Mathletics (Website)
[3P Learning (866) 397-9139]
   
         Mathletics' goal of providing targeted adaptive practice, including instruction and assessment of K-12 Math, is achieved through its delightfully simple and effective website design. Students and teachers will find a "Console" which provides access to comprehensive content and interactive activities.
         The Student Console: After the child logs in and chooses an avatar, the Console is accessed, and contains age-appropriate content, with self-directed videos, reasoning and problem solving activities. The CCSS and TEKS-aligned materials include pre-assessments, post-assessments, and interactive/animated activities. A help button provides step-by-step instruction, and is available if the child needs a review of basic concepts in order to complete an activity. There is also the option of making lessons easier or harder, accommodating differentiated learning styles.
         Additional activities include Live Mathletics (real-time interaction with global peers), Bonus Games in the Enrichment Zone, and an Interactive Dictionary. Animated Songs are a delightful way to learn the times tables, and students can check rewards and certificates earned from mastering concepts.
         The Teacher Console: Valuable tools, reports and learning resources are available to monitor progress and better provide differentiated and focused learning activities. Centered in the Console are large buttons to access key areas: Classes (manage, add/remove, move students); Courses (explore and assign from a huge library of nationally-aligned curricula); Results (a cornerstone tool which also highlights potential areas of development); Reports (a one-stop-shop for viewing key data); Assessments (assign standard benchmarking tests and track student performance); eBooks (teaching and learning resource); Demonstrations (a student interface which is useful for interactive whiteboard use); Toolkit (browse all available multimedia content); Lessons (create multimedia lesson plans; implement interactive whiteboard).
         Mathletics is a joy to use, and the lessons lend themselves easily to remediation.


PEG Writing (Website)
[Measurement Inc. (919) 683-2413]

         Ask any English Language Arts teacher what will improve writing skills the most, and the answer will be: Practice, Practice, Practice (and in the next breath, bemoan the mounds of nightly papers to correct). But PEG Writing, winner in the category Middle School: Writing & Composition Website, has the solution.
         PEG Writing is an elegant, robust platform that delivers individualized writing instruction and instant feedback via an innovative artificial intelligence and advanced statistical mechanism.
          Fully aligned to Common Core Standards and web-based, PEG Writing is customizable, and gives teachers the freedom to manage rosters, access student reports, track progress, and view student portfolios while it takes care of the "heavy lifting" of providing instant feedback and suggestions for improvement  (those mounds of nightly papers).
         Students using PEG Writing are provided with writing prompts, animated tutorials, pre-writing activities with graphic organizers, and a unique Peer Review feature, "Two Stars and a Wish," where peers offer the writer two strengths of his/her work plus one suggestion for improvement.
         And, while PEG Writing won a BESSIE Award for Middle School, it can be used from upper elementary through high school.  And many an ELA teacher can finally free up time in the evenings.