Inspiration Software Launches New Lesson Plan Book for Helping Primary Students Use Visual Learning to Understand Critical Maths Concepts

Lessons in “Kidspiration in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual” Offer Teachers Creative Strategies for Building Firm Foundation in Fractions, Geometry, Other Core Numeracy Skills

PORTLAND, OR – May 21, 2008
Teachers will have creative lesson plans for helping young learners use visual learning to build conceptual understanding in maths with today's launch of "Kidspiration® in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual." [1] Developed to support primary teachers as they use the new maths tools in Kidspiration 3, this addition to Inspiration Software's library of lesson plan books includes 30 lesson plans. Created by Inspiration Software®, Inc. [2], Kidspiration 3 supports pupils ages four to ten as they build conceptual understanding in maths, strengthen literacy skills and develop thinking skills across the curriculum.
 

Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software, says "When primary teachers combine the new visual maths tools in Kidspiration 3 with the lesson plans in 'Kidspiration in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual,' they will have a powerful tool for helping pupils master key mathematical concepts and build thinking and reasoning skills."

Lessons in "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual" focus on core content strands, including number and operations, algebra, measurement and geometry in ways that promote the development of problem-solving, reasoning and communication skills. Each easy-to-use lesson includes suggested grade levels, standards alignments, step-by-step instructions, assessment ideas and ways to adapt the lessons to differentiate instruction.

Launched earlier this year, Kidspiration 3 extends the proven principles of visual learning to mathematics with five visual maths tools. Like the lesson plans in "Kidspiration: Maths Made Visual," Kidspiration's visual maths tools address number and operations, measurement, algebra and two-dimensional geometry. They include:

• Kidspiration Colour Tiles™: Pupils use Kidspiration Colour Tiles to count, compare and explore number properties and operations and develop computation strategies. Using Kidspiration Colour Tiles, pupils solve area and perimeter problems and model number patterns and the four basic maths operations.
• Kidspiration Pattern Blocks™: With Kidspiration Pattern Blocks' moveable, stackable geometric shapes, pupils investigate the properties and attributes of shapes through composition and decomposition. They explore patterns and tessellations, similarity and congruence, experiment with symmetry and represent fractions.
• Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks™: With units of ones, tens, hundreds and thousands, Kidspiration Base Ten Blocks help pupils understand place value and strengthen number sense. Pupils count, compare, group, partition and create equivalent representations of whole numbers and decimals as well as learn about procedures for operations on multi-digit numbers.
• Kidspiration Fraction Boxes™: Using Kidspiration Fraction Boxes, a dynamic fraction building tool, learners represent fractions visually to build a strong conceptual foundation for figure work with fractions. They compare, order, simplify and find equivalent fractions.
• Kidspiration Fraction Tiles™: Pupils use Kidspiration Fraction Tiles to compare and order fractions and to understand equivalent fractions. They find common denominators; translate between improper fractions and mixed numbers, and model basic operations with fractions.
   

This new lesson plan book for Kidspiration joins "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Reading Essentials," [1] with lessons focusing on the essential components of effective reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and content literacy.

 
Single copies of both "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual" and "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Reading Essentials" are available in single and volume licences. Contact a local dealer [3] for pricing information. Sample pages from "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Maths Made Visual" can be downloaded at www.inspiration.com/Resources/kidspiration_intl [1].
 

A 30-day free trial of Kidspiration 3 can be downloaded at www.inspiration.com/global/freetrial [4]. For more information, call +1 503-297-3004 or visit global dealers [3] to find a local dealer.
 

About Inspiration Software, Inc.
Recognised as the leader in visual thinking and learning, Inspiration Software, Inc.'s award-winning software tools, Inspiration®, Kidspiration and InspireData^®, are based on proven visual learning methodologies that help students think, learn and achieve. With the powerful combination of visual learning and technology, pupilslearn to clarify thoughts, organise and analyse information, integrate new knowledge and think critically. Founded 25 years ago by Donald Helfgott and Mona Westhaver, the company's visual learning software tools are used today by more than 25 million students and teachers worldwide.