Parents, Grandparents and Teachers: Get in the Game!
Become a CHEEReader and Encourage Your Players with Specific Messages!! Become a CHEEReader and encourage your players with some great messages! How would you like to start every day with a positive message from someone you care about? Here at Ooka Island we believe young learners would like to as well. If you are an account manager (parent or teacher) here is your opportunity to get involved and be an important part of a child’s Ooka Island Adventure! The Ooka Island Adventure has a built in CHEEReader encouragement system that enables a parent or teacher to send a positive message to the...
read moreThe Joy of Ooka iTunes – Treasure Chest Song
Enjoy the Ooka Island FREE iPad and iPhone App at: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/ooka-tunes-sing-along-songs/id491765620?mt=8 Children and parents love the music in the Ooka Island Adventure. Here’s what parents are saying: “The songs are fantastic!” Lisa, Riverains “…She also loves the music and songs and I find that both of us seem to start humming the theme song throughout the day.” Jessica, Orange Marmalade Mama “The music is so catchy (we all get the theme song stuck in our heads), and she always ASKS to play Ooka Island…” Jennifer, Quiverfull Family “Catchy...
read moreOoka Island Emergent Books and the Wonderful World of Reading
Have you ever come home tired after a long day and found your children waiting for you with boundless energy, ready to jump on your back, ready to be lifted up, ready to play hide and seek? Although you may be mentally and physically drained, you muster up some energy and hide behind the curtains, chase them around the house and you even pretend that you don’t see your youngest child “hiding” in plain view under the coffee table. Children never tire of playing hide and seek, anywhere and anytime. That situation inspired me to write Where is Boo? an Emergent Level I book in our Ooka...
read moreAdaptive Reading Software – Student-centered, Technology based, Literacy Instruction
At Ooka Island, we believe that all children can become fluent readers. We do not, however, believe that each student travels the same exact path to get there. When a young child chooses an avatar and embarks on the Ooka Island Adventure, he or she is going to explore the Island at a pace customized for that particular adventurer using our adaptive reading software. While the foundational building blocks of literacy embedded in the game’s instructional design do unfold in a systematic and sensible way, diagnostic tools constantly assess the individual child’s skills and respond with...
read moreThe 5 ‘R’s of Ooka Island’s Learn-to-Read System
Reading system. Check. READirect learning algorithm. Check. Reports on reading progress. Check. Research. Check. Results. Check! These are the 5 R’s of Ooka Island, the learn-to-read system that has it all! There’s a difference between competitive athletes who play to win and those who play not to lose. Just like athletes playing to win, here at Ooka Headquarters when we created the Ooka Island Adventure we went for it. We are playing to win; to deliver the best, most effective learn-to-read product to parents and educators so children will learn to read at an early age. What sets your...
read more“Gaming with Purpose” How Adaptive Learning Technology Can Ensure Skill Mastery for Beginning Readers
Good day! I had the recent privilege of discussing the topic “Gaming with Purpose” with Sandy Fivecoat from WeAreTeachers, in an interview on adaptive learning that you can watch below! Plenty of visuals accompany the presentation and we discuss how young learners playing on adaptive, smart technology can ensure skill mastery and will increase literacy skills in a compelling and effective way. Read on! Jim Barber,...
read more“COMEBACK STORIES” Musings from the CEO
Whether in movies, politics, or everyday life, everybody loves a good comeback story. There are few things more exciting than seeing someone battle adversity and emerge victorious. Looking back across history, I have three favorite comeback stories: The 2004 Boston Red Sox were three games behind the New York Yankees in the ALCS. They came back to win the pennant, and then went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series—their first world championship in 86 years. In 1980, the US men’s hockey team staked their claim in history by accomplishing the “Miracle On Ice”: the unexpected...
read moreThird Grade Recess and the Word Rigmarole
My elementary teachers used to say it was important to increase our vocabulary as we got older. In my aunt Gertrude’s (name changed to protect privacy) case there was one word in particular that had a special place in her everyday vocabulary – rigmarole. The definition of rigmarole is “something that doesn’t make sense.” It seems catchy enough, but I always used to wonder why no one besides Aunt Gertrude said it. I actually think she must have had exclusive rights on rigmarole, as I’ve never heard anyone else use it as much (or at all for that matter) as she did. Aunt Gertrude...
read moreThe List
Many entertaining lists were circulating as 2010 came to a close. I always enjoy reading these lists about trends, movies, and interesting things that happened during the past year. As we begin 2011, I want to share a list that I’ve been working on for quite some time that you might find beneficial. First, I need to give you a little background of how the list came to be. The list started with the game of basketball. Basketball has been a love of mine since eighth grade. As I grew up and played for different coaches in high school and college I began to form my own philosophy of what I felt...
read moreReal Signs of Love
Nothing you can make that can’t be made, No one you can save that can’t be saved, Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time. It’s easy. All you need is love. –John Lennon/Paul McCartney I was driving home from the airport the other day when a red Corvette cut across three lanes of traffic to make the exit. I missed crashing into him by no more than the thickness of a piece of paper. It didn’t seem Corvette Guychecked to make sure the lanes were clear and he put a number of people in jeopardy. I could feel my blood pressure rising and I thought to...
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