K-12 Educ Software For Sale
Anne E. Beversdorf
have for sale. I used to be the CA school rep for MECC Software (Oregon
Trail; Number Munchers; Dr. Quandary) and have lots of original, new,
legal titles filling up my garage and storage space. Almost every single
title has won at least one national award for quality educational
programming.
Most have won several national awards.
I have Mac, DOS, and Apple II titles. I am listing only Mac and DOS.
Full packages are priced at $12 each (list, for ed. versions, which
include teaching suggestions and activities for teaching, is $59. to $69.
each. I have seen commercial versions in discount catalogs for $29. This
is a real bargain.
If I have disks but no manual, price is $5.00 per title. Apple II
programs I will sell for $4.00 per disk or less. Preferably to be sold
in bunches.
-Anne
Please reply thru email @ abe...@eis.calstate.edu
Thanks
Anne E. Beversdorf
FULL packages, $12.oo per title
These are original, legal MECC packages, but come (in most cases)
without shrink wrapping and backup disks.
Notes about teacher preferences are from my experience working with
teachers--not marketing fluff. Almost every single title has won at
least one major educational software award.
Miner's Cave: 4-8th grade science. Move treasures out of a cave using
principles of pulleys, levers, and ramps. Teachers rave about this one.
Money Works: 1-3 grade and special needs older learners. Learn how to
identify coins and bill, make change, and do a variety of other
money-handling tasks. Kids can invent and print their own money, too.
Teachers either love this program for what it can do or hate it because
they don't like the graphics.
Fraction Practice: Middle School math. Outstanding game-like fraction
teaching and skill development program. Teachers love this one.
Jenny's Journeys: Grades 4-8. Map-reading skills. Kids "drive" a car
around grandma's town running errands for her, using a map for reference
and seeing what can be seen from the car windows. Really very good for
its purpose. You must use the map from the manual to be realistic
(toggling between screen map and town is inconvenient). Some teachers
get confused thinking the top of the screen is North. Really, the top of
the screen is FORWARD as seen from the car, just like when you're
driving. Teachers who don't get confused by this use the program frequently.
Oregon Trail: Grades 2 through Adult. An all-time favorite, bringing
kids in from recess and keeping them after school to "play" this
simulation of crossing from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon in
1848. The grade range is so low because even 2nd grade level readers are
motivated to extend themselves to play, and adults can be just as
addicted as kids. Your kids may already know of it. One of my all time
high recommendations.
The Friendly Computer: Grades K-2. A very low-tech beginner's guide to
the computer keyboard and logo-type graphics (I think). The graphics are
antiquated, but teachers find this a useful program.
Clock Works: Grades K-2. Simplistic and cute program helps kids learn
to tell time, in several multiple choice activities: Matching the time
on a clock face to words, to digitally displayed clock times. Time
increments can be selected ranging from hours, half-hours, quarter hours,
or all of the above and minutes, too. Lots of visual rewards, including
kids being given the chance to "design" and build their own alarm clock
that does clever tricks when it rings. Teachers like it and I love it
for kids who need help with telling time.
Fraction Concepts: Grades 5-8. Introduction, in game-like format to
concepts important in fractions. Visual presentation of fractions (you
SEE 3/4 of a circle full). Variety of activities that help kids learn
what fractions MEAN, as well as just working them out. I'm not much of a
math person--and I wish I'd had this when I was a kid. I can GET them
with all the illustrations.
Mystery Matter: Grades 3-7. This won a major educational software
award, but my opinion doesn't match. Kids have to use deductive
reasoning to figure out which of a list of elements are in the test
tube. They perform various tests and narrow the list down til th A
Preschool program that's openended. Kids can move objects around on the
screen, grouping them by type, color, or whatever the kid wants. Pop
bubbles by pressing the mouse button (or keyboard commands) and toys
appear. If you "open" a drawer and put the toys away, a surprise
happens. Same if you do other logical groupings. You can save the
pictures too. A really good exploration program. Not recommended for
parents who want to see "right answers"--since it's totally open-ended.
: Grades 1-4. This one's a gem. Set a varying difficulty levels, kids
use a Sniffer, a Measurer, a Texture toucher, a Weigher and other
characters to tell them what's in the mystery box. It can be one of 4-6
objects from a large random group of objects. Kids an teachers (and
parents) all love this for little kids. It's also been used for writing
activities for older kids.
Probability Lab: Middle School and up. Games of chance--exactly what
are your chances. This program uses set-ups for a number of games of
chance and challenges you to determine your probability of getting the
outcome of your choice in a certain number of tries (your choice there,
too.) Kids could even use it for (dare I say it) fundraising activities?
The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary: Middle school and up. This has
become a hit both inside and outside schools. Kids enter a carnival, win
a cupie-type doll, which suddenly pulls you onto an island that you can't
leave without solving lots of puzzles. Play at several different
levels. It's usually recommended by lots of stores. You may have seen
it around.
