Kidspiration

Κατασκευαστής: http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration

Κατηγορία: Εννοιολογικοί Χάρτες – Μαθησιακές Δραστηριότητες

Αναπηρία: ΔΕΠΥ – Τύφλωση – Μαθησιακές Δυσκολίες – Αυτισμός – Χαμηλή Όραση – Δυσλεξία

Using visual thinking methodologies, Kidspiration provides a cross-curricular visual workspace for K-5 learners. Students combine pictures, text, numbers and spoken words to develop vocabulary, word recognition, reading for comprehension, writing and critical thinking skills.

Kidspiration works the way students think and learn and the way teachers teach. As students make visual connections, they build fundamental skills in reading, writing, math, science and social studies. Kidspiration offers activities in all curriculum areas, so students use visual learning naturally and confidently.

Kidspiration helps students:

• Develop strong thinking skills
• Strengthen reading and writing skills
• Build conceptual understanding in math

Kidspiration^® supports success across the curriculum

Develop Critical Thinking Skills
Strengthen Reading and Writing Skills
Build Conceptual Understanding in Math
Educator Developed Resources Support Curriculum Integration
Easy Navigation and Simple Operations Support for Every K-5 Learner
Teacher Options Keep Students Focused on Learning
Support for ELL and ESL Students
Kidspiration Whiteboard Support

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Develop Strong Thinking Skills

With Kidspiration, students use graphic organizers to express thoughts and explore ideas and relationships. They create graphic organizers including webs, concept maps and Venn diagrams to clarify thoughts, organize information, apply new knowledge and build critical thinking skills.

3,000+ symbols in Kidspiration’s Symbol Library provide visual support for concepts taught in K-5 language arts, social studies and science. Students can also import symbols from other sources. Symbol Search helps students search and find just the right symbols to express their thoughts and ideas.

• Symbol Maker sparks creativity and anchors meaning. Students use familiar paint tools to create and personalize their own symbols to use in their graphic organizers.

• Kidspiration’s SuperGrouper^® supports students as they sort, group and classify objects and ideas. A favorite for students and teachers alike, SuperGrouper containers are used to synthesize and analyze ideas.

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Strengthen Reading and Writing Skills

With Kidspiration, students create, organize and explain ideas and information visually. They develop stories and descriptions using engaging visual tools and explore new ideas with thought webs and maps. Using Kidspiration, students combine pictures, text and audio to develop comprehension, organize ideas and create stories.

• Integrated Picture and Writing Views connect students’ visual thoughts with written expression in a single click. In Picture View, students develop thought webs and other graphic organizers. In Writing View, they expand their ideas into written expression. As they visualize, plan and organize, students build essential skills and confidence in reading and writing.
• Visual continuity between Picture View and Writing View links images with written expression. When students click from Picture View to Writing View, they see symbols from their graphic organizers, reinforcing the connection between words and their meaning.
• Kidspiration pairs symbols and words to build and strengthen literacy. Emerging readers and early learners use Kidspiration symbols and graphic organizers to communicate stories they’ve heard and ideas they develop. Older students use symbols to explain more complex ideas, show relationships and demonstrate understanding.
• Kidspiration Word Guide supports vocabulary and reading comprehension with easy access to nearly 13,000 words. It includes sight vocabulary from the Dolch and Fry word lists and aligns with TESL vocabulary to support ELL and ESL students. Each entry includes definitions, recorded speech for pronunciation, synonyms and antonyms, parts of speech and sample sentences. Word Guide pairs 1,400 words with images to enhance word recognition and comprehension.

• Audio support includes longer recording time to encourage students to express and document their ideas. Teachers enjoy greater flexibility when recording instructions and comments. For ESL and ELL learners, teachers can record instructions in native languages to enhance student understanding. With the Listen tool, students can hear any text read aloud, strengthening word recognition and comprehension.
• Ready-made reading and writing activities support phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, word recognition and comprehension as they build students’ writing and literacy skills.
• One-click transfer to word processors lets students easily export their work to applications such as Microsoft^® Word, Scholastic Keys^® and Appleworks^® to expand upon projects and assignments.

