CxD Tips · Start Here
Every tool, built the same way
Capable x Design tools share one belief: we don't fix people, we fix what's in their way. Before you open any of the four tools in this book, here is what every one of them promises.
The CxD standard
- Executive functioning supportStructure, routines, and visual cues are built into the design of every tool, so the screen carries part of the load and the child carries the thinking.
- Positive language & growth mindsetNo tool ever tells a child they failed. Language stays encouraging, and every attempt can be changed, undone, and tried again.
- Directed by the teacher or parentAdults set the scope and the settings. The child never has to configure anything. They open the tool and it is ready for them.
- No assessment, no scoresNothing is graded, ranked, or timed. No score is ever shown to a child. These are learning tools, not testing tools.
- Accessibility at the forefrontSimple taps and drags, clear color coding, readable type, and cues that guide the eyes. Every tool is built to be usable before it is anything else.
- Consistency across toolsThe same colors, the same patterns, the same logic everywhere. Learn one CxD tool and you already know your way around the rest.
- Free, open, and privateNo logins, no cost, and no data tracking. Nothing to sign up for, nothing collected about your students. Open the link and teach.
Tip Sheet 1 of 4 · How to Use
Capable Math Toolbox
Five digital math manipulatives in one toolbox. Nothing to install and nothing to log into. Open it and start building numbers.
capablemathtoolbox.netlify.app
How to use it
- Open the toolbox and pick a tool from the home screen: Ten Frame, Place Value Mat, Hundreds Chart, Number Path, or Partial Sums Chart.
- Choose your mode in the Ten Frame and Place Value Mat: Explore is open building, and Solve gives a focused task to work through at the student's own pace. The other tools open straight into building.
- Tap to build. Everything works by tapping. Add or remove counters on the Ten Frame, drop blocks onto the Place Value Mat, tap squares on the Hundreds Chart.
- Switch tools anytime. Head back to the home screen to move between tools during a lesson.
Find it fast
| Explore vs. Solve | In the Ten Frame and Place Value Mat only. The mode choice appears when you open those tools |
| Practice mode | Inside the Ten Frame, for quick number recognition |
| Teacher settings | Gear icon. Adjust what students can see and use |
| Partial Sums | Its own tool on the home screen, set up for showing each step of addition |
How it supports executive functioning
- Task initiationThe screen is frictionless: no login, no setup, and guided cues that make the first move obvious. Kids want to learn and show what they know. The tool removes what was standing between them and starting.
- Working memoryThe counters and blocks hold the number on screen, so students can spend their thinking on the math instead of on remembering.
- Visual organizationEvery tool gives the numbers a structure students can see. On the Place Value Mat, each digit has a labeled home. The layout carries the organizing, and the child carries the ideas.
- Cognitive flexibilityThe same number can be built five different ways across five tools. Students learn that there is more than one way to see a number, because they are seeing it.
There are no timers, scores, or grades in the toolbox. It works like a good set of manipulatives: an extension of the learner's own hands and thinking.
Tip Sheet 2 of 4 · How to Use
Word Builder
Color-coded phonics tiles for building words sound by sound, with fluency flashcards included.
wordbuilderdarilyons.netlify.app
How to use it
- Open Word Builder. The tile workspace is your home base. The colors show students which tiles are vowels and which are consonants before anyone says a word.
- Tap tiles to build. Tap a letter tile to add it to the word line. Tap a tile in the word to take it back out. Build, read, rebuild.
- Tap "Sound out" for guided blending. The tiles pulse one at a time to show the student which letters to blend, then pulse together as the cue to say the whole word. The tool stays silent on purpose: the student's voice is the sound.
- Read it and rebuild it. Students read the word they built, then swap tiles to turn it into a new one, one sound at a time.
- Tap "Read my words." Once a student has spelled three words, they collect in the spelled word bank and the fluency flashcards pop up, so students read back the very words they just built.
- Tailor the tray. Use the teacher settings to choose which tiles students see, so the tray matches the lesson instead of overwhelming it.
