TitleWatch, Mary/June 2002


	May/June 2002 Copyright © Information Today, Inc.
by Kathie Felix, News/Reviews Editor
TitleWatch lists recently released educational software products that relate to the K-12 curriculum. This list is primarily but not exclusively comprised of CD-ROM products; other formats (diskettes, videodiscs) are noted in the text. Suggestions for entries and press releases should be addressed to Kathie Felix at 5746 Union Mill Rd., PMB 605, Clifton, VA 20124 or to kfelix@infotoday.com. (All titles are CD-ROM unless otherwise noted.)

Cross-Curriculum

Animate Your World: Shaping Character, for middle-school students, presents a character education program focused on three character behaviors: respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility to community. Teachers review character education topics with their students, the students view
a CD-ROM with animated sequences focusing on character-challenging situations, and then students plan, design, and produce their own endings to the cartoons, incorporating the character education lessons. The interactive program can be used in language arts, social studies, and guidance counseling, as well as other
curriculum areas such as art, technology, and science. The disc also includes information for students on careers in animation. Mac/Win hybrid CD-ROM. No charge. Cartoon Network/Turner Learning, 800/344-6219 or http://www.turnerlearning.com/.

Art and Mathematics, for high school students and up, explores the influence of math on the visual arts with animations and illustrations. The nine modules explore Spiritual Geometry, Knots and Links, Magic Squares, Regular Polyhedra, Perspective, The Divine Proportion, The Ambassadors, New Geometries, and Fractal Geometry. The printable pages of text introduce artists, mathematicians, and poets. The disc presents a virtual tour through the works of artists ranging from Albrecht Durer, William Blake, and Raphael, to M.C. Escher. Students will learn about the Father of Algebra, Al-Khowarizmi, discover three-point perspective, and learn to construct a torus knot. Windows only. $50, single copy. Tool Factory, 800/220-8386 or http://www.toolfactory.com/.

The TimeLiner product line has been expanded to include Ready-Made Time Lines and a TimeLiner Workshop for Teachers. Ready-Made Time Lines includes more than 170 researched time lines in history, science, and social studies, covering topics such as African-American history, American history, Asian Americans, the Civil War, Dinosaurs and Other Big Stuff, Hispanic Americans, History of Exploration, Native Americans, Pre- and Ancient History, Science & Technology, Women in History, and World History. TimeLiner 5.0 is required for use. Mac/Win CD-ROM. $120—single computer; $300—license, five computers; $350—license, 10 computers; $600—unlimited network license; $700—unlimited site license. The TimeLiner Workshop for Teachers, a book by Janet Caughlin, explains how to get the most out of TimeLiner in the classroom. The book features lessons and projects from teachers and students across the country. The book includes a Mac/Win CD-ROM. TimeLiner software not included. $30, single copy price. $350—Unlimited site license. Volume pricing available. Tom Snyder Productions, 800/342-0236 or http://www.tomsnyder.com/.

Early Learning

The All About series includes six software titles for students in pre-K to second grade and special education settings. All About Ourselves (pre-K to second grade) leads children through activities in categories such as Senses, Growing and Changing, and Same or Different. All About Weather and Seasons (K-first grade) provides youngsters with the opportunity to record the day's weather in an on-screen weather chart, select warm or cold weather clothing, make pictograms, write with word banks, complete puzzles, paint pictures, and watch information videos. All About Space and Shape (K-third grade) looks at the kinds of shapes children can discover in the world around them, as they test objects for right angles, sort shapes, create nets of printable three-dimensional shapes, and design clothing patterns. All About Materials (K-third grade) teaches about the properties of a variety of materials, including objects that sink in water, float on the surface, or float under the surface. All About Number at Level 1 (K-2) covers counting to 10, ordering and reading numbers, adding and subtracting, making patterns, developing one-one correspondence, and simple problem-solving. With full audio support, children can work independently or in small groups. All About Number at Level 2 (K-2) moves on to cover counting to 20, counting by 2's and 5's, odd and even numbers, reading and ordering numbers, place values, doubles, and estimating. Mac/Win CD-ROM. $60—single copy; $320—all six titles, single copy. Tool Factory, 800/220-8386 or http://www.toolfactory.com/.
Playhouse Disney's The Book of Pooh: A Story Without a Tail, for pre-K through kindergarten, allows children to set off on an exploratory adventure through the familiar Hundred Acre Woods. Along the way, they will be exposed to preliteracy skills emphasizing the love of reading, as well as caring, sharing, playing, and exploring. Disney's Phonics Quest, for grades K-2, brings children on a quest with Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's apprentice trying to uncover the magic of phonics. The quest begins as Mickey opens the Sorcerer's magic book and loses six of theSorcerer's belongings. As he works to retrieve the items, youngsters master phonics skills. Win/Mac CD-ROM. $20, single copy. Disney Interactive, http://www.disneyinteractive.com/.

