Home PublicationsL&LIssuesVolume 27 (1999-2000) February (No. 5)

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Programs mentioned in this column have not been reviewed by the International Society for Technology in Education; their appearance here does not constitute an endorsement by Learning & Leading with Technology or ISTE.

MindTwister Math

MindTwister Math

Big:Calc

Big: Calc

Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing

Having taught writing, I thought this smallish book, with its complex title, tonal coloring, and embedded CD-ROM, looked a bit drab. I might not have even taken it off the bookshelf at a local bookstore. But now that I have opened it and read some of the lessons, I am fascinated. The author, Harry Noden, has created a variety of writing activities that require learning, using, and applying grammar, but the beauty, art, and soul of writing are carefully analyzed, taught, and nurtured. The premise is that a writer is much like an artist who paints images, using grammatical structure as tools. The chapters form two sections: concepts and strategies. Concepts illustrate how professional writers have used image grammar. Strategies contains classroom-tested lessons. Although the author’s teaching experience was with eighth graders, this work clearly transcends middle school and is appropriate through college. Image Grammar, along with its activities, would make an excellent textbook for preservice teachers. The Mac/PC hybrid CD-ROM works with any Web browser, contains dozens of images to stimulate student writing, has Internet links to additional inspirations, and contains more than 60 complete lesson strategies. Heinemann, 361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912; 603.431.7894; www.heinemann.com

Learner Profile^™ to Go

If you already have a PalmPilot and want a new way to use it in the classroom, or if you have wanted a PalmPilot but needed a reason to get one, then Sunburst Technology has the software for you. Schools can now order Learner Profile to Go for the Palm Pilot with either the Mac OS or Windows. A PalmPilot with a set of performance indicators could simplify a teacher’s task of assessing student work, growth, and accomplishments while demonstrating their own abilities to use technology in the classroom. The setup includes entering your students’ names, selecting which indicators you want, and determining the accomplishment levels. Once the setup is completed, observing a student and taking notes literally takes seconds. Most teachers who use Learner Profile (that I have talked to) carry it with them to jot down observations about once a week for less than an hour. The week in between allows for student growth, and 40–45 minutes was all the time needed to observe a class of students, note their progress, and still answer their questions. If you conduct assessment workshops, then at least one copy of Learner Profile 2.0 should be included. I have found that after teachers go through the extensive list of provided indicators in Learner Profile, they are much better at creating exactly what will meet their classroom needs. A single copy of the software costs $99.95. Sunburst Technology, 101 Castleton St., Pleasantville, NY 10570; 800.321.7511; www.sunburst.com

Editor’s note: For those trying to keep up with software company mergers and so on, Sunburst Technology is the new name of Houghton Mifflin Interactive, which includes Sunburst Communications Software, which purchased Tenth Planet.

Encarta Reference Suite 2000

Encarta Reference Suite 2000

Math Mysteries: Whole Numbers

Trust me, this description may not be clear, but Math Mysteries: Whole Numbers is. The binder comes with two Mac/PC CD-ROMs—the Whole Class CD and the Mystery CD. Teachers use the Whole Class CD, which contains seven problems and takes approximately one-half hour of class time per problem; included are two reproducible student worksheets per problem. Students use the Mystery CD individually or in pairs. The mystery contains 17 problems on whole number operations. It takes from two to three hours to complete all 17 problems. Students must wander around to meet the characters, collect information, take notes, solve problems, and check their work. One key ingredient that made their original Math Mysteries (think 1986 and McGraw Hill textbooks) is the computation pad; students cannot just plug in an answer and be through with the problem—the goal is to solve each word problem. One package costs $79.95. Tom Snyder Productions, 80 Coolidge Hill Road, Watertown, MA 02472; 800.342.0236; www.tomsnyder.com

Math Alive 2.0
Time Machine 2.0
World Citizen 2.0

Math Alive, Time Machine, and World Citizen, from BonusPoint’s NetRich series, are now available in 2.0 versions. Links have been updated and built-in tools automatically check to see if a site or page still exists, and redirects a browser to that new location. Math Alive poses math problems based on the content of various Internet sites. Topics include fractions, geometry, area and volume, scale drawing, statistics, computation, equations, and ratio and proportion. Time Machine has various adventures to take students back in time to visit both Western and Eastern cultures. World Citizen addresses current events, diversity, and cultures around the world using Internet resources. All three of the packages contain many Internet sites on the CD-ROM, so activities can continue smoothly even when the Internet connection may not. Each title costs $32.95 and comes on a Mac/PC CD-ROM. BonusPoint, PO Box 2281, Saratoga, CA 95070; 888.605.7292 or 408.354.9492; www.bonuspoint.com

