Critical Thinking

Rating System Key
Products are rated A (highest) to F.
Access = Accessibility, Ed Val = Educational Value, Appeal = Deaf-child appeal.
A (cm) for the educational category means the product has classroom management features.

Titles RECOMMENDED for deaf children in a school setting:

Details of RECOMMENDED products

Thinkin' Things Fripple Town Grades K to 3, Publisher - Riverdeep (formerly Edmark)

Bottom Line: Highly recommended. The activities have a wide range of both scope and levels, are extremely well-designed and sprinkled with humor.

Content: spatial skills, map skills, mathematically-based designs, sequencing, pattern-rules. Classroom management features allow level-setting for each student or whole class, and topics of each level are clearly shown on-line. Skill levels advance in difficulty at a good pace, with each new skill introduced in a simple fashion when first encountered.

Cookies - Create a cookie that matches the one shown by selecting tools in the correct sequence. Simplest cookies require two tools (e.g., square shape followed by heart decoration). Harder levels require some objects to be rotated or flipped, and sequence becomes important in the highest levels.

Skate Park - Create spirograph-type designs by specifying a series of positive and negative numbers, a dot pattern, and colors. This is a creative math-exploration activity.

Flags - Determine the rule for the flag decorations and create 2 more flags that match the rule and 2 that don't. A simple rule might be "two red dots". Harder rules include relative position and orientation, etc.

Delivery Van - A mapping activity. Follow directions to drive the delivery van to the appropriate destination. Simplest levels go one or two blocks. Harder ones have one-way streets and/or roadblocks. Some levels use compass terms (north, south, east, west.) You can see your location on a map as well as viewing the van driving down the roads of Fripple Town.

Accessibility:
This title is fully accessible.

Deaf-child appeal:
This product has very high appeal. The activities are engaging and have humorous surprises. Lengthy animations and speech can be stopped by clicking the mouse so you don't have to wait for them to finish.

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