Blue ribbon software

Teaching Pre K-8, Nov/Dec 1997 by Cleveland, Audrey A, Moore, Sally, Henry, Marlene

Each month, Teaching K-8 highlights the software selections of teachers in a different part of the country. This month, from Ohio.

Audrey A. Cleveland Grade 5 Kitty Hawk Elementary Huber Heights, OH

How many of you remember playing with paper dolls as a child? "Magic Wardrobe" by IBM and Crayola is a modem technology-enhanced version of paper dolls with time travel. It is all that you remember and more. What girl doesn't like to dress up? This multimedia program uses the dress-up theme of costumes to study different time periods in history through the use of wardrobe, sound, news of the time and journal writing.

This program is designed specifically for girls ages 6 to 12; sorry guys! The simple format can be used with a minimum of supervision, which is critical in any classroom.

The program offers 12 unique historical sets with a room for each time period and special tools for each room. Girls design and decorate clothes for each period. A timeline makes it easy to move from one era to another to make comparisons. Preferences allow students to change features such as skin color and color of eyes and hair.

I feel "Magic Wardrobe" will enhance history lessons and encourage creativity as girls design and decorate costumes for each historical era. I like the opportunity for students to read historical diary accounts, read about women in the news during that time and write their own diary entries. Letters can be printed and added to portfolios, sent as e-mail to other students, or home for parents to view.

There is a strong motivation to research history. Students will learn important facts as they compare the life of the girl in each historical setting with their own life.

Sally Moore Grade 6 Northwood Elementary Dayton, OH

"Odyssey of Discovery: Fractions" by Pierian Spring is one of a new generation of innovative math programming.

First impressions of this software is that of a fun, hands-on exploration of learning fractions. The Fractions Building has an interesting layout that's easy to navigate, providing five interactive machines for exploring math concepts while manipulating fractions. The opportunity to discover what makes fractions work is presented in a framework of virtual reality featuring Quicktime VR. The Fractions Building entrance provides portraits of mathematicians and historical artifacts that can be clicked to reveal math trivia.

Problem-solving investigations involving dozens of math concepts are reinforced in the math curriculum as students work with five interactive machines. Number Cruncher gives students practice in reducing fractions and forming equivalent fractions.

Color Mixer takes students inside a computer monitor to mix colors of light to create new colors while they explore ratios, fractions and percent. Fractional Reader uses challenging games to convert decimals to words and equivalent fractions. Fractionator investigates the relationship between numerator and denominator. Using space sounds and graphics, students compare integers and fractions in Fraction Transporter.

I think the glossary offers a wonderful opportunity for students to look up math vocabulary while using their computer skills. Vocabulary is an important NCTM standard, and this program allows students to communicate math concepts and vocabulary understanding in an easy way. I also appreciate the Teacher's Guide that contains well-written lesson plans for students to complete independently or for teachers to present to a group.

The User's Manual contains information on the NCTM Curriculum Standards for the appropriate grade levels. The wealth of key math concepts in this software makes it of benefit to many middle school math classrooms.

For more information and activities, visit the Pierian Spring web site at http://www.pierian.com

Marlene Henry Grade 6

Northwood Elementary Dayton, OH

"The Complete National Geographic" is a collection of 30 cD-ROMs that delivers all 108 years of National Geographic magazine to your desktop. You will find every photograph, article and classical advertisement from all 1,245 issues of the magazine.

The powerful search engine for this program makes finding topics and specific articles easy. Students can quickly search any of the CD-ROMS, which are organized by decade. Search criteria includes date, issue, cover, topic, key word or title. When an article is selected, related topics and contributors are highlighted to extend the search.

Pages can be printed in color or black and white, and students can bookmark articles they want to return to later. They can also keep track of any search with an Articles Reviewed feature which lists keywords they have tried and the search results.

This software, marketed by Mindscape, is a joint venture of Eastman Kodak and the National Geographic Society. For any class or library that saves past issues of the magazine, this 30-volume collection will be a great space-saver and will give quick access to all the reference articles. Targeted for grades 4-12, it's a "must" addition to any reference collection.