Find it fast
| Sound out | Pulses through the letters in order to guide the blend, then pulses the whole word as the cue to read it |
| Fluency flashcards | Spell three words and they collect in the spelled word bank. Tap "Read my words" to flip through them |
| Pattern tiles | Digraphs, vowel teams, and magic-e live in the tile tray together, color-coded by sound family like everything else |
| Vowels | Look for the color. Vowel tiles share one color family, so students can spot them before they can name them |
| Teacher settings | Settings icon. Choose which tiles and features students see |
How it supports executive functioning
- Guided attentionThe color coding leads the eyes. A student can find the vowel by its color while they are still learning to find it by its sound, so the visual cue carries them until the phonics knowledge does. For multilingual learners this matters even more: the colors communicate before the English vocabulary has to.
- Working memoryEach tile holds a sound in place, and the Sound out cue paces the blend letter by letter, so students can work across the whole word without also having to remember where they are in it.
- Cognitive flexibilityChanging one tile makes a new word, and it can be undone and tried again as many times as a student wants. The tool never says they got it wrong. It shows them what they made.
- AutomaticityThe flashcards are made of the student's own spelled words, so fluency practice grows straight out of what they just built. Reading back your own words is confidence work and fluency work at the same time.
Word Builder never quizzes, times, or scores. The tiles hold the sounds steady while the child does the thinking.
Tip Sheet 3 of 4 · How to Use
The Writing Studio
A tile-based sentence builder that separates composing from handwriting, so ideas do not have to wait for pencil skills.
thewritingstudiocxd.netlify.app
How to use it
- Open the Studio and choose how you want to write: free building with word tiles, or Frame mode for a guided start.
- Tap word tiles to add them to the sentence line. Each tile's color shows its job in the sentence, so students can see the structure they are building.
- Use picture tiles for students who are not decoding yet. They can compose a real sentence with images standing in for words.
- Read it back. Build, read aloud, revise. Then transfer to paper if that is the goal for the day.
Find it fast
| Frame mode | In the mode selection. Pick a frame like "I see a ___" and students fill the gaps |
| Picture tiles | In the tile options. Swap in images for students still growing into decoding |
| Grammar colors | Automatic. Each tile's color shows its role, with nothing to set up |
| Clear & restart | Clear the sentence line to start fresh without losing the tile tray |
How it supports executive functioning
- Task initiationFrame mode takes away the blank page. The frame shows where to begin, the tiles show what is possible, and the student's first move is already waiting for them.
- PlanningBuilding the sentence with tiles is the plan. Students can see the whole sentence, rearrange it, and read it back before anything goes on paper.
- Working memoryThe sentence stays on screen the entire time. A student can sound out one word without losing the rest of their idea.
- Access to expressionComposing is separated from fine motor skills. A student with a handwriting barrier can still build full, correct sentences while those skills grow at their own pace.
The Studio never marks a sentence wrong and never grades. It extends what the writer can already do and shows them what they are building as they build it.
Tip Sheet 4 of 4 · How to Use
CxD Word Games
Three phonics games — Word Snoop, Letter Tangle, and Sound Ripple — that only use patterns students have actually been taught.
cxdwordgamesdarilyons.netlify.app
How to use it
- Set the skill scope first. Choose where students are in the phonics sequence, aligned to UFLI lessons. This controls every word the games will use.
- Choose a game: Word Snoop for finding real words, Letter Tangle for putting letters in order, or Sound Ripple for changing one sound to make a new word.
- Tap to play. Every game is tap-based and self-paced. There are no countdown timers, and taking your time costs nothing.
- Move the scope as you teach. Bring it forward with new lessons, or bring it back for review days.
Find it fast
| Skill scope | Set it before playing. It decides every word the games can show |
| Word Snoop | A real-word hunt that builds pattern recognition |
| Letter Tangle | Letter unscrambling that builds sound sequencing |
| Sound Ripple | One-sound swaps that build phoneme manipulation |
How it supports executive functioning
- Guided challengeBecause every word comes from taught patterns, everything on screen is within the student's reach. They are never asked to guess at something they were never shown.
- Frustration toleranceEach word is decodable for that student, so effort keeps paying off and students keep going instead of shutting down.
- Sustained attentionRounds are short and self-paced. Students can settle into the task and stop at a natural break, on their own schedule.
- Self-monitoringThe game shows the result of each move right away, so students can check their own thinking. No one is ranked, timed, or scored against anyone else.
Even here, the games are practice, not assessment. They meet students exactly where the teaching left off and let them show what they know.