Alyssa+Losoya

Education Software Reviews Speedstudy: English Grammar
 * 1) This software will help students understand and learn how to apply grammatical principles. It does this with study aids, interactive quizzes and lessons. This software was designed for students age 10 and up, which will be useful in a junior high classroom and can act as an interactive review for high school students.
 * 2) This software falls into the categories of tutorial and drill and practice.
 * 3) I would integrate this into a junior high Language Arts classroom. I would use it to test students on their knowledge of grammar and let them use it as practice in between testing.
 * 4) I think the biggest strength is the interactive quizzes and the multitude of lessons. The biggest weakness is that it uses sound, which could disrupt students not using the software.
 * 5) This program costs $9.95 from [|www.learningthings.com] and the system requirements are:
 * Mac OS 8.5—9.2, OS X Classic mode
 * 266 MHz processor or faster
 * 32 MB RAM
 * 100 MB free hard disk space
 * SVGA monitor, 256 colors
 * 4X CD-ROM drive

Grammar Made Easy QuickStudy English Spelling
 * 1) This software focuses on teaching parts of speech and sentence structure through games and is made for students age 9 to 14.
 * 2) The software category this program falls into is instructional game.
 * 3) I would integrate this software into free time in a Language Arts junior high classroom or an English 9th grade classroom. I would have students who are struggling with grammar use the software to practice and meet the expected standards. This software will be useful in keeping the students well practiced in the rules of grammar.
 * 4) The strengths of this program are the games, which will keep the students interested in the lessons and the progress reports that teachers can view. The weaknesses are that it is geared to the younger students so it could be too immature for students in the higher grades. I think it would be most useful in a 6th or 7th grade classroom.
 * 5) This program costs $14.95 from [|www.softwareforkids.com] and the system requirements are:
 * Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 * Pentium II or faster
 * 512 MB of RAM
 * 800 x 600 monitor, 16-bit color
 * Sound Card and speakers
 * CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
 * 1) The purpose of this software program is to help students learn to spell and can help their vocabulary. The appropriate grade level and subject are grades 6th and up in an English or Language Arts class.
 * 2) The software category this program falls into is instructional games.
 * 3) I would be able integrate this program into my spelling and vocabulary lessons. Students will also be able to use the program to practice if they find themselves struggling. I can also integrate it into writing lessons to help expand their vocabulary in their own writing.
 * 4) The biggest strength of this program is that it uses games to teach and this will keep students interested in spelling. The biggest weakness is that there is no way to keep track of what the students do and there are no progress reports.
 * 5) This program costs $14.95 from [|www.softwareforkids.com] and the system requirements are:
 * Windows 98SE, Me, XP, Vista, Windows 7
 * Pentium II or faster
 * 32 MB RAM
 * 170 MB free hard disk space
 * SVGA monitor, 256 colors
 * Sound card & speakers
 * 4X CD-ROM drive

Punctuation Made Easy
 * 1) The purpose of the software is to teach students to understand how to punctuation properly. The recommended ages are 9 to 14 years old.
 * 2) This software program falls into the instructional game category.
 * 3) I would incorporate this into a Language Arts junior high classroom during the writhing unit. This will help students use the proper punctuation in their writing. They can use the software during free time when they find themselves struggling with punctuation. This software will also be useful throughout the year to be used for review during free time.
 * 4) The strengths for this program is that it uses games to teach and the games will keep students interested and therefore they will pay closer attention to the material. The weakness is that it has no progress reports and does not have any way to see what they student actually completed.
 * 5) This program can be bought for $19.99 from [|www.avanquest.com] and the system requirements are:
 * Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
 * Pentium II or faster
 * 512 MB of RAM
 * 800 x 600 monitor, 16-bit color
 * Sound Card and speakers
 * CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Write It
 * 1) The purpose of this software program is to give students a guide on how to successfully research, write, review, and revise papers. The appropriate grade level for this program is 9th to 12th grade and should be used in an English classroom.
 * 2) This program falls into the tutorial category because it is teaching the students how to preform each step of the writing process.
 * 3) I would integrate this program into the writing unit, when students reach the part of the unit where they will actually write their own paper they will be given a chance to use this program to show them the proper steps used in writing a successful paper. This will be successfully used in a high school English class.
 * 4) The biggest strength of this program is that it is on the internet so it can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection and students have a direct link to different sources that they can use to help their writing. The biggest weakness of this program is that you cannot trust all the sources it uses because so many people have access to this program therefore specific information needs to be double checked.
 * 5) This program is free and is offered by Scholastic. The web link to it is: [] and the only system requirement is internet access.