The JumpStart Advanced series for students in preschool through second grade includes four titles that reinforce core skills and ensure that children understand important concepts by providing supplementary lessons tailored to their individual learning styles. The titles, based on NCTM, NCTE, and major state standards, include JumpStart Advanced Preschool, JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten, JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade, and JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade. The series includes features such as the JumpStart All-Stars, seven characters who represent the seven different learning styles and provide supplemental lessons to match students'
individual learning styles. Advanced content levels and automatic skill level adjustments are also featured. Mac/Win hybridCD-ROM. $41—teacher edition with two copies of the software and teacher materials with lesson plans for additional classroom activities away from the computer; $118—lab pack, five users; $325—site license, 15 users; $700—network version. Knowledge Adventure, 800/321-7511 or http://www.sunburst.com/.

Languages

Essential Cloze Maker, for grades K-12, provides activities designed to reinforce reading skills. Teachers can create activities by choosing from more than 150 fill-in-the-blank passages or create new content. The program includes fill-ins for phonic units, vowels, consonants, punctuation, prefixes, suffixes, word endings, letters, words, and parts of speech; content for students at all reading levels; and a 32,000-word dictionary with usage sentences. Mac/Win CD-ROM. $35—single computer; $110—license, five computers; $200—license, 10 computers; $400—unlimited site license. Tom Snyder Productions, 800/342-0236 or http://www.tomsnyder.com/.

Reading for Meaning, for grades 3-8, is now available on the Internet or on CD-ROM. The program helps improve student reading comprehension by targeting skills often covered on standardized tests, including main idea, inference, sequence, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. The title includes 35 lessons with graphic organizers, authentic literature, and a lesson plan library with 30 additional lessons. Mac/Win hybrid CD-ROM. Mac OS X compatible. $100—single computer; $300—license, five users; $600—license, 10 users; $900—unlimited network license; $1,000—unlimited site license. $60—Internet version, annual subscription, single user; $200—Internet version, annual subscription, five users; $350—Internet version, annual subscription, unlimited site license. Multi-year Internet subscription pricing is available. A free 30-day trial is available online at http://www.ReadingForMeaning.com/. Tom Snyder Productions, 800/342-0236 or http://www.tomsnyder.com/.

Mathematics

Essential Bingo, for grades K-12, creates bingo cards that will improve student skills in vocabulary, math, time, and money. The program automatically generates math problems aligned to NCTM standards. A clip art library is included. The math concepts cover addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals, time, money, and geometric shapes. The vocabulary skills include more than 14,000 built-in vocabulary words and clues; pre-made word lists—phonics, phonograms/word families, contractions, prefixes, suffixes, roots, parts of speech, homographs, homophones, SAT challenge words; and a 32,000-word dictionary and spellchecker. Mac/Win CD-ROM; $30—one computer; $100—license, five computers; $175—license, 10 computers; $350—unlimited site license. Tom Snyder Productions, 800/342-0236 or http://www.tomsnyder.com/.

