ABRACADABRA is a free, interactive web-based literacy program designed for early elementary school-aged students, their educators, teachers and parents. The Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) continues to develop ABRACADABRA in an effort to help battle the alarmingly high percentage of low ability readers in countries throughout the world.

While the complete version of ABRACADBRA (ABRA) is available as part of the CSLP’s Learning Toolkit and must be stored locally on a server at the school board or educational centre, a lighter version of ABRA is available at http://abralite.concordia.ca.

Students, teachers and parents may use this lighter version. Students have access to the full range of ABRA stories and activities. Teachers may enter the Professional Development section to get overviews of ABRA’s activities and stories, lesson plans, printable resources, just-in-time videos or practical tips for teaching English Language Arts. However, they do not have access to the assessment and communication modules. Parents are encouraged to move through the stories or activities and give constructive feedback to their children when ABRA is used in the home.  Also, suggestions are given on what to look for and how to support children in developing literacy skills and behaviours.

There are two main entry points to ABRACADABRA: through stories and skills.

The stories expose children to different story genres, text types and multiple perspectives; which help shape their world view. Children can read ABRACADABRA or student created stories.

• Phonological awareness
• Reading fluency development
• Comprehension development
• Writing development