Kidspiration - Getting Started

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Kidspiration - Getting Started

• Anastasia Trekles
• Purdue University Calumet
• Trekles_at_calumet.purdue.edu

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What is Kidspiration?

• Concept-mapping and visual learning software
• Helps students
• Brainstorm
• Make connections between ideas
• Develop understanding of concepts
• Outline and plan
• Kidspiration is for grades K-5

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Ideas for Use - Language Arts

• Outline and gather resources for papers
• Understand letters, sounds, sentence construction
• Match vocabulary words to pictures
• Put vocabulary words into categories
• Create digital stories and detail concepts of
  literature and story construction

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Ideas for Use - Social Studies

• Create timelines of events in history
• Associate names to pictures or audio of
  historical places, people, or events
• Create flowcharts and organizational charts to
  illustrate government concepts
• Identify symbols and resources related to
  different cultures and nationalities

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Ideas for Use - Science

• Categorize animal and plant species
• Illustrate the parts of the human body
• Provide illustration to explain the periodic
  table of elements
• Create models of the Solar System and the
  universe, with hyperlinks
• Detail lab procedures and findings

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Ideas for Use - Math

• Illustrate and lead students through formula
  steps
• Visually demonstrate concepts like fractions,
  making change, many more
• Categorize numbers and math symbols
• Relate mathematical concepts to the world around
  us

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Getting Startedhttp//education.calumet.purdue.ed
u/Tutorials/kid1.htm

• Two modes - Pictures (diagram) and Writing
  (outlining)
• As you create in one mode the other is
  automatically formed
• New documents can be opened in either mode
• You can also choose from various built-in
  activity templates in many subject/topic areas

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Picture Mode
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Picture Mode Basicshttp//education.calumet.purdu
e.edu/Tutorials/kid2.htm

• Click in a node to type ideas
• Click Add Symbol to make new ideas
• Use Link Symbol to connect them any which way
• Use SuperGrouper to set up containers for
  pictures for conceptual grouping
• Erase erases any selected idea
• Undo lets you go back to the previous step
• Listen makes the computer speak words typed
  onscreen when they are clicked
• Student Name lets students put their name on
  their work
• The Symbol Maker lets kids draw and paint

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Symbolshttp//education.calumet.purdue.edu/Tutori
als/kid2.htm

• The Symbol Library at the left contains lots of
  clipart for use in your Pictures view
• Select any node in the diagram and choose a
  picture and it will replace the current node icon
• Pictures can also be dragged from the library
  palette anywhere into the document

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SuperGrouperhttp//education.calumet.purdue.edu/T
utorials/kid4.htm

• SuperGrouper lets you create exercises where
  students group or categorize objects by dragging
  pictures into the Picture view area
• Any symbol can be a SuperGrouper but clicking the
  tool will give you some pre-made options too

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Writing Mode
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Writing Mode Basicshttp//education.calumet.purdu
e.edu/Tutorials/kid3.htm

• Click Go to Writing to move to outline mode
  click Go to Pictures to go back
• Text-only mode use Add Idea to add new topics
• Use Left and Right to demote or promote outline
  items
• Erase, Undo, Listen, and Student Name work the
  same as in Pictures mode
• Publish sends the work to Micorsoft Word or
  Appleworks

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Font and Symbol Colorshttp//education.calumet.pu
rdue.edu/Tutorials/kid2.htm http//education.calu
met.purdue.edu/Tutorials/kid3.htm

• Font and appearance can be changed at the bottom
  of the window in both Picture and Writing modes
• The tools vary slightly between modes there are
  more options in Picture in order to modify
  onscreen symbols

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Converting to Other Formatshttp//education.calum
et.purdue.edu/Tutorials/kid5.htm

• Kidspiration 2 can convert Pictures to PICT, GIF,
  JPEG, and HTML Writing outlines can be exported
  to plain text, AppleWorks, Word, and HTML
• Click File and choose Export to export a file
• Remember that the view you are looking at when
  you choose Export will be the view that will be
  exported

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Goodies and Extrashttp//education.calumet.purdue
.edu/Tutorials/kid6.htm

• The Goodies Menu contains
• Option to change background color and paper
  colors for Writing view
• Spell Checker
• The Sound Menu contains
• Recording features add speech to any symbol
• Voice lets you choose the voice used by the
  computer to speak

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The Teacher Menuhttp//education.calumet.purdue.e
du/Tutorials/kid7.htm

• Teacher Menu must be enabled to be used can be
  password-protected
• Contains special options including
• Creating new activity templates
• Adding Hyperlinks to URLs on the Internet
• Editing the Symbol Library
• Locking items on a diagram so that they cant be
  changed (good for templates)
• Other program options

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The Teacher Menu
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Importing Your Own Symbolshttp//education.calume
t.purdue.edu/Tutorials/kid8.htm

• Click the File menu and choose Import a Graphic
• You can import any GIF, JPEG, or PICT file on
  your computer to make it part of the Kidspiration
  diagram
• The Teacher Menu can also let you edit the symbol
  library and import or paste in graphics and
  arrange them in categories

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Help and Resources

• Inspirations website http//www.inspiration.com
• TechHelp Tutorials site http//education.calumet.
  purdue.edu/Tutorials
• Examples and more goodies from our ICE 2005
  workshop http//education.calumet.purdue.edu/Tuto
  rials/ICE/Inspiration

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Help and Resources

• Some general Inspiration templates
  http//technology.usd497.org/ctr/Inspiration.htm
• Suggestions for Inspiration use in the classroom
  http//www.bcps.org/offices/oit/PDF20Files/Inspir
  ation_Use.pdf
• Teachers using Inspiration http//www.lakelandsch
  ools.org/EDTECH/Inspir.htm

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Help and Resources

• Many more Inspiration/Kidspiration examples
  http//www.spart5.k12.sc.us/TechTraining/Inspirati
  onMatrix.htm
• Stacis website (download this presentation as
  well as lots of other stuff) http//education.cal
  umet.purdue.edu/Faculty/trekles