About Total Words
Total Words makes learning-to-read fast, motivating and rewarding. Using bespoke technology we deliver a fresh approach to 'learning to read'. Using daily data, we tailor resources and the learning experiences to ensure the maximum rate of progress for every learner.
Our researched books are designed exclusively for Total Words. Digitally accessible, our 'designed-for-learning' reading books are integrated with our Total Words Reading Progress App which provides support for any unknown words and gives immediate feedback on progress made. Total Words is about clear, robust, honest and, most importantly, positive feedback on the effectiveness of daily and weekly learning.
Our system makes learning real, it makes positive achievement conversations. "Miss, did you know I read 450 words today?"
Our Approach
We understand that emotionally healthy learning experiences make motivated, confident learners. We don’t tell learners how to learn, we just show them that they can learn day-by-day. We don’t tell teachers how to teach, we just give them the evidence that shows them what has impact, what works to make rapid progress.
The Total Words approach to...
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‘Assessment’: It is more useful to know what progress a child can make rather than measure what ‘level’ they have achieved over the last 6 months.
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Learning-teaching: It is more useful to know how well a child can ‘convert’ unknown words into known words, rather than assuming progress is about ‘ability’ within a child, so we measure the impact, the effectiveness of learning-teaching sessions.
How it started
Total Words began as an individual reading programme for a Year 3 girl, who was desperately behind her expected level for reading. Designed by Educational Psychologist, Allyson Caseley, a non-conventional response was taken to change the girl's learning process. Following a learning theory with the intention of "making the girl into a reader", the impact of the programme, over 15 weeks, was remarkable and it became the foundation for Total Words.
How do we "make a reader?"
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Read a high number of words each day - immediately tell them any unknown or incorrect words so that accurate reading is consistently being practiced.
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Repeat a book over 3-4 days so that progress can be seen, show, share talk about achievements each day.
Positive Resources, Positive Impact, Positive Outcomes
What makes our platform effective?
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Total Words is a complete learning system, delivering and recording daily reading performance through our original, carefully designed digital books, activities and progress measuring app. Positive-practice learning builds student confidence and effective learner-teacher partnerships.
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Data transforms teachers into progress-managers, providing clear evidence of the daily progress being made, the progress that can be made and the factors that impact on reading performance. Data transforms students into motivated learners.
Why not just any book will do...
Books designed for rapid reading progress need to:
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Provide scope to learn new words
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Be concise enough to read in one sitting, to be repeated over several days
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Deliver meaningful text with access to information that generates conversations
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Function as precise measures of progress
"Ahmed read 548 words. He needed a prompt for 10 words in the whole book. He remembered words that were repeated in the text. Ahmed asked if the tsunami really had happened, if it was real. Yes. When
he was interested and motivated, he could read. Reading about real events was important for him."
About Total Words books
One topic, five different titles... Total Words books address the challenge that all teachers experience when faced with 30 students in their class with differing levels of reading ability, differing levels of motivation and confidence. Familiar vocabulary across all five titles reinforces topic context and meaning, rapidly boosting comprehension skills and supporting inclusive learning by encouraging students to share topic knowledge.
Meaningful resources motivate students. Total Words books are intellectually meaningful — real scenarios, real stories, real events; socially meaningful — resources designed for students to share; emotionally meaningful — resources for students to challenge themselves and monitor their own progress. Our curriculum-topic books are a flexible, multi-use learning resource for whole class use and for individual learning programmes. Our digital books, complete with comprehension activities are highly cost-effective and can be accessed anywhere. Our progress app provides real-time data so teachers can plan effectively and students can see the progress they are making.
Want to know more? See our FAQs
Who are we?
Allyson Caseley, Educational Psychologist and Co-Founder
“It was so exciting to see what children could do if we placed them in a totally efficient, positive learning programme. Everybody involved felt uplifted and happy to be talking of success and progress.
I followed the theory-rules to create a reading programme and was amazed and inspired by the data”
Kiri Mellalieu, Artist and
Co-Founder
"I continue to be excited to see the profound effect that considered design in text, imagery, psychology and layout can have for groundbreaking products. When I saw evidence of how our researched design for Total Words dramatically increased the way children in a classroom were having conversations about a topic, I was only inspired to do more.”
Aman Birdi, Lead Developer
“After building a network of some of the top app developers in the industry, and learning their strategies for building some of the most successful apps on the market, developing the Total Words platform has been one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve worked on. "
Luke Green, Non-Executive Director
“By tackling the issues within education from a unique angle, Total Words is just the tip of the iceberg for Achieve Psychology for Learning.
I truly believe that this way of thinking can be disruptive and massively beneficial for people not just in the UK but around the world.”