Suzi Cottrell
Columnist EdNews.org
Education Software Review

Fold and Say A to Z and More; Fold and Say Basic Concepts Mini Books; Fold and Say Word Families; EEEs Into Writing; Webber Interactive; Webber Interactive;  Auditory Memory High; Category Cut

Review for Fold and Say A to Z and More Mini-Books
By Suzanne L. Cottrell
Super Duper Publications has produced Fold and Say A to Z and More Mini-Books to help children learn and practice beginning consonants, vowels, blends, diagraphs, and diphthongs. The book contains 66 reproducible activity books, books with which students can practice letter skills through the creation of a book that they colored and practiced the writing of the letters. The booklets take one letter size sheet of paper and are small and easy for little hands to handle. The booklets contain letter practice and words that begin with each letter. Each word is accompanied by a cute picture that the students can color. Also included in the book are letter cards that students can use to create words, match lower and upper case letters. At the back of the booklet is a blank template for the teacher to use to create other books for student practice as well as certificates for rewarding student success.

Included with the workbook is a CD-ROM that contains all the contents of the workbook. The CD-ROM is easy to navigate because startup is automatic upon insertion to the drive. It contains directions for using the CD-ROM on the disc. All the pages of the workbook are on the disc for ease of printing.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Review for Fold and Say Word Families Mini-Books
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Super Duper Publications has published a workbook with 75 reproducible Activity books. Each book is a chance for students to practice the most common word families. The booklets are illustrated with fun pictures that can be colored by the students. Practice writing words in each family is also included. At the end of the workbook letter cards for more practice combining words are available as well as certificate for commending the students on successful efforts.

Included with this workbook is a CD-ROM to display and print all the pages in the workbook. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to use the CD-ROM, but the disc opens automatically when inserted. Once the disc is open, instructions for using the contents are immediately available.
For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Review for Fold and Say Basic Concepts Mini Books
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Fold and Say Basic Concepts Mini-Books, produced by Super Duper Publications is a research-based approach to teaching students important basic concepts in an easy, fun way. The book contains 108 reproducible activity books containing concepts that are assessed in the Wiig Assessment of Basic Concepts and taught in the Webber Basic Concepts Instructional Activity Program. Each booklet introduces a concept and gives picture representation of examples as well as non-examples of the concept. The booklets contain a final activity page for students to draw the concept in a picture reinforcing understanding of the concept. There are booklets for colors and shapes, location and direction, emotions, and many other concepts. At the back of the booklet is a blank template for the teacher to use to create other books for student practice as well as a mastery checklist and certificates for rewarding student success.

Included with the workbook is a CD-ROM that contains all the contents of the workbook. The CD-ROM is easy to navigate because startup is automatic upon insertion to the drive. It contains directions for using the CD-ROM on the disc. All the pages of the workbook are on the disc for ease of printing.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Review of Webber Interactive "WH" Questions Level 1: Sentence-Based Activities
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Super Duper Publications has produced an interactive CD-ROM to help early childhood students practice and learn to answer "WH" questions (who, what, where, when, and why).The program, called Webber Interactive "WH" Questions Level 1: Sentence-Based Activities allows young students to answer questions about hearing and/or reading a sentence.It allows students to practice on each type of question individually as well as mixed practice.The teacher can change the level of difficulty to include having the sentence read to the student or not, having two answer choices or four, and having sample questions to practice before beginning the session.The teacher can track the student progress with printable records.

The CD-Rom is easily installed by placing the disc in the CD-ROM drive and following the on screen instructions.The graphics are fun and colorful, very appealing to young students.Students will find it easy to navigate through the program with simple point and click options.

All in all, this program is a great way for students to practice answering "WH" questions individually causing language and vocabulary development.Many hours will be spent by students participating in the 375 questions/answer activities.Teachers can use this program as a whole class instructional activity or in a center situation, both of which will stimulate students and cause them to want to participate.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Review of Webber Interactive "WH" Questions Level 2: Story-Based Activities
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Super Duper Publications has produced an interactive CD-ROM to help early childhood students practice and learn to answer "WH" questions (who, what, where, when, and why).The program, called Webber Interactive "WH" Questions Level 2: Story-Based Activities allows young students to answer questions about hearing and/or reading a story.It allows students to practice on each type of question individually as well as mixed practice.The teacher can change the level of difficulty to include having the story read to the student or not, having two answer choices or four, and having sample questions to practice before beginning the session.

