Read, Write, & Type!
 | |
| Developer(s) | Talking Fingers |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
Read, Write and Type! is an educational computer program, developed and published by Talking Fingers Incorporated. The program incorporates instruction in phonics, reading, writing, and touch typing skills to elementary school-aged children. The program debuted in 1994 and was originally licensed to and published by The Learning Company.
The Talking Fingers approach to reading and writing is based on the idea that text is speech made visible. There are roughly 40 sounds (or phonemes) in English. It takes only 26 letters to stand for those sounds, to make any spoken word visible. When children learn to link those sounds and letters, they can use the alphabet code to write any word they can say. Their fingers are “talking”. This method emphasizes speech-to-print rather than the print-to-speech method most commonly used in U.S. schools.
The story line of Read, Write & Type features the yellow male anthropomorphic hand Lefty LaDee (who represents the left side of the keyboard), the blue anthropomorphic female hand Right Way McKay (who represents the right side of the keyboard) as well as Vexor the Virus, a green anthropomorphic computer virus who resembles an amoeba and has a tendency to speak in rhyme and is the game's antagonist, as well as a host of many other characters collectively called the Storytellers, who represent each of the letter keys on the keyboard.
Gameplay
In the game, Vexor has stolen all of the letters on the keyboard and the player has to help Lefty and Right Way to get them back through completing various activities. Once a letter or letter sound has been retrieved, the player has to help the storyteller or storytellers to get to the Story Tree, which leads to another activity. After all 40 lessons are completed, Vexor is defeated and the game ends.
Activities
- Movie Theater - In the Movie theater students learn to identify the beginning sounds in words. Vexor shows students a series of pictures, and if the word associated with each picture begins with the target phoneme or letter sound, the student must type the key or combination of keys corresponding with that phoneme. If the picture does not start with the target phoneme, they must press the spacebar.
- Video Store - In the Video Store, it's the same as the Movie Theater except the target is the middle sound in each word.
- Fair Booth - At the Fair Booth it's the same as the Movie Theater except the target is the ending sound.
- Park - The Park is where students practice their blending and typing skills. A student must type the sounds (letters) they hear in a particular order and move the storyteller across the park. Too many mistakes will cause the storyteller or storytellers to be blown back by Vexor and the student will get to practice again.
- Story Tree - In the Story Tree activity, the student must help the storyteller or storytellers to write a story.
Recent resurgence
In recent years, Read, Write & Type! has become popular in elementary school ESL classes, with extensive auditory help added in Spanish, Arabic, Malay, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Persian.