Year Long Project Multimedia Workshop Software Reviews

• 500 Nations
• Cinemania
• Creative Writer
• Dangerous Creatures
• Dinosaurs
• Encarta
• Explorapedia-World of Nature
• Fine Artist
• How the Leopard Got Its Spots
• Magic School Bus - Solar System
• Magic School Bus - Human Body
• Musical Instruments

Software Title: 500 Nations

• Use with a unit on Native Americans and American History. Children could use it to do research, compare and contrast tribes. The storytelling section is particularly meaningful because you get to hear first hand accounts, hear music, see pictures, and read text all at once. (Excellent program - provides information not available in books.)
• Lots of fun stuff, stories, history, and information. Could be used in social studies units and could also be used in a storytelling unit of language arts instruction.
• My mini-unit is on Native Americans and I can't even begin to record all the ways I would use this program. One thing I would like to emphasize and encourage is the children's understanding of the position of the Native Americans and this does such a wonderful job of providing this. I'm so excited about this I can't organize my thoughts, but I'll let you know what I've done.

Software Title: Cinemania `95 & `96

• Reference material for current topics (fun, but not very educational)
• Cinemania has a lot of possibilities in the classroom. Great to supplement literature. I think it would be interesting to compare the scenes in the book to the scenes shown on the computer.
• Use it for history of cinema, to explore the senses, use a clip as a story starter and have students write an ending, research project on an actor/actress, have them use drama to reenact the scene in their own way. (Combo of pictures and sound is great and fun to experiment with.

Software Title: Creative Writer

• Great to use with language and literacy development. The child could develop their own stories and create wonderful drawings. Very useful for the classroom (Great Christmas present!)
• Make a newspaper or something about what they learned. Can be difficult to use or confusing. May be conducive to playing (wasting time).
• Write different stories and illustrate them with sounds and pictures. I got confused on how some of the things worked.
• Can be used for all subjects. Good for making cards for the holidays, banners, and newspapers. Lots of classroom potential.
• Write a report for social studies or science using the picture show as illustrations. Students would need help learning how to use the tools, but once learned, it can be fun.
• Use for creative writing subject matter for descriptive paragraphs or as a story starter for orally telling or writing a story. Great for writing newspapers. Use as an enrichment/motivation tool. Easy to use, but does need beginning Mac skills. Has an attractive format, variety of activities to motivate, draw commands for illustrations, and a save command for storing work for later completion.
• Use for Art, literature and social studies. Children would love to use this as a finishing touch for illustrating and typing their final drafts for any subject matter. Difficult to correct details.
• Use for writing, revision, proofreading, and publishing. For a unit in communication you could make newspapers. You can also use it in a social studies unit on politics, in elections you could make banners and buttons with campaign signs. You could also write newspaper articles pro/con for candidates. There is so much that the kids could do with it and learn more about computers in a fun and user friendly way.
• The writing is small. Some directions are confusing. It took a while to get the hang of it.
• Kids need to know how to read and write to use this program. Use to create a class book about a topic or theme. Hard to use - lots of instructions children have to read. The symbols should have written captions as well. Sometimes you can't really tell what it is used for. Colorful and interesting looking characters keep children's attention.
• Use for advertisements or publicizing school activities. The software offers clear directions so students who can read could learn how to use it on their own.
• Can be used in almost any unit as a culminating activity or in free time. Easy and fun to use.
• Use this program in a poetry unit. In discussion of form and ways to visually enhance your poetry. This program can do fun things with what you write (putting a car poem in the shape of a car. This program does not teach how to write creatively, but it really generates ideas and gets kids to enjoy playing with works. It also is good about showing the steps of the writing process in the menu. Printouts are really cool.
• In teaching a mini-unit on mystery, it could create a neat beginning. Fun software.
• In any unit, students can write about what they learn. This allows the children to make this writing very creative. This program makes writing fun and interesting for the children of all age groups.
• Create invitations, cards and banners for an end of unit party or festival. Kids need to know how to read to use this program.
• The icons are a little unclear, but otherwise the program is designed to tell the user exactly what to do and how to use it. I had a lot of fun with it.
• This is a fun way to get children to write. There are so many activities to do and things to see. The program is very user friendly. The pictures clearly describe the functions of the program. The sound effects and screen actions would keep the students' interest at a high level.
• Use this program to publish books, write stories, and as an incentive for writing. User friendly. We aren't used to being guided by pictures, so it took us awhile to catch on.
• Use with language and literacy, arts, and projects. Great for anything involving writing and art. Really cool program!

