Implementing the steps of Word Warm-ups Live exercises

Word Warm-ups Live sections include two different types of exercise, which include different steps:

Word List exercises include the following steps:

Story exercises include these steps:

Students also play an engaging phonics word game, Phontastic, while waiting for their teacher in either type of exercise.

See Also

Steps in a Word Warm-ups Live Word List exercise

A Word List exercise consists of the following steps:

Completing the Look, Listen & Respond step

The Look, Listen & Respond step teaches the student the phonics pattern taught in the exercise. General lessons on top of the page are followed by specific examples below. Students hear all the lessons on the page before advancing to the next step.

To complete the Look, Listen & Respond step:

Listen to a phonics lesson as the page opens. The lesson describes phonics patterns in the exercise.
Note: If necessary, a user can use the stop and play controls next to the step name on this page to interrupt the lesson audio. If the lesson is stopped, choosing the play control will play it again from the beginning.
When the lesson is done, the words on the page become enabled, allowing the student to click on them.
Click each of the words on top of the page from left to right.
Some words open a series of flashcards. Students are asked to pronounce each flashcard's text and then compare their attempt to a model pronunciation.
Most words open a window with an image highlighting the phonetics of the word. Listen to an audio lesson about the word.
When all of the lessons on top of the page have been heard, a lesson describing the words across the bottom of the page. After the lesson plays, those words are enabled.
Note: If necessary, a user can use the stop and play controls next to the step name on this page to interrupt this lesson audio. If the lesson is stopped, choosing the play control will play it again from the beginning.
Click each word on the bottom of the page, in any order.
As the words are clicked, a window opens displaying each word's phonetics and playing an audio lesson about the word.
When all of the words have been clicked, the Next button is enabled.
Click Next to move to the next step.

Completing the Decode & Read Along step

The Decode & Read Along step helps a student learn to decode an exercise's word list by reading the list twice. When the student chooses Start Read Along on this page, the application:

first reads down the columns in the word list, playing a decoding animation with audio for each word; and
then reads across the rows of the word list, pronouncing each word.

To complete the Decode & Read Along step:

Choose the Start Read Along button.
Warm Warm-ups Live moves down each column of the word list decoding each word, and then reads the words across each row.
After completing the required number of Decode & Read Alongs, choose Next to move to the next step.

Notes

The Decode & Read Along step can be turned off using a student's Exercise Options.
By default students are not required to perform any Decode & Read Alongs. To assign a required number of readings, use the student's Exercise Options.

Completing the Practice Word List step

The Practice Word List step guides students as they read each word list twice, once down the columns and then once across the rows.

The application times students, calculating a Words Per Minute rate for each word list attempt. When students have read the word list the required number of times, meeting their goal rate at least once, they can move on to the next step.

By default, students read all the words in the list twice to complete the word list timing, first down the columns and then across the rows. Teachers can also change the timing duration to end timings after one minute.

To complete the Practice Word List step:

When a timing is not in session, click any word in the list to view a decoding animation for that word. Multisyllabic words' syllables are pronounced and highlighted, one at a time, as an aid in decoding the word.
To start a timing, click the Start Timing button.
A student can click Cancel Timing at any point to stop a timing.
Saying each word aloud, read the list of words down the columns.
The student can click on any of the words during a timing to review the decoding of that word.
After reading all the columns, click Finished.
Read the list of words across the rows.
Complete the timing in one of two ways:
- After reading all the rows, click Finished again. (Note that for students with the default Whole list Duration exercise option, this is the only way to complete a timing.)
- If the Duration exercise option is set to 1 minute and the list is not complete after a minute, a bell will sound. Click the last word you read when the bell sounded to complete the timing.
Review the practice results in the Scores box.
Word List timings are scored in words per minute (wpm). Whether a student read the whole list and then clicked Finished for a second time to end the timing, or chose the last word they read after the 1-minute timer sounded its bell, the application calculates the wpm score based on the number of words read in the elapsed time.
Practice until reaching the Word List goal and reading the list for the required number of times.
Note that after 10 practice attempts, students can move on to the next step even without meeting their goal.
Click Next to continue to the next step.

Completing the Spelling Step

The Spelling step asks the student to correctly spell five words from the word list for each exercise.

This step asks the student to spell one word at a time. Students click the audio icon to hear each word once, along with a sentence using the word. After attempting the spelling once based on the audio, the students click Show Me to check the original spelling try against the correct spelling of the word. After making any corrections, students click Check to verify their attempt against the correct spelling.

Each time a student clicks Check, one of three possible results appears to the right of the button:

A Star indicates that the student's initial spelling try, when she had only heard the word, was correct and that she did not change the spelling.
A green Checkmark indicates that her initial try, based on the audio of the word, was wrong, but that she corrected the word successfully after seeing the correct spelling above it.
A red X mark indicates that the spelling was still incorrect when the student clicked Check, so the student needs to try again.

