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Use Visual Learning to develop strong thinking skills
Kidspiration®
builds thinking, literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum. K-5
students use visual tools combining pictures, text, numbers and spoken
words to develop vocabulary, word recognition, comprehension, reasoning
and problem solving skills.
Develop strong
thinking skills
Students use Kidspiration's visual tools to express thoughts and
explore ideas and concepts.
3,000+ symbols in Kidspiration's Symbol Library
provide visual support for concepts taught in K-5 Language Arts, Social Studies
and Science, making Kidspiration a valuable cross-curricular tool. 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.
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| The Link tool
connects ideas and shows relationships. |
| Hyperlinks enrich
Kidspiration activities and projects. Students and teachers can hyperlink to
web pages from symbols, notes and links.
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. |
Strengthen reading and writing
skills
With 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.
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| 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. |
| 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. |
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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's 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. |
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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.
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| Ready-made reading and writing activities
support phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, word recognition and
comprehension as they build students' writing and literacy skills.
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| 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. |
Build
conceptual understanding in math
Students build number sense and spatial reasoning and
understand the meaning behind the four basic operations while
communicating their thinking with words, numbers and math symbols.
Visual Math Tools
Kidspiration's five visual math tools focus on the core conceptual
foundations of counting, place value, computation and geometric
thinking. They combine the hands-on learning power of manipulatives with
all the added benefits of computer interactivity, helping students grasp
essential math concepts.
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.
| 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.
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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.
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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.
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| Students move tiles within the fraction box or to
another box with a compatible denominator to show equivalency.
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| With the Subtraction tool, learners represent
subtraction operations visually and logically.
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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. |
| Step Workspace
shows progression of work with a sequential work area to document
steps while problem-solving. |
| 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.
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Educator-developed resources support curriculum integration
Kidspiration includes curriculum content, teacher tools and
standards-aligned lesson plans in Language Arts, Math, Science and
Social Studies developed specifically for grades K-5, along with 150+
activity templates.
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150+ quick start activity templates give teachers
classroom-ready resources and provide a launching pad to customize and
create lessons for individual learners, small groups and the whole
class. |
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Tutorials provide a fast effective way to introduce
teachers to visual learning with Kidspiration so they're successful
from the start. |
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Teacher Resources Online provides additional lesson
plans and activities.
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Easy navigation
and simple operations support every K-5 learner
Sophisticated technology makes Kidspiration's capabilities easy and
barrier-free for K-5 learners. Kidspiration's visual workspace invites
students to explore, think and create naturally, intuitively and
independently.
| Visual Toolbars
are colorful and intuitive for easy navigation so students experience
success right from the start. |
| Talking Interface
supports each toolbar function with clear audio, so students who are
emerging readers can navigate easily and fluidly. |
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Support for Higher Resolution Monitors and Windows®
Vista®
Kidspiration now supports higher resolution monitors with a larger
visual workspace (1024 x 768 resolution). Kidspiration is compatible
with Windows Vista. |
| Support for ELL and
ESL Students
Vocabulary building is critical for ELL and ESL learners in grades K-5
for reading and writing proficiency, the core of academic success.
Kidspiration uses proven visual learning strategies to build students'
vocabulary and English comprehension with the integrated Picture and
Writing Views, the new Word Guide, longer audio recording capacity and
expanded symbol search and libraries. ELL and ESL students will also
benefit from Kidspiration's emphasis on developing and using
independent strategies, such as pictorial representation of thoughts
and concepts, and sight vocabulary lists in Word Guide, which align
with Fry's Instant Word List, Dolch Word List and TESL vocabulary.
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© 2006 Strategic Transitions® All rights reserved.
Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without
express written permission
of Strategic Transitions® is prohibited.
Tel: 1 (905) 726-2853 Fax: 1 (905) 726-2856 or
Toll Free 1(800) 726-7784 Anywhere in North America
e-mail sales@strategictransitions.com
©2006 Inspiration Software, Inc. RapidFire™,Site
Skeleton™,Kidspiration™,SuperGrouper™,The Leader in Visual Thinking and
learning™
and the Inspiration and Kidspiration design marks are trademarks of Inspiration
Software® Inc.
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