Software Releases

By Judi Mathis Johnson

= Product for learners with special needs.

Calling all math and art teachers. Kevin Lee (creator of TesselMania!) has done it again. He has created another soon-to-be classic exploration of art and math that is a visual pleasure for all. KaleidoMania! Interactive Symmetry is now available from Key Curriculum Press.

Coda Music Technology (makers of Finale) have produced two new music programs—PrintMusic! and SmartMusic Studio. Both products deserve close examination to see if they will meet any of your needs for teaching music or for students practicing music at home.

Get ready for some multisyllabic words (although my spelling checker prefers to call them big words). Word Parts is the newest title from the Tenth Planet Explores Literacy series and provides activities for first- through third-grade students to divide multisyllabic words into manageable units such as syllables, simple morphemes, and common sequences of letters and sounds. The Wordtones are a trio of singers who introduce the key literacy concepts in videos. As students solve problems and create words by combining smaller words and word parts, those words are saved in their Word Bank and can be used in later activities, such as the one in the picture. Consistent with Tenth Planet’s other products is the excellent Teaching Guide, which contains suggestions for assessment, blackline masters, and tips from teachers who have used the program with their students. A single copy of the Mac/Win CD-ROM costs $79.95—the same as the lab pack of 10. For all the Tenth Planet titles contact Sunburst Communications, 101 Castleton Street, Pleasantville, NY 10570-3498; 914.747.3310 or 800.321.7511; www.SUNBURST.com

Having electronic maps adds to student reports and teacher presentations. Having electronic maps and drawing tools for individualizing those maps makes Tom Snyder Productions' new Mapmaker's Toolkit a nice addition to any social studies or history software collection. The software's library contains more than 450 maps, of which 125 are historical maps. The 48 theme maps cover precipitation, temperature, land use, population density, and vegetation on six continents. I particularly like a feature called “layers.” You can choose which of the physical and political features you want printed on the map, such as boundaries, rivers, latitude and longitude lines, and country names. A good source of information on current world and national events is www.tomsnyder.com/classroom/mapmaker. Don’t let all the social studies talk keep you from thinking about using the $79.95 Mapmaker’s Toolkit when teaching literature or science. Tom Snyder Productions, 80 Coolidge Hill Rd., Watertown, MA 02472-5003; 800.342.0236, 617.926.6000; www.tomsnyder.com

Judi Mathis Johnson (73517. 2107@compuserve.com) has evaluated educational software since 1979. She has published with ISTE since 1986 and continues to edit its Educational Software Preview Guide. Contact her at 2749 Birdsong Lane, Powhatan, VA 23139; 804.598.6138.