New BlackCat program turns teachers into professional ICT designers21 September (SETT 2005, stand A20) – Primary tools publisher, BlackCat, will today launch a new CD-ROM designed to help teachers create interactive whiteboard activities that look as professional as any pre-packaged content. Literacy Activity Builder enables teachers to create a range of Foundation Stage to Key Stage 2 Literacy activities (such as gap fill, multiple-choice, matching games and sorting) using a set of template-based tools. The program then automatically generates professional content, saving hours of preparation time and allowing teachers to meet their own class’ specific learning needs. Using nine activity frameworks, teachers are guided ‘wizardstyle’ through the creation of literacy activities for specific use on the interactive whiteboard. With the click of a button, the program turns teachers’ pre-prepared content into professional looking interactive whiteboard activities that can be used as part of the Literacy lesson in full class teaching, as well as with groups and individuals. Jenny Darby, BlackCat’s primary publisher, said: “Literacy Activity Builder is designed to help teachers use ICT in the Literacy lesson but without letting the technology get in the way! Packed full of lesson ideas and clip-art, it gives a professional finish to teachers’ content and allows them to focus on the areas that individual children or classes need.” Additional features of Literacy Activity Builder include: • The program provides teachers with the ability to change the look and feel of their lesson materials to suit different groups of pupils. This is makes it ideal for the inclusive primary classroom • All activities can be printed out as worksheets or paper-based games too, for children to complete away from the computer • The ‘publish’ functionality allows teachers to export activities and share them with others. For instance, they could be put on to a school intranet, emailed to colleagues or used in a virtual learning environment (VLE) • A bank of useful clip art is included with the program for use in the activities • Over 60 example activities are also provided to get teachers started. They show users how to get the most from the program and how to use it effectively to support Literacy lessons • The nine activities consist of gap fill, word search, matching, sorting, snap, punctuation, ordering, identification and multiple choice.
A Literacy Activity Builder site pack costs Ł149.00.
- ends - About BlackCat Established in 1989 and now a division of Granada Learning, BlackCat, is one of the market-leading suppliers of educational software for primary schools, with particular emphasis on packages that support the teaching of Maths, Science and Literacy in the primary classroom. URL: http://www.blackcatsoftware.com
For further information, please contact: Danielle Morgan PR Manager, Granada Learning Tel: 020 8996 3632 / 07740 393448 Email: danielle.morgan@granadamedia.com
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