Star software: a roundup of some of the year's best titles for K-8 teachers across the curriculum - Instructor 2001 Teacher's Tech Guide

Instructor, March, 2001 by Warren Buckleitner, Ann Orr

Asked to name some of our favorite software choices across the curriculum, we came up with programs that will spark learning excitement and pack the most educational punch for your technology dollar. All run on any late-model Windows or Macintosh computer. Make sure you call or visit manufacturers' Web sites for the latest details on networking or lab packs.

READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS

Lawrence D. Duck: Language Arts Private Eye ***** (4.4)

Teaches: reading comprehension, deductive reasoning, grammar

In one of the best school-based language-arts games we've seen in a long time, children help Lawrence D. Duck, Private Eye, solve mysteries by answering language-arts related questions. For instance, they may be asked to punctuate a sentence, put in capital letters, or identify a part of speech. Correct answers lead to keys, which can be used to unlock doors behind which clues can be found. There are three levels of difficulty and a compelling format.

Lawrence Productions, $69.00; 1-800-421-4157; www.lawrencesoftware.com

Grades 3-8

Reader Service Card No. 70

Reading Explorers Series ***** (4.4)

Teaches: reading comprehension

This guided reading-comprehension software comes in four parts, one for each grade level from first through fourth. It's not meant to teach reading per se, but rather to deliver reading practice, checking understanding along the way. After signing in (detailed records are kept), students are asked to read short stories, answer comprehension questions, play reading games, and write onscreen journals.

The stories are interesting, the comprehension checks are often interspersed in the story itself (rather than left to the end), and immediate feedback is given. Activities include story mapping, prediction, and vocabulary games. The program quizzes children on cause and effect, fact versus opinion, drawing conclusions, and so on--meaty stuff beyond mere detail recall.

The scope and sequence of skills emphasized are terrific, and the activities are educationally solid and varied enough to keep kids' interest. If you're expecting bells and whistles, though, look elsewhere, as Gamco is no Disney.

Gamco Education Materials/Siboney Learning Group, $69.95, 1-800-351-1404; www.gamco.com

Grades 1-4

Reader Service Card No. 71

Island Reading Journey *****(4.3)

Teaches: reading comprehension, vocabulary essay writing

This easy-to-use program offers supplemental activities and comprehension checks for 100 popular intermediate-level books such as E.B. White's Charlotte's Web and Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia.

Here's how it works: Students first read a book (these are not included), then select a corresponding "island" from the main menu of the program. The island contains activities associated with the book, such as vocabulary games, comprehension quizzes, and other activities that extend the story's content.

There's an essay question for each book that students can complete either at or away from the computer. The multiple-choice comprehension quiz does a nice job of including higher-level-thinking questions, as well as asking for detail recall. The record keeping and teacher options are also excellent. And if the program lacks multimedia bells and whistles, the skills practice is so solid that you won't miss them (although your students might!)

Sunburst Technology $89.95; 1-800-338-3457; www.sunburst.com

Grades 4-6

Reader Service Card No. 72

Clifford Reading ***** (4.8)

Teaches: early reading, letter sounds, spelling, consonants, sound recognition, reading fluency, vowels

Ideal for a prereader or an older child in need of remedial help, this new program offers students excellent practice with letter sounds, blends, initial and ending sounds, and short words.

The six early-reading activities feature Clifford and Emily Elizabeth at a carnival on Birdwell Island. Some games ask children to match specific sounds with their letters, while others are open-ended, such as Monique's Word Painting, in which kids drag letters onto a canvas to form pictures. The more a child plays and succeeds, the greater the program's challenges.

Scholastic Inc., $19.95; 1-800-724-6527; Grades Pre-K--1

Reader Service Card No. 73

SOCIAL STUDIES

GeoCycle **** (4.0)

Teaches: geography states, capitals, major cities, natural features, famous sites

The GeoCycle is a virtual ultralight bike, which kids get to steer across the U.S. in search of geography facts. The program offers games, including a mystery picture puzzle, where children identify famous sites, and a state abbreviation game. In the challenge mode, students must find states, cities, capitals, and landmarks.

The learning experience is fun, and the clips of players crashing their GeoCycles between games are diverting. As students play, earning points and moving through 25 levels of difficulty, their progress is saved from play to play.

Ed Venture SofWvare, $29.95; wwwedven.com Grades 3-6

Reader Service Card No. 74

PrezQuest ***** (4.4)