Molly Carlberg

Software Evaluation

Title:  The Graph Club

Publisher:  Richard Abrams

Date Published: 1998

Platform: Mac and Windows

Content Area: The primary content area that is addressed in this software is Graphing.

Range of Grade Levels: This software would be appropriate for the lower Elementary (Kindergarten through second).

Content Description: The purpose of this software is for the children to become more familiar with graphing and math.  The children should be able to understand that there are many different ways to come up with answers.  The children can choose from one of the four icons at the beginning: Explore, Match, Create, or Guess.  Under each of these icons the children can work with graphs.  If the children explore they will be exposed to graphing in an open-ended environment.  They will understand what graphs are and why they are used.  The students will see that graphs tell a story about many different things.  If the child is in the Match Mode they will be challenged to understand how two graphs are a like.  The create mode allows the child to use their imagination by creating their own graphs, using any of the variety of icons provided.  The guess mode is used to challenge the child’s critical thinking skills and help them to understand that there are many answers.  They will be encouraged to brainstorm and come up with different ways to graph information.  There are many sample graphs and activities that the teacher can use to help their class become interested in graphing.

Instructional Type: Drill and Practice, Simulation, Problem Solving, Tutorial, Game, and Tool

Strengths: Under the Special Menu the teacher can set up groups that the students are working in and he or she can keep a file on their work.  The children can print their graphs so they can see it visually.  There are also certificates that the children are rewarded when matching the graphs correctly.  The children can visually see the variety of graphs (bar, pie).  There are many interesting examples for teachers to use for their class that will keep them interested and make it fun for them.

Weaknesses: One weakness would be that maybe when the children learn about graphing they should actually have to draw a graph (maybe with the teachers help) so that they can try and put it onto paper themselves. Maybe the computer could give the child directions and there could be a section for the child to hit a button and the children can check their graph.

This software would be a useful tool to add to a lesson about graphing.  This would be a quick way for the children to practice graphing and really grasp hold of the concepts and skills needed when graphing.  This program will make it interesting and fun for the children to enjoy graphing, rather than the teacher just lecturing or handing out worksheets about graphing.

I would use this software with my class because I think that it would be an easy and fun way for the children to practice and grasp hold of the concepts of graphing.  I think that this program will keep the attention of the kids and make them enjoy graphing.

I would rate this program as an 8 because I think that it shows the children a lot of different ways to graph data.  They can see how graphing shows a picture and tells a story.  They will begin to understand that you can learn a lot by looking at a graph.

“The Graph Club is OUTSTANDING!  It makes graphs understandable for students of all ages.  It’s fun!”

“At last!  Here is a truly flexible, easy-to-use, yet sophisticated ‘thinking’ resource for both learning and teaching.  As a learning resource, it’s perfect for individual and collaborative critical or creative thinking activities.  As a teaching resource, it supports all the essential elements of fine instruction both in and out of the math classroom.”
Molly Carlberg
February 13, 2002

Math Software Reviews
 

Math Waves Rates An A!
A Review of Sea School’s Math Waves

Jackie Wheeler
http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/school/html/reviews/mathwave.htm

I would be interested in this software because it uses fun objects that the kids love such as starfish, fish, and anchors as symbols for the children to count.  It seems that they would be interested in the pictures and get into the counting.  There are a lot of sound effects and little pictures that come on the screen to let the child know that they are doing a good job.  The incentives such as receiving gold coins, which go in a treasure chest, would seem to really motivate the children.  This program seems really easy to install and I think that it would be fun for younger children as well as rewarding.
 

Kids Explore the Wonderful World of Bugs
A review of Bug Explorers

Judy Pozar
http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/school/html/reviews/bugs.htm
 

I think that this software would be okay for the children.  It seems really animated and really exciting for the children.  This software would teach children a lot about insects and bugs.  A really cool thing for the children is the video that they can use to explore a bug in a particular habitat.  They can choose the environment they want to explore such as (rocks, water, air and woods).  Some bad points about this software are that it is slow and it may loose the attention of some students and there are no rewards for the children or any challenging games.  I think that it is overall a good program and it can be helpful to some children.

Millie’s Math House

Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited
http://www.riverdeep.net/products/early_learning/millies_mh.html
 

I would be interested to see how many skills that the children will grasp by using this software.  From looking at this review I don’t think that this program makes it exciting for the children to want to learn the concepts that they are exposed to in this program.  I would not want to use this software in my classroom, by looking at this review.