Using Kidspiration™ in Early Elementary Grades

Kidspiration™ is based upon the popular concept mapping software, Inspiration™. The new version, Kidspiration™, is intended to be used by and with children in early elementary grades. The menus are simplified and choices are more limited than those provided in the adult version, but it is also much more visually based, and user-friendly for early learners.

Students can use Kidspiration™ to create visual records of their information or thoughts about nearly any topic that might arise. For example, if the discussion in class is about what kinds of snack foods we like to eat, students could record many of the basic snacks they have eaten in the past day, week, or other suitable period of time. Even students who are not yet able to write this information could choose the correct images from the libraries provided, and build a journal record of their own. Teachers can also add images from many sources to the library sets, although care must be taken to avoid including images which do not permit copyright-free use.

Students can also make lists of their ideas either in words or in picture form. The picture lists can be changed into word lists with the click of a button on the screen.

Teachers can create many activities which encourage students to use the software to sort and/or classify groups of items, to record information over a period of time, or to connect ideas through inference or imagination.

These activities are quite simple to create:

  1. Run the software, Kidspiration™
  2. Under New, click the button Picture, (this is the top left-hand button on the screen).
  3. Use the SuperGrouper tool which resembles a jar of gumballs to create as many “sorting stations” as you need. A supergrouper shape will collect and hold any other images you add to it, even if you pick up the supergrouper shape and move it around.
  4. Each supergrouper shape can be labelled.
  5. A rectangular box from the Library (the strip of icons on the left of the page) can be used to give the page a title.
  6. When the supergroupers are made and labelled, images can be added to them by selecting libraries and clicking on images. For very young students, you may wish to choose the images and drag them all onto the screen, outside the supergroupers. Students could then pick them up and put them into the correct supergrouper.
  7. Make sure you save your activity before closing the program.