Blue Ribbon Reviews October 2006
By Linda Lindroth

Give your social studies curriculum a real boost with online maps, and extend your study of geography and culture for Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) with software for English Language Learners.

Maps 101
Visit www.maps101.com and sign up for a free trial. The subscription service has more than 4,000 quality maps available for use online. Many of the maps can be printed for use in small groups in the classroom. Map collections include History Map Sets, Thematic Map Sets for states and countries, K-3 Maps, Interactive Maps (press play for animations of Civil War battles, or click map key to see highlighted areas in dozens more) and Current Events maps (two weekly features: Geography in the News and Map of the Week). A Reference Atlas includes detailed facts and figures for countries and states, with an extensive glossary.

Mapping is easy with online maps from Nystrom.

This comprehensive map resource also has more than 200 lesson plans to support map study and geography in the classroom. Games, quizzes and daily and weekly current events make it easier to assess student map skills and achieve mastery of geography standards. It's even easy to access state standards using the Standards tab.

Map kit from Nystrom. Don't miss this free offer! Click on the Nystrom link to request a free trial and your own copies of Nystrom desktop maps to use in a "maps center" for National Geography Week in November. Laminated samples include a raised relief map, political map, states and communities maps and a world map.

Visit www.maps101.com or call 800-621-8086 to learn more about this rich online subscription. Be sure to sign up for the Maps 101 newsletter. $579 a year.

Look, Listen & Speak
Evan-Moor does it again with their K-3 English Language Learners "Look, Listen, & Speak" series. Their focus is always on student learning, but their talent is in making it easy for the teacher to use.

Each interactive CD title includes an 80-page theme-based book with reproducibles for the activities on the CD, vocabulary in context based on a curricular theme, strategies for teaching the concepts and 48 full-color picture cards. The cards can be used with the multimedia activities on the CD as well as in vocabulary activities.

The CD-ROM includes an audio e-poster. Scroll over pictures to hear the pronunciation of vocabulary words and see them used in a sentence. There are stories, songs and electronic games to reinforce the vocabulary and concepts.
For more information and a list of the 10 theme-based titles (my favorites are At the Mall and My Family and Me), visit www.evan-moor.com or call 800-689-1262 formore information and a complete list of titles. Win/Mac $29.95 per title.

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