Software Title: Dangerous Creatures

• Use in a science unit on animals in the savanna, desert, and swamps.
• Use as a reference for "my habitat project", all wildlife units, ecosystems, and free choice times. (It's Great!)
• The program provides many opportunities for research on wild/dangerous animals. It requires mature viewers, but 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders would find it exciting and enlightening. You could use it in an animal theme or in the study of certain countries or biomes, because the program allows you to search through those areas.
• Can be incorporated in drama, music, social studies, and science. Use this program on a unit with the ocean, desert, grassland, or any habitat. (We really got into this, we feel students would too!)
• Even younger students can click and listen, if reading skills are emerging. Any study of animals could benefit from this program. Use this program on a unit with oceans. Can also be used to develop listening and writing skills as well as studying communities of animals.
• This program is extremely informative. The audio reinforcement would engage the students. This program could easily be used in an animal unit. The students can use the disc to research an animal, its habitats, and the animals of a particular region. Students would learn a great deal from looking at movies, hearing sounds, and reading the information.
• Very complete and informative. Colorful, interesting, includes short clips. Easy to use with clicking on particular animals. This could be integrated into a unit on animals very easily and used as a research resource with plenty of information.

Software Title: Dinosaurs

• Students could preview program to check out possible topics for a research project on dinosaurs - very interactive!
• Use as information that children could research and write about or orally present to the class. It can be used with a wide variety of age groups because it has great pictures, written and spoken words.
• This program is very detailed and offers a lot of different categories of dinosaur-related topics to explore. It would be a great help to teachers in simply giving them practical background information.
• It would be interesting to learn about dinosaurs through technology rather than textbooks all the time. The dinosaur movies with their graphics and sounds are fascinating.

Software Title: Encarta

• There are a lot of wonderful pictures and important information about each subject. For younger grades, the children can focus on pictures and sounds and the older kids could use it for research. One of my units involves a time line of transportation. The students could use this program to look up information and see some great pictures.
• The visual graphics drew us in and captivated us. The information was useful and could be applied to a classroom situation. We found an article on bats. Some of the information was on echo location which is a specific lesson I am teaching.
• Mind Maze has challenging questions, colorful graphics, realistic and important topics, and a point system. You could use the Mind Maze with any unit.
• Would be great for listening to sound bites of famous orators when preparing speeches. Another quick way to get more references for a research project. Narrows topics - awesome! Can see text, view pictures and hear sounds (great for animal research). Some of the games (Mind Maze) can be a great review for tests of any subject.
• Encarta has a neat program on world languages that would make learning a new language fun. This program is great.
• The section on sports figures had lots of information on famous athletes. We also went to the section on musicians. Children could research their favorite sports star or musician and share their information with the rest of the class.
• Pictures, sounds, and information are wonderful, but it gets fairly difficult and complicated. I love how it is updated so often. Great resource.
• The media gallery (photos and music) would be great to get children interested, especially with music other than popular, like classical that they may not have much exposure to.
• Good for grades 4 and up. Need to know something about computers to use it.
• The material was an encyclopedia, therefore, the language was complex and can be used by high school students. I would adapt information to use in the classroom. The pictures can be printed - I printed a picture of an amoebae engulfing a paramecia - they love amoebas!
• Encarta can be used in any unit as a reference for both students and teachers. The pictures are great. If you had a color printer, I don't think you would ever need a book. There is a lot of reading for primary ages, grades 4 and up would find it very easy to use.
• The world music section can be used to learn about a musical instrument and hear a selection of music. The program as a whole can be integrated into a social studies unit on different cultures or common topics in cultures.
• We found information on Native Americans and oceans for our mini-units. We thought the program was a bit too slow, but useful. We can print out information to supplement our facts for our units. We can also print out maps and make into transparencies to illustrate some of our lessons.
• It's neat, but it doesn't give much information about each topic. The timeline would be really useful to help kids understand a timeline and find information about history. Media shows pictures and has sound and text. It's nice to have sound because that is not something easy to come by.
• We looked at Egypt and Native Americans. There is a ton of information including folk songs and traditional music. This program can be used in front of the class to let students hear songs and look at pictures and the teacher can share the information. Children can then explore on their own for more information on the culture or subject.
• I had a difficult time trying to figure this program out. I quickly lost patience with the program.
• We looked at World Music which describes various instruments. You can even hear the rhythm. This program would be great for dance, music, and social studies. We could discuss the different instruments and where they come from. We could listen to the instruments and compare the different sounds. We would talk about the different countries that the instruments came from. We can make our own instruments, dress up, and dance to the music.
• Great way to get information at your fingertips. I prefer Bookshelf though. Encarta can be used for any unit. It would be great to have them do research and use a multimedia program and have to print off a source for them.