Word Munchers: Grades 2-5. An all-time favorite. Kids use a
pac-man-like game board to "munch" words that sound-like the targeted
sound at the top of the page (for example "oo as in moon"). Play
available at several different levels, including sounds that are
rule-breakers ("through and flew" match moon and "though, sew, low" all
match "go"). Great program for beginning readers or those having
difficulty with sounds and words.
SnapDragon: A Preschool program that's openended. Kids can move objects
around on the screen, grouping them by type, color, or whatever the kid
wants. Pop bubbles by pressing the mouse button (or keyboard commands)
and toys appear. If you "open" a drawer and put the toys away, a
surprise happens. Same if you do other logical groupings. You can save
the pictures too. A really good exploration program. Not recommended
for parents who want to see "right answers"--since it's totally open-ended.
Anne E. Beversdorf
FULL packages, $12.oo per title
These are original, legal MECC packages, but come (in most cases)
without shrink wrapping and backup disks.
Original, legal MECC programs, without manuals or backup disks.
Notes about teacher preferences are from my experience working with
teachers--not marketing fluff. Almost every single title has won at
least one major educational software award.
Oregon Trail: Grades 2 through Adult. An all-time favorite, bringing
kids in from recess and keeping them after school to "play" this
simulation of crossing from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon in
1848. The grade range is so low because even 2nd grade level readers are
motivated to extend themselves to play, and adults can be just as
addicted as kids. Your kids may already know of it. One of my all time
high recommendations.
The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary: Middle school and up. This has
become a hit both inside and outside schools. Kids enter a carnival, win
a cupie-type doll, which suddenly pulls you onto an island that you can't
leave without solving lots of puzzles. Play at several different
levels. It's usually recommended by lots of stores. You may have seen
it around.
SnapDragon: A Preschool program that's openended. Kids can move objects
around on the screen, grouping them by type, color, or whatever the kid
wants. Pop bubbles by pressing the mouse button (or keyboard commands)
and toys appear. If you "open" a drawer and put the toys away, a
surprise happens. Same if you do other logical groupings. You can save
the pictures too. A really good exploration program. Not recommended
for parents who want to see "right answers"--since it's totally open-ended.
Easy Color Paint: A graphics program for elementary-agers. Optional
settings make work well for basic graphics use for adults, too. Easy to
see, learn and use, compared to professional, full-featured graphics
packages. Includes borders and clipart.
Word Munchers: Grades 2-5. An all-time favorite. Kids use a
pac-man-like game board to "munch" words that sound-like the targeted
sound at the top of the page (for example "oo as in moon"). Play
available at several different levels, including sounds that are
rule-breakers ("through and flew" match moon and "though, sew, low" all
match "go"). Great program for beginning readers or those having
difficulty with sounds and words. Keep away from the troggles, who eat
the muncher and sometimes change words they pass. Each 3-screens "eaten"
are followed by a cartoon reward.
Number Munchers: Grades 2-Adult. Good learning program for basic math.
Be sure to use the teacher options to set the types of problems. Again,
a pacman-like muncher "munches" the right answers. Can be as simple as
addition problems that don't go higher than 5+5, or factors, prime
numbers, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction of numbers
up to 999. Watch out for troggles. Makes kids learn automatic recall of
basic math facts, and challenges adults to think fast. At the top of
most kids' and teachers' lists. Cartoon reward after each three screens
of numbers.
Fraction Munchers: Middle school. Same again--this time with
fractions. Not as popular because kids don't like fractions, but same
good stuff.
Super Munchers: Middle school thru adult. Same muncher theme, but this
one is a trivial-pursuit-type game of chemistry facts, biology info,
famous people, music, etc. AND, when you get enough right answers, the
muncher becomes SUPERMUNCHER, who can eat troggles and get extra points.
(then time runs out and he's muncher again). Cartoons in this one
challenge players to answer questions, observe, etc. , and tell a
sequential story. Can you make it all the way to Frankentroggle's castle?
Geometric Golfer: Middle school to Adult. This is another fantastic
"visual" math program. The scene is a golf course, and you've got to hit
the ball to other holes. Different clubs have different geometric
properties. Unfortunately, I'm math-illiterate and don't have the
vocabulary to tell you about this well. The screen shows arcs, and
shapes between you and the hole as you try to go over traps and around
trees. You have to plan the set of geometric sequences that get you to
the hole in the fewest number of strokes. I've watched kids and adults
hog demonstration machines for hours playing this one.
Storybook Weaver: Grades 3-8. Start with a blank screen. Choose a
foreground--desert, beach, canyon, creek... choose a
background--mountains, sky, cliffs, forest... Choose day or night, dusk
or dawn. Choose buildings, toys, tools, people, vehicles, tons of other
things, put them in the picture, size them, reverse them, change their
colors. Choose your font (or use the default), write a few lines about
your picture, make a new page. Decide if it will be text or picture. Do
it again. Write a book. Print it. It's really fabulous.
DISKS ONLY
Storybook Weaver: See above
Oregon Trail: See above
Geometric Golfer: See above
The Amazing Island of Dr. Quandary: See above
