New Kidspiration Lesson Plan Book Helps Teachers Use Visual Learning

Elementary teachers can help students start as early as kindergarten to learn the importance and process of writing well with today's launch of "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Writing Essentials" from Inspiration Software, Inc. As the most recent addition to the company's series of lesson plan books for using the visual learning tools in Kidspiration 3 to help students in grades K-5 build thinking skills, this book joins "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Math Made Visual" and "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Reading Essentials." Written by educators, all three books provide practical ideas and easy-to-follow directions that encourage student learning and thinking.

Created by Inspiration Software, Kidspiration 3 supports students in kindergarten through fifth grade as they build conceptual understanding in math, strengthen reading and writing skills and develop thinking skills across the curriculum. For a limited time, schools that purchase a Kidspiration computer-license lab pack will receive the complimentary Lesson Plans and Training Tutorials Bonus Pack. This special offer, available through Nov. 26, includes schoolwide licenses for all three "Kidspiration in the Classroom" lesson plan books and up to a six-month subscription to Atomic Learning's more than 110 Kidspiration training videos with the purchase of a five-, 10- or 20-computer license for the visual learning software.

"Communication and critical thinking skills are identified as two of the most essential 21st century skills," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "When teachers use visual learning to teach young learners the writing process, they are building strong written communication skills as well as the problem-solving and thinking skills that are so important in our ever-changing world."

"Kidspiration in the Classroom: Writing Essentials" is designed to teach students the complete writing process and includes standards-aligned chapters and lessons on prewriting, drafting and revising, editing and publishing, in addition to forms of writing. Lesson topics include: planning for writing, revising drafts, exploring different genres of writing and developing catchy titles. The book also includes references to suggested reading materials and other resources for teaching students the nuances of quality writing.

The new book's companion lesson plan book for building literacy skills, "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Reading Essentials," includes lessons for grades K-2 focusing on early literacy and the essential components of effective reading instruction, such as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary and comprehension. Developed to support elementary teachers as they use the new math tools in Kidspiration 3, "Kidspiration in the Classroom: Math Made Visual" includes 30 lesson plans that 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. All lessons are aligned to National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards.

Single copies of the lesson plan books are $29.95. Volume licenses for individual schools, available in an easy-to-share, electronic format, are $199. Sample pages from the books can be downloaded at www.inspiration.com/kidsclassbook.