PUBLISHED IN LIMA NEWSLETTER MARCH 1992 REVIEWS OF TI EDUCATION MODULES by Phillis Peyton, grade 5 classroom teacher reprinted from IUG NEWSLETTER September 15, 1982 ---------- READING ROUNDUP The Reading Roundup module provides instruction and practice in three reading skills: figures of speech, work meanings, and idioms. While the stories are written simply enough to be read by a student in third grade, the skills are sophisticated enough to challenge a sixth grade student. The module could be used to provide remedial help for a student in junior High School without making him feel that he must read juvenile material. [BB&P EDITOR'S NOTE: The next two paragraphs provide a good description of the general structure of most of the READING modules, including the 1983 "rare" cartridges.] Two activities are provided for each skill. The "Study it" activity provides instruction through examples presented in a colorfully illustrated story. The student's rate of reading will not be a factor contributing to his success or failure at learning the skill. He is allowed to pace himself, pressing "enter" when he has had ample time to finish reading the material on the screen. In the "Study It" activities for each skill, the student is given opportunities to respond, but scores are not tallied. A correct response causes an appropriate signal such as "Right" to flash on the screen. The signal is accompanied by a catchy melody. Incorrect responses result in an opportunity to make a second choice or, by pressing "Aid", to reread the material and then try again. a second incorrect response causes the correct answer to be shown to the student. The student is allowed to learn to improve his reading skills without fear of failure when he makes a mistake or is learning by trial and error. The "Try It Out" activity for each skill contains paragraph length stories and allows the student to type in a character's name, thus personalizing the stories for him. The name will appear in each of the stories in the activity. At the conclusion of the activity, a score is shown. The figure of speech taught in Activities 1 and 2 are similes and metaphores. Both are used to show comparisons and are common literary techniques used to cause the reader to form a mental picture. Similies use the word like or as. Examples of similies are: 1. He is as gentle as a newborn deer. 2. The kite soared like an eagle. Metaphores form the comparison without the words like or as. An example of a metaphore is: What a railroad engine of an ox! The student is expected to learn to tell what two things are being compared and how they are similar. The words "simile" and "metaphor" are not used in the module. In activities 3 and 4 the student is shown how to use context clues to determine the meanings of words that are unknown or have multiple meanings. It is not always possible or even desirable to stop and use a dictionary every time wi encounter an umfamiliar word or a familiar word used in a new and different way. The ability to use context clues is an invaluable aid to reading with comprehension. Activities 5 and 6 give the student an opportunity to learn the meanings of some common idioms that our English language is so full of. "Sitting on pins and needles" is an example of an idiom used to indicate nervousness. Many adults do not realize the difficulty a child can have in understanding the figurative language that he hears and reads. The young child's language is completely literal -- He means what he says, and he says what he means. Since our language makes use of so many idioms, the knowledge of their meanings can result in higher comprehension scores for the student. All three skills are combined in activity 7 as a culminating activity. The four lengthy stories all follow a "Western" theme accompanied by appropriate music in keeping with the title of the module -- Reading Roundup. I highly recommend its use for improving reading skills, particularly by the student in the intermediate grades (4-6). ---------- DIVISION 1 Division 1 command module created by Scott Foresman and Company for Texas Instruments will be an invaluable aid in the classroom as well as in the home. Because it is a complete text on division facts, its use will cover a wide range of ages and levels of ability. Division is commonly introduced in grade three, and the facts are reviewed through grade six. Grades three through six, then, are the levels at which this module will be used most extensively. It will also be useful to challenge a younger gifted student and as a remedial tool for those students above sixth grade who have not achieved mastery of division facts. The nine activities available for selection are: 1. Meaning of Division 2. Divisors of 1, 2, and 3 3. Divisors of 4, 5, and 6 4. Divide using |-- (the division sign) 5. Practice and Paint 6. Divisors of 7, 8, and 9 7. How many boxes? 8. Divide With a Remainder 9. Make a Picture The activities proceed in sequence from the least difficult to most difficult. Each activity may be worked independently of all others. However, the ability to work successfully at each activity depends upon the mastery of skills that have been introduced in the preceding activities. By working through Activity 1 the student will receive an excellent explanation of what actually happens during the division process. This writer has known students who had memorized division facts and still lacked an understanding of the concept of division. The explanation on the module is made without using the words "divide" or "division", and without using either of the signs normally used to work division problems. In Activities 2 and 3 the use of the sign / (the "division sign") and the number sentence form are introduced. When the working form is introduced in Activity 4, using the vertical format and the sign |---, the transition is make simple by showing both forms and actually moving each number from the number sentence to its proper position in the new format. The relationship between multiplication and division is stressed in Activity 6 by showing a "check" in which the divisor and the quotient are multiplied. an incorrect answer causes the complete multiplication table for that divisor to be displayed on the screen. The concept of remainders is illustrated in Activity 7 by evenly grouping and having "leftovers". The word "remainder" is used in Activity 8 and the working form is shown. The student learns to give the quotient and the remainder. At the onset of each activity the student may choose to see one or more excellent teaching examples. Exceptions to this are Activities 5 and 9 because they were designed to be checkup activities. The illustrations on the computer screen are more effective than even very attractive textbook illustrations. The book's pictures are stationary, while items on the screen may actually be repositioned to show the grouping process. The learner receives a simulation of using manipulatives, a concrete approach required by many children efore they can proceed to more abstract learning. Through the use of the voice synthesizer the student hears the equation as he sees what is taking place. The result is that he is receiving information in three modes: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. By involving all of these senses in the learning process, retention chances are much greater. DIVISION 1 is sure to be a popular and enjoyable aid to learning. ---------- READING FUN Reading Fun is Scott Foresman's reading skills module for the younger child in the primary grades. The module contains four illustrated stories accompanied by musical background. At the onset of each story three words that are possibly new ones for the student are shown on the screen. The child may, by pressing the number next to any of the words, hear it pronounced and see it used in a sentence. When the word appears later in the story, he may receive the same help by pressing "Aid". The first rthree stories provide instruction in one skill each. After the child has had several opportunities to respond to questions in a non threatening way, he is invited to try out what he has learned. he is then given a series of ten questions over some short passages of reading. At the conclusion of the activity, the child's score is shown. If he responded correctly on the second try, he is given credit for a correct answer. He has the opportunity to look at the text of the story again before he attempts to correct his answer. The first story deals with problems and how people solve them. The child learns to identify the problem from a list of three possibilities. He also selects the solution that was used in the story. The second skill is labeled "Why things happen." Educators usually refer to it as the ability to distinguish cause and effect. Thirdly, the child learns to watch for clues that tell how characters feel. He must know the meanings of some common words that describe people's feelings, moods, and emotions. Some of the words used are: tired, happy, angry, and upset. The answers to some questions are stated directly in the story. Other questions such as, "How did Ann probably feel?" require that the child draw some conclusions or use some inference skills. The fourth story allows the child to use what he has learned about all three skills. Questions asked are: What is the problem? What caused the problem? At this point the child is asked to pick one of the three main characters to solve the problem. He is given a choice of three different actions that character might take in attempting to solve the problem. After his choices have been made, he is told, "Now let's see what happens next." the text of the story continues according to the child's choices and he can then see for himself whether or not he has chosen wisely. He may try as many of the nine possible solutions as he desires. By choosing possible solutions to these problems, a child can begin to learn to predict the outcomes when certain courses of action are taken, and to think about the possible consequences for actions that people take. These and the other skills dealt with in the module are feferred to as reading skills. having mastered them, a child will almost certainly become a better reader. They might be more appropriately named, however, as thinking and living skills. .PL 1