Blue Ribbon Reviews August/September 2005
By Linda Lindroth

Use these terrific software tools to help organize both you and your students during the new school year.

Kidspark
This great tool for younger students from Spark-Space gives students a mapping tool to organize their ideas and convert to a text document – all with a click of the mouse.

Easy to use. The opening screen is ready for ideas. Just click and type in each idea for a given topic. The Create Links button allows you to click on the main idea and then click the ideas you want to link to create an idea map. A Text View button converts the map to text as a modified outline with the main title and numbered elements under that. Just using these elements will enhance your curriculum – from sequencing to outlining activities in all content areas. Want to see both at the same time? Just click Windows/Tile Vertical in the Menu bar to see the views side-by-side – great for helping students organize their writing as they add details. Double-click any idea and a text editor window opens so you can type additional text and the text view updates automatically. Click the Image button and browse for a picture to add to the text.

Organize. To add images to the map, click on an idea to change, change the shape to IMG and then choose an image. The geometric figure changes to a picture or icon. To reorganize ideas, just move the ideas in the idea map view. It's easy to click and drag to rearrange ideas. Ideas then appear in the text view in a clockwise potion.

Visit www.spark-space.com for more information.

One More Story
One More Story is a colorful online library of children's classic and contemporary literature for children, ages 2-9. The book list contains 108 books with titles like Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats, Crow Boy by Taro Yashima, The Wedding by Eve Bunting and Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. Children choose a book to see the illustrations and have the book read.

Your students will really love the clever animations – mine do! A bookworm named Bendy guides students through the stories. The clear audio and dramatic voices are engaging for children of all ages. Students get a bookshelf filled with book covers where they can browse to hear the title, author and illustrator.

Once a title is selected from the bookshelf, the narrator reads the story while the words are individually highlighted. Click on Bendy to automatically turn pages or click on the arrow to turn pages manually. The Book Cover includes the copyright date.

Each story has delightful original music to enhance the narration. The narration uses different speaking voices for each character, making the dialogue realistic to help the reader identify characters. You even hear the birds in the trees and the sounds of the animals in the illustrations. What a marvelous tool for read-aloud!

Just click the I button for the ICanReadIt mode. The student can click on any word in the text to have it read which is excellent support for emergent readers.

Visit www.onemorestory.com for a tour of one book or call 800-252-5417.

netTrekker d.i.
Truly differentiated instruction is an apt description for this subscription product from Thinkronize, Inc. This safe search tool provides the teacher with an individualized, standards-based online search tool targeting different learning styles. netTrekker d.i. includes support for ELL/ESL, special needs students and above and below grade level readers.

Grade and readability level. The new netTrekker d.i. allows teachers and students to search more than 180,000 educator-reviewed web resources by readability level based on Lexile ratings, so each resource list can match the reading level of individual students. What a great tool for assigning resources for cooperative learning groups or Jigsaw activities!

Need more tools for differentiated instruction? A Dictionary Translation hotkey pops up definitions for vocabulary words in a resource. Challenge readers by selecting a readability level/grade level above and use the vocabulary links to help students read the unknown words. The words can even be translated for ELL/ESL.

Interactive timeline. View a prepared timeline for Elementary or Secondary, or type in your own dates to create a timeline for a specific class study. Each printable timeline is also interactive, with links to learn more about the events listed.

Image search. A new image database gives students safe access to pictures for class reports to meet the current multimedia demands. Search more than 60,000 pictures for curriculum-based images to use in lesson presentations or class research.

For more information, call 877-517-1125 or visit www.netTrekker.com.

Pupil Pages
This online solution for an e-portfolio for students grades K-12 lets students create an online portfolio of class work that moves with the student from grade to grade. Each portfolio can be customized for easy navigation to showcase student work.

Management tools make it easy to upload pictures and scanned artwork, presentations, movies, PDF files and documents from anywhere with an Internet connection. Parents can review student work, teachers can assess from home and the Pupil Pages can be downloaded to a CD to send to colleges, etc. The archive is password-protected and allows for student reflection – there is even a blog link – as well as feedback from teachers and classmates. Not to be missed is the potential for teacher portfolios for professional development.

Visit www.pupilpages.com or call 888-203-4704.

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Linda K. Lindroth is Technology Editor and Web Coordinator for Teaching K-8. She is also a Technology Resource Teacher in a K-5 computer lab in Lexington, KY.

Updated September 2009
August/September, 2005. Volume 36, No. 1