Software Title: Explorapedia-World of Nature

• Use in science lessons on amphibians and other animals.
• Supplement to science lessons. Use in a science center. Have students view the program and write a reaction card: I like..., I have learned... (Children will enjoy this program. It will motivate them to learn more.)

Software Title: Fine Artist

• Make buttons for social studies or science. They could also make buttons to sell for a business and work on budget. Can be incorporated into many different lessons and depending on the grade level and objectives, it can be modified to suit your purposes.
• For a unit on government, make campaign buttons. For a unit on the environment, make slogans. The students would really have fun with this.
• This program can be used in art, language, geometry, and science.
• Have children write a story about something they are learning.
• Use this program to illustrate stories, make report covers, teach artistic perspective (drawing terms - i.e. vanishing point), make comic strips about a topic. Kids would love the icons - teachers love the content.
• Create a cover for a report, or a comic strip on a topic of study. Can help incorporate perception into a child's artwork.
• Helps a child get practice drawing, print out to use as an illustration for a story. Could also be used for covers of books and to help teach art terms. Fun for kids - some of the program might be a little complex for the younger grades. Good to help children become computer literate.
• I love the graphics and the things you can make - like stickers. You could save a lot of money in materials cost from this program.

Software Title: How the Leopard Got Its Spots

• Use this to research an author such as Kipling. Use on a literature unit or in a social studies unit on South Africa - very informative (Great enrichment tool in children's literature!)
• This program can be integrated into a unit on South Africa. Specifically, children can learn about the different animals, the culture, and the language.

Software Title: Magic School Bus - Solar System

• Kids would enjoy Ms. Frizzle - can be used along with a discussion of the planets.
• Use in a unit on the solar system. Gives interesting facts - fun and easy for kids to understand.
• Information about planets and their location in relation to the Earth, and what the planets are made from. Good resource, easy way for students to learn to use a computer. (neat graphics, hard to understand, confusing directions)
• Perfect for a unit on space.
• Allows children to explore the solar system in a fun and interactive way. Great to incorporate into a unit on space or anything revolving on the world.

Software Title: Magic School Bus - Human Body

• Matching the mouth movements to certain sounds - would help students speak more clearly (Cool!)
• Cool, but I couldn't figure it out. Good for a unit on food and nutrition.
• Use to instruct the students on what happens in the human body.
• Gets kids interested in learning about these topics - great motivator.
• Use in a unit on the human body in science. There are so many facts to be learned. This would be a great center. Every time you use the program, the experience would be different. (A little confusing to use to get where you want to go. It is not as user friendly as I thought it would be, but informative and the graphics are terrific. Everything does something.)
• Extra way to familiarize student with the body. Fun way to explore these concepts as an extension from classroom work.
• This is a good program for teaching the human body or senses. It is very good for teaching a student how to use computers in a fun non-threatening way.
• Easy to use, fun way for kids to learn more, can use as an extra activity when kids are done with their other work.

Software Title: Musical Instruments

• Use this program to highlight the similarities and differences of the instruments
• This would be great to use with students when studying instruments. Best of all, the students would have an opportunity to hear instruments that the teacher could not bring into the classroom.
• Use as a learning resource for a unit on musical instruments and their respective families. Can be used as a part of a geography lesson to explore why certain countries had certain instruments based on natural resources. Can also be used with a unit on sounds. The children could hear what kinds of instruments make what sounds.
• Tells the history of musical instruments and countries where they are most used. Good for teaching music families and sounds of instruments (Very interesting!)