Trial Program Guide WRITING DEMONS Skill levels 5 - 8 Trial version: Level 2 (Limited sample) Complete program: 3 levels Level 1: for the below-level to average student Level 2: for the average to good student Level 3: for the good to excellent student Windows or MS-DOS (VGA display) Designed for students in grades five and up at different levels of writing proficiency, the program can be used as well by intermediate ESL students. Each level contains many Writing Demons, or topics. The program helps students recognize common problems in writing. Sentences contain up to four highlighted choices, one of which may be identified as a run-on sentence, comma fault, sentence fragment, misplaced or dangling modifier, or one of several other writing errors. The program provides explanations that teach the underlying concepts. Each lesson is self-directing. NOTE: The program includes a game and an individual Demon drill. We recommend that students play the game first so that the teacher can identify those Demons that present problems to the student. The Record Management program will show the number of times the student has played each Demon. 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 Customized Drill. OVERVIEW The Writing Demons program provides practice at different levels of difficulty. Level 1 has 12 Demons with two highlighted words or phrases per sentence. Level 2 has 14 Demons with three highlighted words or phrases per sentence. Level 3 has 14 Demons with three or four highlighted words or phrases per sentence. All texts also include a `No Error' option. MOUSE OPTION You may use the mouse, or the keyboard, as soon as the first exercise appears on the screen. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The student is asked to use the mouse or Tab key to select a highlighted, incorrect word or phrase in a sentence, or to choose the `No Error' option if the sentence is correct. After the student responds s/he is shown the correct sentence and is given the grammatical reason(s) for the correct answer. If the student answers correctly, s/he receives a congratulatory word or a graphic reward. After logging in his/her name the student is offered two options: 1. Play a round of Demons (game). 2. Work on a customized drill. Demons Game: The Demons are presented to the student in the same order in which they are listed in the program guide. In each round, the student is given twelve sentences which cover the material for four Demons. There are three randomly selected sentences per Demon. To master a Demon, the student must choose the correct answer for all three sentences in the round. Until the student gets the three sentences correct, s/he will continue to receive sentences for that Demon in subsequent rounds. For the final round, if fewer than four Demons remain unmastered in the game, the round will include only those Demons still unmastered. PROGRAM HELP FEATURES The program provides three help features. First, the sentence appears in its correct form, regardless of the student's answer. Second, the computer gives the grammatical reason(s) for the correct answer. The third feature, the individual Demon drill, gives the student the opportunity to focus on specific troublesome Demons. From the drill menu, the student may choose up to four Demons to work on per round. There are three sentences for each Demon. A star next to a Demon on the menu indicates that the student has mastered that Demon. Starred Demons may be chosen for additional drill. SCORING Scores for mastered Demons in the game and drill are recorded. When a Demon is mastered in the game it is starred on the customized drill menu and will not reappear in the game. Starred Demons may be chosen for additional drill. However, if the student does not remaster the Demon the star is removed and the Demon reappears in the game. Students may choose to exit the program at any time during a round. Even if the round is not completed, a Demon is scored as `mastered' if the sudent's answers are correct for that Demon's three sentences. If a student masters all Demons and chooses to play again, the record manager will add `M' for `mastered' after the student's last name. The student's name will then appear again for subsequent rounds. RECORD MANAGEMENT To see student records, run RECORD from the directory, or press [CONTROL]T while at the title screen. The default directory for the windows trial version is: c:\MAVDEMO\WRT*-WTD\RECORD.EXE This 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. 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. ERROR FIX If the program runs but does not keep student records properly, or if some streaks appear in the Demons graphics, access the RECORD program and delete all records. WRITING DEMONS LEVEL 1 1. Run-on sentences, I 2. Agreement of subject and verb, I 3. Misplaced modifiers, I 4. Sentence fragments, I 5. Case of pronouns, I 6. Parallel structure, I 7. Comma fault, I 8. Double negatives, I 9. Agreement of pronoun and antecedent, I 10. Fused sentences, I 11. Agreement of subject and verb, II 12. Sentence fragments, II LEVEL 2 1. Run-on sentences, II 2. Misplaced modifiers, II 3. Agreement of subject and verb, III 4. Parallel structure, II 5. Sentence fragments, III 6. Double negatives, II 7. Fused sentences, II 8. Dangling modifiers, I 9. Case of pronouns, II 10. Comma fault, II 11. Agreement of subject and verb, IV 12. Sentence fragments, IV 13. Agreement of pronoun and antecedent, II 14. Split constructions LEVEL 3 1. Run-on sentences, III 2. Misplaced modifiers, III 3. Case of pronouns, III 4. Sentence fragments, V 5. Agreement of subject and verb, V 6. Comma fault, III 7. Double negatives, III 8. Parallel structure, III 9. Agreement of pronoun and antecedent, III 10. Fused sentences, III 11. Dangling modifiers, II 12. Sentence fragments, VI 13. Agreement of subject and verb, VI 14. Tense sequence Copyright 1994-1996 Merit Audio Visual All rights reserved GTDR ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We hope you enjoy previewing WRITING DEMONS. The School version of the program contains the following: 1. Three levels of exercises 2. Record management for as many students as disk space allows 3. A hide/show feature for the Customized Drill 4. A teacher's guide Merit offers a full range of educational software for writing, reading, grammar, vocabulary, ESL, and math. Merit also offers networking for Novell and other LAN, and 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. 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