Today at a faculty meeting after work, the upper grades (3-6) teachers at my school, along with the director, the science/art teacher, and I talked about how we encourage and develop critical thinking skills in our students. I got a chance to talk about Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, after showing an Internet based lesson plan, part of the CyberTrips catalog, that I'd picked up at SDCUE's Tech Fair this past weekend. Another cool thing I got a peek at at the Fair was Super Hero Creator, from the good-hearted but weak-spelling folks at Kreative Komix. Bernie and his son, Alex, did a short presentation of this cool program that incorporates creative storytelling, graphic design, and a bit of dramatic flair. As demonstrated and suggested by some of the attendees at the presentation, it could fairly easily be adapted to fit nearly any curriculum area, from mathematics to language arts, science to social studies.

The material I talked about, CyberTrip to Paris, is a binder without any software whatsoever, but with ideas about how to build a host of robust units using resources found online. The guide is good for anywhere from a short, 3-4 week unit on the City of Lights, to an entire semester or even year's worth of stuff. The folks at Classroom Connect, who publish this stuff, also put out units for Ancient Egypt, Washington, D.C., and a few other places. Unfortunately, the only direct references to this product on the Classroom Connect Web site are behind a fee-based gateway, and they are so concerned with exchanging cookies with me, that I didn't stick around all that long. For those willing to become members (free 2 week trial, I think, then you get charged), check it out. I did find lots of mentions of CyberTrips online, primarily references to the product at other K-12 schools' sites.