You can try out a free trial of the software at: http://www.inspiration.com/
What is Kidspiration?
Created for K-5 learners, Kidspiration® uses the proven principles of visual learning to strengthen reading and writing skills, build conceptual understanding in math, and develop thinking skills across the curriculum.
Use these examples and resources to help you start using Kidspiration with confidence and creativity.
Watch the Quick Tour – MOVIE
For examples of HOW one might use Kidspiration in Social Studies, Math, Science and Language Arts, please visit the resource page on the Inspiration website. Or SEARCh the examples and lesson plans database.
Can I use this with my SMART Board?
YES!! See the tutorial – http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Kidspiration - scroll down to the Interactive Whiteboard Support under the OVERVEIW section at the bottom.
Curriculum Applications
Scroll down to the list at the bottom of this page, http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Kidspiration and you will see a heading called Curriculum Applications. Each listing under this heading contains a quick movie that explains how to use Kidspiration across the curriculum.
April 21, 2010
Family Tree Project Using Inspiration
Download the sample family tree ZIP file here. This includes the Inspiration file (see screen shot) and several pictures of people to use in the creation of a sample family tree. FamilyTreeFiles.zip
Open up a new diagram and have students list off all of the members of their families that they will be including in their web. Do this without rapid fire because they can create links later to represent family relationships. Simply have them click on the canvas in a new spot and type a name. Repeat until all family members appear on canvas. Now have students arrange the family members into family groupings. See the screen shot as an example.
Once everyone is in the correct position, students can click on the the person they want to link to someone else. Once their “bubble” is selected, they can click on create link and then click on the “bubble” they want to link to. The link arrow should be placed between the two bubbles. Arrow direction can be changed using the icon at the bottom. If you click on a link line, in the middle of the line you can type the relationship between the two people.
To insert pictures of specific people that the students may have, select EDIT and then INSERT GRAPHIC. Browse to where the file you want is saved. Once the file inserts, you can click on it to resize it to the size you need. You can also click on the image and type in a name below the image.
The files in the .zip file can be used to try this out. Once the kids udnerstand how it works, they can take their own digital pictures of family members or scan some from family albums. If family members have blogs or other websites, students can link to them through their tree.
FACEBOOK is a great place for student to get pictures of their family members. Often students will have family pictures already uploaded to FACEBOOK. They can easily cut out people’s faces to serve as images in their family web – as done above in the sample.
April 20, 2010