Key words: Curriculum Materials, General Information, K-12
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 1996 14:50:50 EDT
Reply-To: A Practical Discussion List Regarding Deaf Education
Sender: A Practical Discussion List Regarding Deaf Education
From: Cathy Brandt Subject: A Software Review
Comments: To: edudeaf@UKCC.uky.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list EDUDEAF Today my kids used the program National Inspirer for the first time. It was
actually a bit tough at first to learn the specific rules. But, they did
wonderfully and enjoyed it lots. They'll be now doing this more independently
as a part of their Exploration & Discovery Time.
This has been a great way to bridge our Geography unit of last month with
our Transportation of this month.
Here's their synopsis:
National Inspirer demands that students visit states that are the major
producers of important natural resources in the country. Because they are awarded
more points for visiting the larger producers, the students are compelled
to seek out and become familiar with the distribution of resources. As they
move further into the game, this knowledge becomes increasingly valuable
as part of their strategy-building for future moves. For instance pupils
might want to end a turn in a relatively resource-poor part of the country
since that might put them at a disadvantage for the next round.
My interpretation of that:
Students are given a state of origin and two resources which they must collect.
They then must travel through ten contiguous states ending in a state which
meets a specific criteria (such as population, elevation, size). Students
use paper maps which come with the software to work off line as a team. Once
they have traveled and collected resources they go to the computer to
work through the exercise and total their points.
Great combination of off and on line work. Great resources. Very interactive
for the children.
The computer is NOT the focus. It is only ONE part that motivates and enables
the children to use the maps and work through the exercises.
I'd recommend it for fourth and fifth or even sixth graders.
Cathy
Uploaded by: Melissa Close/Kent State University/Deaf Education Major