To complete the Spelling step of a Word List exercise:

Click the audio icon to hear the spelling word, along with a sentence using the word.
The student can click the audio icon to hear the word pronounced again at any time.
In the blank, type the word based on the audio example.
Click the Show Me button.
The correct spelling of the word appears in blue directly above the student's attempt.
Type any corrections by comparing the attempt to the correct spelling above it.
Click the Check button.
A feedback icon appears to the right, as described above.
If a red X appeared, meaning the spelling is still incorrect, continue typing any corrections and clicking Check until the spelling is right.
When a star or a green X appears to the right of the Check button, Next is enabled on the bottom of the screen.
Click Next when the word has been spelled correctly.
The application moves to the next word. After five words, it moves to the next step.

Notes

Reporting about the Spelling step looks for a student to spell the word correctly on their first try, before clicking Show Me, and then not change the spelling before clicking Check.
If a student receives a 3/5 on the Spelling step, that means she spelled three of the five words correctly after hearing them pronounced, before seeing the correct spelling above the field.
After clicking the Check button 4 times, students can move on to the next word or step even without spelling the word correctly.

Completing the Word List Pass step

After completing the Spelling step, students wait for the teacher to help them perform a Pass attempt for their Word List exercise. While they wait they can play Phontastic, an engaging word game based on phonics patterns in the current section.

To enter the Pass step for a Word List exercise:

As a teacher, click the yellow Conduct Pass Activities button in the page header.
Type your User ID and Password in the Teacher Login dialog.
The Pass/Word List step opens.

To complete the Pass step for a Word List exercise:

As the student, click Start Timing.
The Student can click Cancel Timing at any point to stop the timing.
As the student, saying each word aloud, read the list of words down the columns.
The teacher listens and keeps track of any errors made by the student.
As the student, after reading all the columns, click Finished.
As the student, read the list of words across the rows.
As the student, after reading all the rows, click Finished again.
As the teacher, use the Number Missed control to indicate the number of errors the student committed during the timing.
The Words Correct Per Minute change to reflect the adjusted rate based on the number of errors.
Click Next.

Notes

Word List timings are scored differently in Word Warm-ups Live than in Read Naturally Live. In Word Warm-ups Live, students always read the entire word list. The attempt does not end after a set time.
The Words Correct Per Minute calculation is based on the number of words the student pronounced correctly and the total time the student took to finish the list. This calculation means that one error may change the WCPM score by more or less than a single word, depending on how fast or slow the student read.

See Also

Playing Phontastic while waiting for a teacher

Reviewing the student's Pass / Word List Graph

The Pass / Word List Graph shows the student the results of each Pass / Word List attempt.

The graph includes a Rank image based on the WCPM score. Word List Graphs display the student's Hot Timing attempt, in red, next to the student's WCPM Goal in grey.

Rank images:
Based on the student's words correct per minute (wcpm) reading rate from the Pass / Word List attempt, each attempt is given a rank by the application. Ranks are as follows:

0-24 wcpm: Warming up
25-29 wcpm: One Star
30-34 wcpm: Two Stars
35-39 wcpm: Three Stars
40-44 wcpm: Four Stars
45-50 wcpm: Five Stars
51-54 wcpm: Six Stars
55-59 wcpm: Seven Stars
60-64 wcpm: Eight Stars
65-69 wcpm: Nine Stars
70-74 wcpm: Ten Stars
75-79 wcpm: Shooting Star!
80+ wcpm: Superstar!

To leave the Pass / Word List Graph step, click Next.

Reviewing the student's Word List exercise work on Pass / Review Work

After the student has completed the Pass/Word List step of a Word List exercise, review the student’s results on the Pass/Review Work step.

On the Pass/Review Work step, Exercise Details tab, review the student's exercise performance:
The student's pass results are listed in the Summary section.
Information about the student's Practice Word List attempts appears in that section.
The Spelling section tells you which words were spelled correctly on the student's first attempt. All the student's incorrect spellings are also displayed, allowing you to consider which patterns may be causing problems for the student.

On the Exercise Details page, some items are marked with a star or an X.
- A star indicates the student has met the requirement.
- An X indicates the student has not met that requirement.
Select the Word List or Spelling tabs to see the student's performance in those two steps graphed for all completed exercises in the section.
Information about each specific exercise is available by hovering over the graph columns.
On any of the graph tabs, click the printer icon to print.
Click Next to continue to the Pass/Remedial Actions step or the Congratulations step, depending on whether the student has met all requirements for passing.

Options for Students Who Do Not Pass

If a student does not successfully meet one or more of the criteria for passing a Word List exercise, after reviewing the student's work, the teacher decides the best course of action on the Pass/Remedial Actions page.

