SLIS lecturer John Horodyski is co-founder of Wrinkled Pants, a software company that develops applications to improve the literacy skills of underachieving elementary and secondary school students who struggle with inadequate reading skills. Wrinkled Pants recently released Are Bees Smart, or What?, the first story in the series, Are Animals Smart, or What? for the iPad. According to Horodyski, Are Bees Smart, or What? while sophisticated in content, is written in an easy-to-read format, which makes it reader friendly. The story becomes the medium for engaging students in a series of literacy games that are designed to build fluency in oral reading, sight vocabulary, word analysis and phonic skills, spelling and writing. The illustrations and animations have mature appeal and add to reader interest.

The Are Bees Smart, or What? story features an interactive experience on the iPad with 6 learning games designed to engage the reader and develop basic literacy skills and comprehension. More titles in the My Word! Reader series will be released on an ongoing basis.

The program was created by Dr. Selma Wassermann, Professor Emerita at Simon Fraser University, whose years of teaching experience and work with low achieving students are the basis for the development of My Word! Reader. Horodyski said, “The combination of education, technology, and literacy between Selma and myself was a true gift and we are both delighted with what we have created.”

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