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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
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      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).
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      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.
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      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