On the Pass/Remedial Actions page, view the student's results for each pass requirement.
Select a remedial action for each pass requirement that has not been met.

If the student did not meet her WCPM goal for reading the Word List, or had more than 3 errors in reading the list, you can:

Choose Practice word list. The student will return to practice the Word List again.
Choose the number of practices the student must perform from the Required practices dropdown.
Choose Decode & Read Along. The student will return to perform the Decode & Read Along step again.
Choose the number of decode & read alongs the student must perform from the Required read alongs dropdown.
Choose Retest word list to let the student make another Pass attempt without additional practice.

If the student did not spell all five Spelling words correctly, you can choose Redo spelling. The student will be returned to spell all of the words she has not yet spelled correctly without being shown the correct spelling on the page.

If the student has not met all of the requirements, but you want to pass the student with the current scores anyway, you can choose Pass with current scores. The student will see the Congratulations page and then go back to the Select an Exercise step.

Click Next to continue.
The student is required to complete any remedial actions you selected. If you selected multiple remedial actions, the software prompts the student to complete the steps in order.

Ranks on Word List exercises

On Word Warm-ups Live Word List exercises, students receive ranks to describe the rate at which they read the word list. The ranks help to motivate students to engage with the word lists and increase their reading rate.

Ranks appear in the Pass/Word List Graph step, and also appear alongside the badges on the Congratulations page at the end of each exercise.

Rank images:
Based on the student's words correct per minute (wcpm) reading rate from the Pass / Word List attempt, each attempt is given a rank by the application. Ranks are as follows:

0-14 wcpm: Warming up
15-20 wcpm: One Star
21-25 wcpm: Two Stars
26-32 wcpm: Three Stars
33-39 wcpm: Four Stars
40-49 wcpm: Shooting Star!
50-54 wcpm: Five Stars
55-59 wcpm: Six Stars
60-64 wcpm: Seven Stars
65-69 wcpm: Eight Stars
70-74 wcpm: Nine Stars
75-79 wcpm: Ten Stars
80+ wcpm: Superstar!

Steps in a Word Warm-ups Live Story exercise

A Word Warm-ups Story exercise consists of the following steps:

Completing the Read Along step in Word Warm-ups Live

The Read Along step in Word Warm-ups Live is similar to the same step in Read Naturally Live. It is a modeling step where students actively read along with a recording of the story.

Stories in Word Warm-ups Live use the phonics patterns taught in the same section. This step helps students review the patterns and practice difficult words. It encourages proper pronunciation, expression, and phrasing.

To complete the Read Along step:

On the Read Along page, the student clicks Start Read Along.
The student quietly reads aloud as the narrator reads each sentence.
The student can click Cancel Read Along to stop the read along. Canceled read alongs, when the student stops the recording before it is finished, do not count toward the number of completed read alongs.
The student reads with the narrator until he or she finishes the required number of read alongs. On the right, the page displays the number of required read alongs remaining.
After completing the required number of read alongs, the student can either click Start Read Along again for more practice or click Next to continue.

Note

By default, a student is required to read along one time as the narrator reads the story. Teachers can change the number of required read alongs.

See Also

Completing the Practice Story step in Word Warm-ups Live

The Practice Story step in Word Warm-ups Live does not require students to read at a goal rate. Students are asked to complete reading the whole story, but the step tracks only a count of their Practice attempts.

Students are encouraged to read carefully in order to answer the Quick Quiz about the story in the next step. As they read, they again encounter the phonics patterns from the current section in the story text.

To complete the Practice Story step:

On the Practice step, the student turns the Reading Guide ON or OFF, as desired or as instructed by a teacher.
The student clicks Start Reading.
The student reads the story aloud quietly and clicks on any words that are difficult.
The student can click Cancel Reading at any point to stop the timing.
The student uses the page controls at the bottom of the screen to move through the pages of the story.
When the student completes the story, he or she clicks Finished Reading.
The student continues practicing until he or she reads the required number of times.
Once the student has read the required number of times, he or she can click Start Reading to practice again or click Next to continue to the Quick Quiz step.

See Also

Completing the Quick Quiz step

The Quick Quiz step, which tests students on their comprehension, encourages students to engage with each story's content as well as the phonics patterns in the story. In Word Warm-ups, Quick Quizzes consist of a single question with five blanks. The student chooses which of several possible answers fits each blank.

To complete the Quick Quiz step:

The student chooses an answer for each blank in the quiz text.
The story text is available for review on the left side of the page.
After answering all of the blanks in the quiz text, the student clicks Next to continue.

Completing the Story Pass step in Word Warm-ups Live

After completing the Quick Quiz step, students wait for the teacher to help them perform a Pass attempt for a Story exercise. While they wait, they can play Phontastic, an engaging word game based on phonics patterns.

