How to Use (so you can teach) the PQ App
Start by watching this 2 minute video:
What are PQs?: Click the speaker button and watch how different the letter “A“, looks and sounds:
Cake Boat Dad Soda Ball Said
Did you notice how the letter “A“, looked different when it sounded different? Those different ways the letters looked are “PQs”. PQs are ways of making letters look different so that they can tell readers which of their sounds they are making. PQs are like “phonics clues” and “sound-out hints”. The PQ Pop-Up App uses PQs to guide students into getting good at rapidly working out words. There are other kinds of PQs, but learners don’t need to be explicitly taught them. They will learn all they need to learn about PQs simply by using the PQ Pop-Up App (more on this below).


Touch for recognizing.
For understanding touch.
RECOGNIZING: Clicking through the available levels of support, learners can see the word broken into more readable segments (where applicable), can see and hear the words individual letter sounds, can see and hear the words group-letter sounds, can see and hear an animated sounding out of the entire word, and finally, can have the word read to them.
By forcing learners to step through the initial levels of help before having the word read to them, the system focuses and guides their learning to decode (rather than short-circuiting the process by just reading the word for them). By controlling the process with their clicking, learners choose just the level of help they need to recognize the word. Once they recognize the word, the popup disappears and they continue reading right where they left off.
This ‘live on the edge of learning’ guidance not only helps learners recognize the word they clicked on, it is the most neurologically optimal way to learn to read. Rather than abstractly teaching the relationships between letters and sounds (and hoping it will be later applied in the ‘live’ stream of reading), this approach supports learners while they’re in the ‘live’ stream of reading.
Steps for using the PQ Pop-Up to recognize words:
Step 1: Whenever students stumble on a word that they don’t immediately recognize, they should click or touch it. Clicking on the word will cause the PQ App to pop-up and show the word in a small blue box. If the word has a lot of letters, the word will be broken into smaller and more easily readable parts. To see what I mean, click on the following word: segmented.
Step 2: Once the word appears in the blue box, students should try to read it again. If they can read it, they should click or touch anywhere outside the blue box and it will disappear.If they still don’t recognize the word, they should click it again (click inside the blue box). Each time they click, they should watch and listen carefully to any letters that changed their looks, or that they hear spoken, and then, try to read the word again. Watching and listening to these “PQs”, (changes in how letters look and sound), guide students into learning to get good at figuring out words.
Step 3: If they still don’t recognize the word, they should click it again; watching, listening, and trying again to recognize it. They should keep clicking the word and trying to read it until they do. Some words only have two clicks of PQs. Some words have four. They should keep clicking and trying until they get the word or run out of PQs. Once they have been given all the PQs for the word, the word will be sounded-out and then, finally, normally spoken for them.
UNDERSTANDING: If learners recognize the word, but don’t understand what it means, clicking the WordExplore button in the Pop-Up opens the Reference Panel, which provides definitions, synonyms, roots, and translations for the word.
Steps for using the PQs Pop-Up App’s WordExplore button to understand words.
Step 1: Whenever students recognize a word but don’t know what it means, they should click the word to open the PQ Pop-Up App (just like they would for a word they don’t recognize).
Step 2: Once the PQ Pop-Up App opens with the word in its blue box, they should click on the WordExplore
button to open the Reference Panel. Once the reference panel opens, they should choose the type of reference that will help them:
Step 3: If English is their primary language, learners can click on the Dictionary
or Synonym
button to see the word’s definitions or synonyms. If English is not their primary language, they can click on the Translator
button to see translations of the word in their language. Note: if the Translator is not set to their language, click on the Translator Menu
button to select it.
Important Note: Learners can click on any word in the
dictionary,
synonyms or
roots reference panel (for example “embarrassing” below), and the PQ Pop-Up will help them read (recognize and understand) the word.
Using the above steps, practice with some of the words in the table below. Remember: “click, watch, listen, and try to read again”. Once you know how to use the PQ Pop-Up to help recognize words, click on the WordExplore
button and use the Reference Panel to help understand the meanings of words.
Practice Words
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to know fury great mishap Thomas physical |
ice meow idea laugh height science porpoise knickknack impossibilities |
eye wolf heart mosque shoulder success architect terrorism tyrannosaurus |
have pour acres color daughter gorgeous Virginia sauerkraut fahrenheit |
Together these two modes of support turn every word on every page of a document or website into an instant access help button / portal that provides anything any learner (from any language background, or any level of reading skill) might need to both recognize and understand the word and keep reading.
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