1,000 Games/Disc2.iso/KIDS/0082/WINGUIDE.TXT

Text File | 1997-03-24 | 14KB | 349 lines

Trial Program Guide

GRAMMAR DEMONS
Skill levels 6 - 10

Trial version: Level 3 (Limited sample)

Complete program: 3 sets, 2 levels per set
Set A: (Levels 1 and 2) for the below-level to average student
Set B: (Levels 3 and 4) for the average to good student
Set C: (Levels 5 and 6) for the good to excellent student

Windows or MS-DOS (VGA display)

Designed for students in grades six and up at different levels of grammar
proficiency. The program can be used as well by advanced intermediate ESL
students.

Each level contains many Grammar Demons, or topics. The program helps students
cope with troublesome points of grammar. Sentences contain up to four
highlighted choices, one of which may be identified as a Grammar Demon, such
as a common error in usage, diction, idiom, grammatical relationship or
punctuation. The program provides explanations that teach the underlying
grammatical 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 Grammar Demons program provides practice at different levels of difficulty.

The program consists of six levels with fifteen Grammar Demons, or topics,
per level. Set A texts provide two highlighted words or phrases per sentence;
Set B, three highlighted words or phrases; Set C, three or four highlighted
words or phrases. 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\GRM*-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.

GRAMMAR DEMONS

LEVEL 1 ( Set A-1) for the below-level to average student

 1. Possessive pronoun, I (its, not it's)
 2. All right, not alright
 3. Comparative and superlative of adjectives
 4. Making a singular noun possessive, using 's
 5. Run-on sentences
 6. Too, to, two
 7. The comma, I (in dates and addresses)
 8. Illiterate use of `of' instead of `have'
 9. Contractions
10. Learn, teach
11. Irregular plurals
12. The period, I (in abbreviations)
13. Used to, not use to
14. Wrong use of past participle for past tense
15. Off, not off of

LEVEL 2 (Set A-2) for the below-level to average student

 1. Incorrect use of stood for stayed
 2. Possessive of pl. nouns not ending in -s
 3. Run-on sentences because of comma fault
 4. Than, not then
 5. Common error in comparison of adjectives
 6. Contraction of it is (it's, not its)
 7. From, not off
 8. Double negatives, I (not, no)
 9. Agreement of subject and verb, I
10. Loose, lose
11. The comma, II (in a series)
12. The question mark
13. Because, not on account of
14. Shifts in tense
15. Way, not ways

LEVEL 3 (Set B-1) for the average to good student

 1. Best, worst, not bestest, worstest
 2. Agr. of subj. and verb, II (after `There')
 3. Kind of, not kind of a
 4. The period, II (after an indirect question)
 5. Plan to, not plan on
 6. Parallel structure, I
 7. Adjective-adverb confusion, I
 8. Those or these, not them
 9. Possessive form of regular plural nouns
10. Accept, except
11. The comma, III (nouns in apposition)
12. Possessive pronoun, II (your, not you're)
13. Confusion of beside and besides
14. Agreement of pronoun and antecedent, I
15. Except or except for, not outside of

LEVEL 4 (Set B-2) for the average to good student

 1. Bunch, group
 2. Agr. of subj. & verb, III (collective nouns)
 3. Contraction of you are (you're, not your)
 4. Neither...nor, not or
 5. Wrong use of past tense for past participle
 6. Past, passed
 7. Unnecessary prepositions
 8. Case of pronouns
 9. The comma, IV (to set off transitional words)
10. Double negatives, II (not, nothing, nobody)
11. Try to, not try and
12. Lend, borrow
13. Common error in superlative adjectives
14. Possessive pronoun, III (theirs, not there's)
15. Confusion of can and may

LEVEL 5 (Set C-1) for the good to excellent student

 1. Among, between
 2. Agreement of pronoun and antecedent, II
 3. Contraction of there is (there's, not theirs)
 4. Fewer, less
 5. Don't have, not hasn't got, etc.
 6. Because or since, not being that
 7. Whose, who's
 8. Plural of hyphenated words
 9. Agr. of subj. & verb, IV (indefin. pronouns)
10. Almost, most
11. Parallel structure, II
12. As if, not like
13. The comma, V (between coordinate modifiers)
14. Good, well
15. Incomplete comparisons

LEVEL 6 (Set C-2) for the good to excellent student

 1. Adj.-adv. confusion, II (after linking verbs)
 2. Affect, effect
 3. Double negs., III (hardly, scarcely, barely)
 4. Imply, infer
 5. Agr. of subj. & verb, V (intervening phrases)
 6. Who, whom
 7. Possessive pronoun before gerund
 8. Advise, advice
 9. Misuse of `because' for `that'
10. Disinterested, uninterested
11. The comma, VI (with nouns in direct address)
12. Different from, not different than
13. Healthy, healthful
14. Agr. of subj. & verb, VI (with `nor' or `or')
15. No comparative for absolute adjectives

Copyright 1994-1996 Merit Audio Visual
All rights reserved GTDR
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We hope you enjoy previewing GRAMMAR DEMONS. The School version of
the program contains the following:

1. Six 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

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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.


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