To enter the Pass step for a Story exercise:

As a teacher, click the yellow Conduct Pass Activities button in the page header.
Type your User ID and Password in the Teacher Login dialog.
The Pass/Word List step opens.

To complete the Pass step for a Story exercise:

On the Pass/Review Story page, listen to the student read all or part of the story aloud.
Based on your expectations for the student, choose Exceeded expectations, Met expectations, or Did not meet expectations based on the student's reading.
Because the Story exercise may be too difficult for some students and too easy for others, the teacher's knowledge of the student is the basis for assessing the student's performance.
Click Next.
On the Pass/Review Quick Quiz page, review the student's responses to the Quick Quiz.
The page allows you to easily compare the student's answers to the correct ones. You can also click a response to open a list of all the possible answers a student chose between.
Click Next.
If the student's answers for the Quick Quiz were all correct and you chose Met expectations or Exceeded expectations on the Review Story page, the student will be taken to the Congratulations page.
If the student made one or more mistakes on the Quick Quiz or you chose Did not meet expectations on the Review Story page, the Remedial Actions page opens.

See Also

Playing Phontastic while waiting for a teacher

Options for Students Who Do Not Pass

If a student does not successfully meet one or more of the criteria for passing a Story exercise, after reviewing the student's work, the teacher decides the best course of action on the Pass/Remedial Actions page.

On the Pass/Remedial Actions page, view the student's results for each pass requirement.
Select a remedial action for each pass requirement that has not been met.

If the student's performance in reviewing the story did not meet expectations, you can return the student to the Read Along and/or Practice Story steps again.

If the student's Quick Quiz attempt included one or more wrong answers, you can return the student to fix the wrong responses by choosing Redo quick quiz.

If the student has not met the requirements, but you want to pass the student anyway, you can choose Pass with current scores. The student will see the Congratulations page and then go back to the Select an Exercise step.
Click Next to continue.
The student is required to complete any remedial actions you selected. If you selected multiple remedial actions, the software prompts the student to complete the steps in order.

Playing Phontastic while waiting for a teacher

Phontastic is a word game in Word Warm-ups Live that keeps students engaged and learning while they wait for a teacher to conduct an exercise's Pass steps. The game includes a variety of multiple choice questions involving phonics patterns. Students interact with words, images, and sounds to answer each question.

Phontastic questions include the phonics patterns from the student's current section in Word Warm-ups Live.

To play Phontastic:

The student reads each Phontastic question. Each question begins with a word, image, or audio icon, followed by question text. For example, a question might consist of a picture of a hen, followed by the text "has the same ending sound as."
The student can click any of the question elements, including images and audio icons, to hear words spoken aloud. For example, by clicking an image the student might hear the word "hen."
The student reviews the possible answers.
Answers can take the form of words or images. Clicking the answer options' words or images lets the student hear each possible answer as a spoken word.
The student answers the question by clicking the button next to the best answer.
The application plays a sound effect to indicate whether the answer was right or wrong. The correct answer word is displayed below the question.
Each correct response adds 2 points to the student's score on the lower right. Each incorrect answer subtracts a single point from the student's score. If the student gets 5 correct answers in a row, they will see a "Bonus! 5 in a row!" message appear on their screen and receive 5 points instead of 2 for the answer.
The student clicks Next to try another question.
When the teacher is ready to conduct the Pass step for the exercise, she or he clicks Conduct Pass Activities in the header to log in.

Note

The points accumulated in Phontastic are displayed to help keep students motivated. They are not reported on or saved in the software, and they do not accumulate between exercises.

Resetting Exercises

You can reset an exercise in Word Warm-ups. Resetting clears the student's data and scores for the exercise. He or she can try it again later.

Account Administrators and School Coordinators, Teachers, and Read Live Assistants can reset stories for any students, regardless of the students' lead teachers. Read Live Assistants can reset stories only from a student's workstation.

To reset stories from the Student Module:

With a student logged in, click Teacher in the page header.
If prompted to log in, enter your user ID and password and click Log in.
Click Reset Exercise.
Under "Do you want to reset these exercises," change NO to YES for the story (or stories) you want to reset.
Click Reset Selected Exercises and click Yes to confirm.

To reset stories from the Staff Member Module:

From the navigation menu, select Word Warm-ups Live.
Find the name of the student, and in the Reset column, click Reset.
In the Word Warm-ups Live > Reset Exercises page, select the exercise (or exercises) to reset.
Click Reset & Close, and click Yes to confirm.

Note: Resetting the Introduction Lesson for a Section:

Whenever all of a student's work in a section is reset, the student's progress in the Introduction lesson for that section is also reset. To reset the Introduction from either the Student Module or the Staff Member Module, reset all of a student's exercises as described above.