Now Even Adults Can Use Kidspiration

Teacher Created Materials, an educational publishing company founded by two classroom teachers, has designed a TechTools Resource Kit to help teachers master Kidspiration, visual learning software for students in kindergarten through grade five.

Kidspiration, a product of Inspiration Software (www.inspiration.com), won't take the place of a teacher but it will help kids refine their thinking skills and organize their thoughts using visual mapping—a technique that connects one idea to another sequentially, or in branching shapes. "It is a great program that I see as a pillar in any technology program," says John W. Blaser, a technology integration specialist at Eastchester (NY) High School.

Priced at $295, the TechTools Resource Kit provides educators with creative and exciting lessons to integrate thinking skills into their classroom curriculum. The kit includes 60 projects accompanied by detailed lesson plans, student activity pages, rubrics, scoring sheets, and Web and multimedia resources. A CD-ROM contains clip art, photographs, audio clips and visual clips that kids can insert into their projects. Students can use the kit's materials in the classroom or on their own. The 100 "How To" cards contain answers to common questions students have about using Kidspiration, complete with instructions for both Windows and Macintosh systems.