Kid Keys 2.0

Knowledge Adventure has released their newest version of Kid Keys for students in prekindergarten through second grade. Activities include the alphabet, the computer keyboard, and how to use a mouse. Five different games provide practice with cursor control, identifying keys, and typing drills. The teacher edition costs approximately $80.00 from an authorized education reseller and includes two CD-ROMs for two computers and classroom materials. Knowledge Adventure, www.knowledgeadventure.com

4Mation II

Another helper for teachers is 4Mation from About Learning. This specialized database tool enables teachers to create lessons, align them with standards, and share with colleagues. If you live in California, Florida, Kansas, Texas, or Wisconsin, then your state standards are already included on the CD-ROM—making it even easier to create an aligned lesson. The lesson structure they provide has four stages—each with two parts: Connect, Examine, Image, Inform, Practice, Extend, Refine, and Perform. The Mac/PC CD-ROM comes with support for all the states listed above, the lesson design tool, and export extensions for ClarisWorks/AppleWorks, Excel, or FileMaker Pro. About Learning Inc., 1257 N. Old Rand Rd, Wauconda, IL 60084-1158; 800.822.4628 or 847.487.1800; www.aboutlearning.com or www.lessonbank.com

Best Rated High School Education Internet Sites

The most recent titles in Texas Caviar’s Best Rated Education Internet Sites series focuses on high school. More than 2,000 Internet sites are listed in this database. The subject areas are math and science, social studies, English and literature, and French and Spanish. Sites are rated, categorized, and accessible directly from the database. The Mac/PC CD-ROM retails for $149.95 and was designed for teachers, students, and librarians. Updates and new content areas are located on their Web site (www.texascaviar.com).Texas Caviar, 701 Indian Hollow Road, Suite 9, Las Cruces, NM 88011; 505.532.0496

BrainQuest 1st Grade
BrainQuest 3rd Grade

IBM has released the first two of the proposed six grade-level (one through six) sets of BrainQuest software. You may have seen the BrainQuest card decks that have been useful for entertaining children in a car. That theme is maintained in the software, where students travel in the Perdido family van. Where the child goes depends on how much “brainpower” he or she shows. As students progress, they gather printable postcards from different destinations. The 1,000 questions were chosen according to grade-level curricula to bridge the gap between school and home. Up to four players can play at one time in one location or two players can compete on the Internet or an intranet. The $19.95 software can be purchased from a software retail outlet; additional question sets can be purchased for $3.95 on the Internet. The teaser question is, “What is the only continent whose land occupies all four hemispheres?”

PowerPoint Workshop for Teachers

This new package from Tom Snyder Productions includes a 200-page book and a Mac/PC CD-ROM with templates and ideas. The book is divided into three parts: Learning PowerPoint, How Teachers Use PowerPoint, and How Students Use PowerPoint. Clip art includes pictures of famous people, including such categories as Presidents of the United States, Explorers, Native Americans, African Americans and Women. Tom Snyder Productions, 80 Coolidge Hill Road, Watertown, MA 02472; 800.342.0236; www.tomsnyder.com

For additional sources of clip art for your PowerPoint presentations, look at various Mac/PC packages from Ventura Educational Systems: Clip-Art for Math Teachers, Classroom Critters, Clip-Art for Elementary Teachers, School Days, Holidays & Seasons, and Clip-Art for Science Teachers. Ventura Educational Systems, 910 Ramona Avenue, Suite E, Grover Beach, CA 93433; 800.336.1022

HyperStudio Step by Step for HyperTeachers: A Workshop Resource for Educators in a Multimedia World

If you would like some clever activities for inclusion in a HyperStudio workshop, then examine this book from FTC Publishing Group. The pages are neatly organized to provide many a handout, but there is no permission to photocopy any of the pages, so I suggest that each participant have his or her own copy of the book—the ideas are that much fun. FTC Publishing Group, PO Box 1361, Bloomington, IL 61702-1361; 309.664.1742

Kid Pix Projects for Early Readers

Kid Pix Projects for Early Readers from FTC Publishing Group is designed for the nonreader or beginning English reader, making it appealing for ESL, special needs, or emergent readers. The 30 step-by-step projects begin using mostly icons and gradually replace the images with words for vocabulary development. The book is full of instructions and activities that can be cut out and placed in an activity center. The activities are designed to be used with Kid Pix Studio or Kid Pix Studio Deluxe. The authors have carefully accommodated both versions. FTC Publishing Group, PO Box 1361, Bloomington, IL 61702-1361; 309.664.1742

Copyright © 2000, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.