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eNews: Professional Development Tips
Teaching & Learning with Kidspiration

May 2003

By: Ruta Puskorius, Tom Snyder Productions
On-Line Professional Development Manager

  
In our January 2003 issue of E-news, we wrote about using Inspiration software inside and outside of the classroom. Because of the success of that article, we decided to put resources together on using Kidspiration, a software tool specifically designed for students in grades K-5, also created by Inspiration Software, Inc.

Helping young children build strong thinking skills through visual learning is what Kidspiration is all about! This software program helps elementary students see, organize, and develop their ideas. While Inspiration is geared towards older students for brainstorming, planning, organizing, outlining, diagramming, and writing, Kidspiration is geared towards elementary students to help them with those same sorts of organizational skills, but on their level.

Using Kidspiration, students can brainstorm ideas with words and pictures, organize and categorize information visually, create stories and descriptions using engaging visual tools, and explore new ideas with thought webs and visual mapping.

But integrating the use of technology into the classroom curriculum can be a difficult task. Read below for some great ways to integrate Kidspiration into the life of your elementary classroom!

Use Kidspiration to present ideas!
Using the computer as a presentation tool, with Kidspiration, you can:

  • Make dazzling presentations
  • Illustrate ideas and concepts
  • Manage and organize information
  • Encourage student participation
  • Enliven demonstrations

For example:

Have your students use Kidspiration!
When students use Kidspiration at a learning station or in a computer lab, you will:

  • Go beyond reward and remediation
  • Provide access to information
  • Offer tools for organizing and manipulating data
  • Engage exploration in a compelling context
  • Display content in alternative forms

For example:

Use Kidspiration for your own personal productivity!
This organizational tool allows you to:

  • Manage grades and student information
  • Plan lessons
  • Generate tests, worksheets, and displays
  • Produce reports
  • Communicate with parents

For example:

Learn more about using Kidspiration in the classroom!
Visit the following Kidspiration resources on the Web:

On your own, try the following:

  • Download a sample version of Kidspiration found at Kidspiration Free Trial
  • Once you’ve downloaded the sample version of software, try a WalkThough, i.e., a software guide containing step-by-step directions, using Kidspiration. You can find one on our Professional Development Web site at Resources to Share with Teachers . Click WalkThroughs to find the Kidspiration WalkThrough.
  • Explore the Web resources provided
  • Share what you learned with others
  • Brainstorm how to integrate Kidspiration into your own classroom curriculum
Do you want to learn more about how to use Kidspiration software to improve teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms? Have us come to your school! One of our most popular workshops is Using Kidsiration© for Early Learning and Literacy.

The Tom Snyder Productions Professional Development Team specializes in developing and leading full-day and half-day workshops that are customized to help educators use technology to improve student learning. All of our workshop offerings meet the Professional Development Funding Requirements of No Child Left Behind and the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers. Please visit the Tom Snyder Productions Professional Development Web Site or call 1-800-342-0236 for more information.
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