to practice reading aloud.
- Reducing anxiety around learning with a fun, interactive approach.
- Catering to different learning styles with a balance of movement, visual cues, and auditory reinforcement.
The Chunky Pig software is preset with all the Literacy Support Kit Blue and Green level teaching points. Simply click on the preset and play the game, or make your own set of chunks or words.