FROSKALEIKUR - SKÓLAMEISTARINN - Listin að lesa 2.0

The Icelandic language sounds are practiced within the program "The Frog Game - The Schoolmaster". The story revolves around a frog named Hoppa who loses his way after a spell is cast on him by a wizard. In an engaging sound recognition game, Hoppa must solve various puzzles to reach the wizard’s castle, which holds the key to restoring his memory. Children assist Hoppa in finding the spellbook, the magic wand, and the castle’s key. A potion is brewed for Hoppa to regain his memory. The Icelandic phonemes are practiced through a series of exercises focusing on phonological awareness, sound discrimination, letter-sound connections, image-to-word matching, and written words. These elements are crucial for developing phonemic awareness and rapid naming skills, serving as foundational steps for reading and literacy readiness. The consonant letters that do not occur at the beginning of words are marked distinctly when they appear within words. These sounds are presented at the end or in the middle of words (e.g., ng, ð, soft G). The visual cues, such as the sun symbol on each card, provide clear instructions on the current activity. The developer of this mini-program is a speech therapist with extensive experience working in Iceland. It is based on research concerning essential foundational skills required for learning to read, including phonological awareness, decoding processes, print awareness, oral language proficiency, and the ability to retrieve phonological information from vocabulary when recognizing written words. All these skills contribute to accurate and fluent reading, which is vital for automaticity in reading. Good language comprehension and vocabulary form the basis for strong reading comprehension. The program introduces hundreds of Icelandic words accompanied by illustrations by Halla Sólveig Þorgeirsdóttir and Búi Kristjánsson; all words are also spoken aloud by Védís Hervör Árnadóttir and Felix Bergsson. Notable features include instructions from Hoppa the Frog: clicking the blinking TV icon at the top right corner plays the story at the beginning. The game boards in "The Frog Game" are initially locked. In the first round, students must go through each sound/letter once and earn four stars on each board before progressing further. Otherwise, Hoppa will not jump ahead. Afterward, the game opens up for free play with options to choose exercises at random. The pedagogical goal is to ensure optimal learning outcomes tailored to each child's needs. In "The Frog Game", phonemes are practiced through gameplay that emphasizes: 1) Phonological awareness. Introduction of letter symbols, sounds, and finger alphabets. A model sound is presented with a visual and auditory cue along with a short story for each sound. 2) Sound connection and transcription: lowercase/uppercase letters. The letter is linked to its sound via an image representing that sound. Transcription exercises are also included as an important preparatory step for reading development. Stars indicate progress and mastery level. 3) Sound analysis. Matching sounds to images where children need to associate the correct sound with the correct word. Progress is tracked visually via stars. 4) Sound analysis with written words, involving rapid naming > recognizing written words and retrieving phonological information from memory. Children click on written words to hear their names, listen carefully to associate sounds with letters, gradually internalizing automatic decoding of visual representations connecting with phonemic awareness. Suitable for children aged 4–5 years and older down through primary school levels based on individual progress. The program offers options for easier exercises for beginners. The sequence of sounds follows the natural acquisition order in Icelandic language development but does not adhere strictly to alphabetical order. It allows registration of students and tracking their progress over time, with options to print reports or send via email. The program contains no advertisements — parental control features included. We extend our gratitude to support entities that contributed to enhancing language development and literacy among Icelandic children: Novator, Norðurál, Hagar, KPMG Iceland, and HS Orka facilitated adaptations of these mini-programs for mobile devices. Financial support for "Hoppa" game development was provided by the Educational Materials Fund, the Child Nutrition Society Summer Gift Fund, and the Children’s Culture Fund.