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Build Conceptual Understanding in Math

Kidspiration extends the proven principles of visual learning to mathematics with visual math tools. Combining the hands-on learning power of manipulatives with all the added benefits of computer interactivity, Kidspiration’s math tools help K-5 learners grasp essential and sometimes challenging math concepts.
Visual Math Tools
Kidspiration’s five visual math tools focus on the core conceptual foundations of counting, place value, computation and geometric thinking.

 

Kidspiration Color Tiles™
Students use Kidspiration Color Tiles to count and compare, explore properties of number and operations, and develop computation strategies. With Kidspiration Color Tiles, students learn to solve area and perimeter problems and model number patterns and the four basic operations.

• Color tiles are squares with no quantity limit, so students work with numbers large and small and visually grasp math concepts.
• Tiles are easy to drag and drop and can “snap” together automatically as students manipulate them to build models and patterns.

Kidspiration Pattern Blocks®
Students use Kidspiration Pattern Blocks to investigate the properties and attributes of shapes through composition and decomposition. They produce patterns and tessellations, explore similarity and congruence, experiment with symmetry and represent fractions.

• Pattern blocks are moveable, stackable geometric shapes with side lengths and angles that snap together automatically. It’s easy for students to make shapes and patterns. With Kidspiration Pattern Blocks, students build a foundation for spatial reasoning as they focus on concepts rather than the details of re-sizing or alignment.
• With the Rotate tool, students experiment with rotating shapes and explore how different shapes stack and fit together.
• Using a line displays and reinforces the concept of symmetry.

 

Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks®
Students use Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks to understand place value and strengthen number sense. With Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks, they count, compare, group, partition and create equivalent representations of whole numbers and decimals. Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks also introduce students to procedures for operations on multi-digit numbers.

• Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks are units of ones, tens, hundreds and thousands. Students “make and break” blocks to compose and decompose multi-digit numbers.
• The Place Value Mat provides a visual structure for students to compare, order and generate equivalent representations of numbers. This visual framework helps students understand procedures such as carrying and borrowing.

Kidspiration Fraction Tiles™
Students use Kidspiration Fraction Tiles to compare and order fractions and to understand equivalent fractions. They find common denominators, translate between improper fractions and mixed numbers, and model basic operations with fractions.

• Kidspiration Fraction Tiles are stackable, pre-sized rectangles in fractions from 1 to 1/12.
• Tiles can snap together automatically to help students compare fraction values, build wholes and see the concept of equivalent fractions.
• Fraction labels turn on and off to meet activity requirements.

Kidspiration Fraction Boxes™
Students use Kidspiration Fraction Boxes to represent fractions visually to build a strong conceptual foundation for future work with fractions. Students compare, order, simplify and find equivalent fractions. They use Kidspiration Fraction Boxes to model basic operations with like and unlike denominators. Kidspiration Fraction Boxes also introduce students to improper fractions, mixed numbers and representing word problems.

• Kidspiration Fraction Boxes are a dynamic fraction building tool using denominators up to 36. To build fractions, students set the number of parts and use colors and patterns to represent “parts of a whole” clearly. Students align boxes to model numbers greater than one and to compare fractions.
• Students change denominators with a simple click to find equivalent fractions and identify common denominators.
• Students move tiles within the fraction box or to another box with a compatible denominator to show equivalency.
• With the Subtraction tool, learners represent subtraction operations visually and logically.

The right features and functions make Kidspiration math tools easy to use

• Kidspiration Math SuperGrouper® helps students count, sort and show operations visually. Teachers and students label Math SuperGroupers as a conceptual building block for word problems.
• Math Text Boxes document math operations using words, numbers and structured frames. The Math Text Box supports writing fractions, division problems and vertical math notations.
• The Step Workspace shows progression of work with a sequential work area to document steps while problem-solving.
• The Cross-Out Stamp gives students a visual indicator to use when they mark, take away or remove items.
• Multiple pages in a document streamline workspace management.