1. An Authoring Tool: PuzzleMaker by Discovery Channel School Presentation by Gabriele Rayes For EDTC 642

2. Discovery Channel School

3. OVERVIEW PuzzleMaker is based on an online program found on disoveryschool.com. The CD-ROM features the following enhancements: Save puzzle to a hard disk Edit a puzzle Access to an electronic dictionary Create multiple puzzles Create word lists Export a puzzle in rtf, PDF, and bitmap formats.

4. TYPES OF PUZZLES Vocabulary Puzzles Double Puzzles Word Search Word Search w/Hidden Message Fallen Phrase Letter Tiles Cryptogram Criss Cross Word Merge Mathematics Puzzles and Mazes Math Square Number Blocks Maze Equation Search

5. GETTING STARTED PUZZLE CREATION Click onto Create a Puzzle from the entry screen Choose a puzzle type Enter the clip art library Enter the dictionary Modification of Puzzles Select font type and style Select color for title and letters Print puzzles with different page dimensions PUZZLE STORAGE Sort puzzles by category: subject, class, grade and purpose Create and save word lists

6. Skills Problem Solving Development of Thinking Skills Language Development Recognition of Sight Words Proportional Thinking Operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication & division

7. Students with Special Needs Require extra time Information presented with multiple modalities Difficulty with spelling, sentence structure and attention span Low frustration level Inability to see details in a larger picture Difficulty with recall skills PuzzleMaker enables the educator to teach to their students strengths and remediate the weaknesses. Puzzles encourage students to stay on task longer thereby increasing attention span.

8. Assessment Skills Areas Sentence Structure: Fallen Phrase, Letter Tiles & Cryptograms Word Recognition: Letter Tiles & Word Searches Spelling: all language puzzles Spatial Skills: Letter Tiles, Word Merge & Mazes Arithmetic Skills: Math Squares, Number Blocks & Equation Search Algebraic Thinking: Math Squares & Equation Search

9. New Jersey CCCS Standard 3.1 Language Arts Literacy B. Phonological Awareness C. Decoding and Word Recognition F. Vocabulary and Concept Development Standard 4.1 Number and Numerical Operations Standard 4.3 Patterns and Algebra Standard 4.5 Mathematical Processes

10. References 1.New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards http://www.state.nj.us/njded/cccs 2.http://www.discovery.comhttp://www.discovery.com 3.PuzzleMaker by Discovery Channel School