Trial Program Guide DIAGNOSTIC PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR Skill levels 6 - 10 Trial version: NOUNS (Level 1) Complete Program: NOUNS (Level 1), ADJECTIVES (Level 2), PRONOUNS (Level 3), VERBS (Level 4), ADVERBS (Level 5), PREPOSITIONS and CONJUNCTIONS (Level 6) Windows or MS-DOS (VGA display) Diagnostic Prescriptive Grammar reviews the parts of speech in context sentences. The goal is for students to be able to recognize a word as a specific part of speech within its context. Designed for upper elementary and junior high school students, this program can be used as well for adult basic education studies. Each lesson is self-directing and self-correcting, and focuses on one topic. The computer gives a specific explanation for each incorrect answer. Each topic contains short teaching frames that provide all the information that students must have in order to do the practice sentences that follow. A brief story at the end of each topic gives the student a chance to review all the skills that the program has developed. The program evaluates performance within each topic. The student who does poorly is directed to a lower range for remediation. The student who does well is directed to a higher range for further skill development. MOUSE OPTION You may use the mouse, or the keyboard, as soon as the first exercise appears on the screen. OVERVIEW The program covers the following topics: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, and Pronouns. The final section covers Prepositions and Conjunctions as well as Mixed Practice Reviews and a Final Comprehensive Review. Each topic is divided into several ranges, each of which is introduced by a teaching screen. Every topic has a review section at the end. Ranges may not correlate to the same grades in all schools. Matching a range to a grade depends on the particular school's curriculum, that is, when students are taught the grammar skills reviewed here. NOTE: The program includes a game and a drill for each level. We recommend that students play the game first so that the teacher can identify those areas that present problems to the student. The Record Management program will show the number of times the student has played each range. The drill may then be used for extra help for those students who need it. For the school version of the program there is a hide/show feature that permits teachers to activate or deactivate the drill. DIAGNOSTIC TEST The first time a student selects "Play a Round," s/he will be given a diagnostic test. The one-time diagnostic test for each topic determines the range at which the student enters the program. If the student returns to the program at another time, the computer will automatically give the starting range. Each diagnostic test consists of multiple-choice questions. The computer does not provide help messages or explanations during the diagnostic test. The program is configured so that the student advances to the next skill range if s/he gets three out of three answers correct. This may be changed with the ASCII file, configda.t on each disk. The first line indicates the number of questions the student needs to answer correctly; the second line indicates the maximum number of questions per range the student will receive. MAIN PROGRAM Each question involves two parts. The second reinforces the first. By pressing F1, a student may receive a help message before answering a question. Students have two tries to answer the question. Whenever a student answers part A incorrectly, s/he receives an error message that explains why the answer is incorrect. For part B, the student is given a correct answer message. For the student who passes the first activity, the computer provides a new activity to reinforce what the student has learned. S/he fills in a blank in a sentence, choosing from a list of words provided. There are two possible correct answers. Students continue until they arrive at a correct answer, but they only receive credit if they choose correctly on the first or second try. If the student is only marginally passing, this activity can be a deciding factor. The number of questions in a round varies. The student who does well needs less help and gets fewer questions, to prevent boredom. The student who does poorly will, after two rounds, see some of the questions from the earlier rounds again. At the end of each round, the computer gives the percentage of correct answers. If the student gets 80 percent or more right, s/he has the option of continuing within the same range to do better or going on to the next range. If the student scores less than 80 percent, s/he may choose to continue within the same range or go to a lower range. If the student gets a required number of answers correct, the computer advances him/her to the next range. If the student mathematically can no longer achieve a passing score of 80 percent because of the number of wrong answers already accumulated, his/her round will end. Students earn twice as many points for answering correctly on the first try as on the second try. The review section on each level consists of 20 one-part questions. Help messages are not available in the review sections. PROGRAM CONTENTS The questions are multiple choice and fill-ins. In all but the review section at the end of each disk, students choose a topic and do a round of two-part questions. Part B of each question is designed to be a reinforcement of part A. Review sections contain only one activity, and each question has only one part. LEVEL 1, NOUNS: Recognizing nouns; Distinguishing between common and proper nouns; Compound nouns; Abstract nouns; Review Sample range 3 question, text A: "Duke University has a fine reputation for the education of undergraduates. Name the compound noun." Answers: "undergraduates," "has," "fine reputation," and "education." Text B: "My ______ attended college there. Fill in the compound noun." Answers: "brother-in-law," "father," and "grandfather." LEVEL 2, ADJECTIVES: Recognizing adjectives; Predicate adjectives; Articles; Nouns used as adjectives; Comparative and superlative adjectives; Review Sample range 2 question, text A: "Frustrated, Andrew threw his book against the wall. What is the adjective in this sentence?" Answers: "Frustrated," "threw," "book," and "wall." Text B: "Frustrated, Andrew flung away his book. "Frustrated" modifies the noun ______." LEVEL 3, PRONOUNS: Personal pronouns; Antecedents of pronouns; Pronouns and case; Demonstrative, indefinite, and relative pronouns; Review Sample range 1 question, text A: "Sandra liked going to the movies with them because they always bought the popcorn. Identify a personal pronoun in the sentence other than `they'." Answers: "Sandra," "the," "with," and "them." Text B: "She began going with ______ when she discovered that we were more fun to be with. Fill in the personal pronoun." Answers: "delight," "us," and "Chuck." LEVEL 4, VERBS: Action, linking, and helping verbs; Double duty verbs; Compound verbs; Verb phrases; Review Sample range 5 question, text A: "She may ask you for advice. What is the main verb in this sentence?" Answers: "may," "ask," "advice," and "She." Text B: "Being independent, she may not follow it. Type the number of the helping verb." Answers: "Being," "may," and "follow." LEVEL 5, ADVERBS: Adverbs of manner, of place, of time, and of degree; Adverb/adjective confusion; Review Sample range 6 question, text A: "When Kate is WELL, we will go to the show. Tell what the word `well' is, and what it modifies." Answers: "ADJ/Kate," "ADV/Kate," and "ADJ/show." Text B: "I hope she improves fast. In this sentence `fast' is an _____. Fill in the blank." Answers: "adverb" and "adjective." LEVEL 6, PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS: Mixed Practice; Final Review: Recognizing prepositions; Prepositional phrases and objects; Coordinating conjunctions; Subordinating conjunctions; Mixed practice review of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns; Mixed practice review of verbs, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions; Final comprehensive review Sample range 4 question, text A: "I asked the salesperson for the second time when I would receive the package. Which word begins the dependent, or subordinate, clause?" Answers: "for," "would," "when," and "I." Text B: "She said two weeks, and that made me angry. Which word in this sentence is a coordinating conjunction?" RECORD MANAGEMENT To see student records, run RECORD from the directory, or press [CONTROL]T while at the title screen. The trial version saves records for only two students; a third name will automatically replace a previously entered name. (The single user School version saves records for as many students as disk space allows. The Network version saves records for 1,000 students.) The records can go to the screen or the printer. You may see the records of the entire class, or choose an individual student's scores. If you choose to look at the scores of the entire class, you may have them displayed in alphabetical order or from highest to lowest. At any time, use the following keys to make your selections: ALT: Allows you to choose items in the Top Menu: (1) Order (2) View (3) Select (4) Print (5) Delete (6) Exit. In each of the first three options, you will have the choice of selecting records from the Pull Down Menu by name, date, skills mastered, or class code. TAB: Changes the category of information that is displayed in a fixed cycle, e.g., from students' names to last dates played, to highest mastered skill levels, to class codes, to a student's entire record and then back again to the students' names. ENTER: Selects or deselects any piece of information on which the cursor is placed. Selected items can be viewed, printed, or deleted as a group. They appear on the screen highlighted in red. Screen Layout: Instructions are placed in color boxes at the bottom of the screen. The number appearing at the end of the last line of instructions on the screen indicates the position of the cursor in the total number of records. Just before this number is a description of what information is being displayed, e.g., name, date, etc. Moving the Cursor: To move the cursor use the arrow keys. To see preceding screens, use the Page Up key. To go to following screens, use the Page Down key. To go to the beginning of a list, press the Home key. To get to the end of a list, press the End key. To See Records: All information may be viewed on the screen or printed out. To clear previously selected records, choose Select from the Top Menu and Deselect from the Pull Down Menu. Note that your viewing selections are cleared each time the program is restarted or the computer is turned off. Examples 1. To print out the records of one class, follow these directions: Top Menu Pull Down Menu Other Keys Remarks/Actions ALT Select Class Cursor keys Find the beginning of the class ENTER Mark the beginning of the class Cursor keys Find the end of the class ENTER Mark the end of the class ALT View Selected Now only that class is displayed. (Repeating this step would restore screen as it was.) ALT Order Name Class now alphabetized ALT Print Selected Printing is optional. Information can be viewed on the screen. 2. To print the highest (or lowest) skill level, follow the steps above, replacing Class, from the Pull Down Menu, with Mastered. 3. To see the records of all students in a range on the screen, choose View from the Top Menu and choose Entire from the Pull Down Menu. 4. To see the records of an individual student on the screen, place the cursor on the name of the student whose records you want to view, and press TAB to change the information displayed. Record Management Error Fix: If the program runs but does not keep student records properly, access the RECORD program and delete all records. copyright 1994-1996 Merit Audio Visual All rights reserved GTD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merit offers a full range of educational software for writing, reading, grammar, vocabulary, ESL, and math. Merit software is available for networking for Novell and other LAN, and site licensing. School or Institutional Purchase Orders accepted. We will be happy to answer any questions you might have. MERIT AUDIO VISUAL (800) 753-6488 (212) 675-8567 FAX: (212) 675-8607 Call us Monday through Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Or write MERIT AUDIO VISUAL, 132 W. 21 Street, New York, NY 10011, for free software catalog. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.