resources update issue 35

• The Foods you Eat
• Granny's Garden
• Maths Made Easy 4
  
  

• Mathspace
• Reading and Writing Stories
• Careerscape Multimedia

The Foods you Eat
DAB Computing

Mathspace
Collins Education

The CD provides a reasonably priced, useful database of information on a wide range of food and food types. It can be used by students to analyse their own diets, or to compare the nutritional values of other diets. It can also be used as a database for vitamins listing, where they are found, signs of deficiency and why they are needed.

A useful aspect of the program is the assessment of body weight based on age, height and size of the students. Example simulations are given so that personal details need not be entered by pupils to whom this might be a sensitive issue.

Using the software enables teachers to encourage pupils to use different sources of information. It encourages pupils to be discerning in their research, and the information gathered could be displayed in a variety of different formats.

Mathspace is a complete Numeracy resource which enables the teacher to plan a balance between the computer and traditional paper based work. It provides a fun and colourful platform with over 200 activities covering the National Numeracy Strategy. These are complemented by a differentiation pack which provides a comprehensive range of support, practice and extension worksheets also referenced to the Strategy objectives, which can be individualised, helping with detailed assessment.

The instructions on the set-up and use of the software are clear and can be used with the whole class, in small groups or individually.

The CD is ideal for independent use as children receive consolidation and reinforcement according to their individual needs. The software also has the potential to be used during both the mental/oral and plenary sessions when used in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard or digital projector.

Granny's Garden
4Mation

Reading and Writing Stories
Immersive Education

Granny's Garden is a lively modelling and problem-solving program designed to promote thinking skills and collaborative working. The program's graphics and animation are captivating and include ingredients of fairy tale genre that are still exciting and stimulating for primary school children.

Children have to rescue the King and Queen of the Mountains and their six children, with the help of the raven and his magical powers, moving up the levels, as they solve the problems.

The program is versatile and can be used on either standalone computers or networked. Worksheets can be downloaded incorporating characters and scenes from the adventures.

The publishers suggest that attainment targets in speaking and listening, reading and ICT are supported directly by the software.

Reading and Writing Stories is aimed at Years 3 and 4 but could be adapted for different year groups at different times and is based on the traditional storyboarding approach. Pupils use props, texts, characters, backgrounds and sound files to create pictures, storyboards, animations, movies, comics, hand-outs and magazines.

The highly visual nature of the software makes it fun to use and will motivate pupils to engage in creative writing. The 3D characters; the engaging backgrounds; extracts from famous authors and the use of sounds make story writing exciting. The versatility of the software allows for pupil differentiation and could be used to support the less able or to stretch the gifted and talented pupils in the class.

The title also comes with an extensive education pack to support teachers with classroom use.

Careerscape Multimedia
Cascaid Ltd

Maths Made Easy 4 is described as a fully interactive educational CD-ROM which covers space, measurement, problem solving and number. The 112 activities relate closely to the National Numeracy Strategy objectives and good use is made of the appropriate vocabulary. These activities can be used on this individual basis monitoring children's progress or used with a data projector to provide a whole class input or demonstration.

There are six games or mathematical challenges. These are differentiated to make more able children think carefully, and allow more time for the less able. Because the activities go through problems in great depth, (there are good visual and oral supports) most children pick up the concepts well.

Overall the software has proved to be very useful and the format has been suitable for the children.

The CD contains a database of information for 1800 different jobs. It is a useful source of reference for students who are beginning to look at the world of work as part of the pastoral curriculum in years 9 and 10. Older students would find it useful to have free access to the data, in a library or careers base.

All jobs are illustrated and the details can be printed or bookmarked for future reference. 340 of the most popular choices have case studies linked to them and 200 have video clips. In addition there are 60 screens of general information about all aspects of employment, education and training with salary and labour market details updated regularly.

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