Life, the Universe, and Mathematics, for high school and up, explores the "elegant geometric laws" at work in the universe. Modules cover Labyrinths and Knots, Cosmic Geometry, Epicycles, Celestial Mechanics, Topology, Complex Polygons, Cellular Automata, and Life. Each contains a wide array of simulations and images, with drawings created using mathematical formulas. Simulations let users change the code for one-dimensional life, construct magic squares, and play with the eccentricity of ellipses. Students meet important figures such as Dante, Aristotle, Kepler, Newton, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking. Three-dimensional glasses are included for use with the animations. Windows only. $50, single copy price. Tool Factory, 800/220-8386 or http://www.toolfactory.com/.

Destination Math has been expanded to include two new courses for younger learners. The new courses, Mastering Skills & Concepts I: Pre-Primary Mathematics (K-1) and Mastering Skills & Concepts II: Primary Mathematics (Grades 2-3), are available in CD-ROM, local access network (LAN), and online formats. The two courses are also included in Destination Math 5.0, a curriculum program covering math for grades K-12. The 5.0 version features a new Learning Management System that includes student curriculum management, standards-based testing, instant reporting, and prescriptive assignments. Site license pricing begins at $10,000 for one course. Volume discounts and special bundle pricing options are available. Riverdeep, 800/564-2587 or http://www.riverdeep.com/.

Tools

Tool Factory Workshop Deluxe includes Tool Factory Workshop and three new titles: Branch (builds binary trees with text, pictures, and audio; students can sort data into logical structures), Draw (a vector-based drawing program), and Logo (uses the Logo computer language to introduce basic computer programming concepts). Tool Factory Workshop includes Word Processor, Painter (an art program), Spreadsheet, Database, Bank Manager (allows teachers to create, edit, and archive banks of clip art, sounds, videos, and words), and Administrator (customizes program settings for each class or student). Workshop Deluxe: CD-ROM, Windows only. $290—single copy. $2,900—network site license. Branch, Draw, and Logo are available separately at prices ranging from $50-70 for a single copy or $500-700 for a network site license. Workshop: Windows version includes all programs. Speech Facility not available on Win 95. Mac version does not include Bank Manager and Administrator. $200—single copy. $2,000—network site license. Tool Factory, 800/220-8386 or http://www.toolfactory.com/.

The Internet Coach Digital Photo Activity Kit for ages 7-adult is designed to help strengthen student writing skills, develop spatial relation skills, and promote essential technology literacy. The digital photo program includes 50 templates in seven activity centers that integrate photos, clip art, and Web images into a finished product. The Project Centers include a Writing Center, Movie Maker, Travel Center, Special Events, Craft Corner, and Picture Games. The Deluxe Edition of the kit includes a teacher's guide, two CD-ROMs, and digital camera that stores up to 80 images and features the appropriate software to transfer the photos to the computer. Hybrid Mac/
Win CD-ROM. $100—deluxe edition, with camera; $65—standard version, without camera. APTE, Inc., 847/866-1872 or http://www.internetcoach.com/.

Learner Profile 3.0, a database and reporting tool, and Learner Profile to Go 3.0, a data collection tool for Palm OS-compatible personal digital assistants (PDAs), have been released in newly updated editions. Learner Profile 3.0 now offers a full-featured integrated gradebook that automatically records students' observable grades. Teachers can enter and weigh homework, attendance, lab work, tests, quizzes, presentations, and extra-credit assignments to create one complete record of everything that affects a student's grades. The gradebook is linked to an attendance tracker where attendance can automatically be translated into grades in the gradebook.

Learner Profile To Go 3.0 now enables teachers to seamlessly upload data from their PDAs to desktop or laptop computers, provides a more organized presentation of observable data, and enables teachers to record data for multiple students at once. Mac/Win CD-ROM. Learner Profile 3.0—$400, single edition; Learner Profile To Go 3.0—$100, single edition; both titles together in a bundle—$450. Multiple user licenses and district licenses are available. Network and Web server versions are expected to be released in the summer. Sunburst Technology/ Knowledge Adventure, 800/321-7511 or http://www.sunburst.com/.

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