The teacher can track the student progress with printable records.Students can also build stories by listening to the 24 stories and answering the questions with five answer choices, increasing the difficulty level yet again.Students can participate in an interview, giving personal information, after which a book called "All About Me" is created about them.The students can then print the book to read at a later date.

The CD-Rom is easily installed by placing the disc in the CD-ROM drive and following the on screen instructions.The graphics are fun and colorful, very appealing to young students.Students will find it easy to navigate through the program with simple point and click options.

All in all, this program is a great way for students to practice answering "WH" questions individually causing language and vocabulary development.Many hours will be spent by students participating in the activities and building stories.Teachers can use this program as a whole class instructional activity or in a center situation, both of which will stimulate students and cause them to want to participate.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Reviewof Preschoolers at Play! Building Language and Literacy through Dramatic Play
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Super Duper Publications' Preschoolers at Play! Building Language and Literacy through Dramatic Play is a guide for teachers of young children offering many ideas for building skills through dramatic play.The importance of play in the learning of young children is often overlooked.Play develops such skills as social, relational skills, cognitive development, problem-solving skills, and communicative skills.Research shows the importance of play to early development, and this book gives many suggestions for building themes into a dramatic play center and offers ideas for props, related literature, vocabulary development, and reading and writing opportunities supported through dramatic play.The book includes play props such as tickets for the airport, labels for museums, street signs, and price tags for the department store.All these props promote imaginative play and learning.

Also included with the book is a CD-ROM that contains all the pages in the book.The props described above can be located on the CD-ROM and printed in black and white as well as in color.The disc is easily navigated as the directions appear on the monitor upon insertion in the drive.Directions for using the CD-ROM appear instantly and the navigation through the pages of the book is easy.

Overall, this book is well organized and will be a useful tool to any preschool, or early childhood teacher.A detailed description of the benefits of dramatic play and the research is found at the beginning of the book and detailed instructions for use of the book are included at the beginning.Each theme is laid out in an easy to read format with all important information labeled with titles and subtitles.This book helps teachers make dramatic play a powerful learning tool.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Review for Category Cut-ups Bocabulary Building, Classifying, and Describing Cut and Paste Activities
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Category Cut-ups, Vocabulary Building, Classifying, and Describing Cut and Paste Activities produced by Super Duper Publications is book full ofcut and paste activities that teach and reinforce the building of student's vocabulary through activities that encourage practice classifying and describing in an easy, fun way.The book contains 300 different vocabulary pictures to reinforce word building, describing, sorting and classifying skills in reproducible activity sheets.Categories include foods, animals, transportation, clothing, things around the home and school, occupations, and seasons.The activities are varied to include puzzles, cut and paste matching, coloring of pictures, and webbing of concepts.At the back of the book is a you will find certificates for rewarding student success.

Included with the workbook is a CD-ROM that contains all the contents of the workbook.The CD-ROM is easy to navigate because startup is automatic upon insertion to the drive.It contains directions for using the CD-ROM on the disc.All the pages of the workbook are on the disc for ease of printing.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737

Reviewof Auditory Memory High-Interest Quick Stories
By Suzanne L. Cottrell

Auditory Memory High-Interest Quick Stories produced by Super Duper Publications is an interactive CD-ROM that contains high interest stories that are meant to develop auditory memory skills in young children.The stories include six colorful illustrations that are often labeled and correspond to the questions that will be asked at the end of the story.There are several levels for the student to progress through, allowing students to develop their skills as they remember more and more information received as they listen to the story.The students can answer the questions after each page, after three pages, or listen to entire story before answering the questions.Additional options allow the teacher to customize the presentation of the story to meet the needs of individual students.

The CD-ROM is easily navigated as the directions appear on the monitor upon insertion in the drive.Directions for using the CD-ROM appear instantly and the navigation is easy enough for students to follow using point and click operations.Auditory Memory High-Interest Quick Stories includes a companion workbook with reproducible versions of all the stories and pictures.There are also eight additional questions and summary sheets for each story.

Overall, the CD-ROM and book are well organized and will be a useful tool to any teachers in the development of listening skills for their students.Students will enjoy listening to the story and looking at the colorful illustrations at a computer station in the classroom and the teacher can track the progress of the students through progress reports printed from the computer as the students move through the stories.With the ability to maintain records of student progress and interest students to build memory, this program makes a great skill building tool that would benefit any early childhood classroom.

For more information go to www.superduperinc.com or call 1 800-277-8737