FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Greg Koenig
888-726-8100, ext. 122
gkoenig@siboneylg.com
www.SiboneyLearningGroup.com

Multiple Strategies Vital to Reading Instruction

ST. LOUIS, MO, October 3, 2006 -- Teaching children to read goes well beyond assigning a text and testing on content. Teachers preparing their students for standardized testing look to impart various ways for students to approach reading, from free-writing responses to asking students to make predictions.

Researchers T.K. Borsook and N. Higginbotham-Wheat found that "[b]y giving learners greater control over various aspects of instruction, such as pacing and sequencing, they can tailor the instruction to their own style of learning, thereby enhancing the efficacy and efficiency of learning."

Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking, a new software title published by Siboney Learning Group, helps teachers give their students new ways of tackling reading. This program, designed for students in grades 4 through 9, engages students with a variety of stories and video clips with corresponding comprehension questions and critical-thinking exercises. Additionally, students control the story choice and pacing as well as whether or not to hear the story read aloud.

"We are very proud to be on the cutting-edge of reading education with the release of Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking," said William D. Edwards, President of Siboney Learning Group. "This program addresses tasks that students will encounter on the new SAT, such as more critical reading passages and the addition of the writing section."

With inference required in 30% to 60% of the comprehension questions, Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking goes beyond asking students to read and recall; students draw upon their own similar experiences to answer questions and complete exercises, connecting them to the reading and its meaning.

Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking is available as a single title through Siboney Learning Group's Gamco product line or as part of a comprehensive solution through Orchard Software, which also provides standards-based assessments and automatic targeted assignments. With more than 150 Skill Trees covering over 3,000 concepts, Orchard's assessments are designed to ensure that students are working on the specific skills they need to master in order to meet challenging academic standards as well as each school district's learning objectives.

Siboney Learning Group is a dynamic publisher, integrator, and provider of comprehensive and motivational software. Its associates are passionate about the success of children and adult learners and are committed to playing a leading role in their education by providing high-quality software.

###