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| PebbleGo Animals Database Subscription
Database Subscription
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Learning Magazine
Designed for emergent readers and researchers, this database includes more than 200 articles, leveled text, reading supports, audio and video resources, educational games, easy-to-use search tools, and more, all about animals. For a free trial, visit www.pebblego.com. Grades K-2, $395 a year per building. Capstone Press, (800) 747-4992, www.capstonepress.com.
June 1, 2009MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools - Charles Doe, media specialist, Hastings Area Schools, Hastings, MI
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Installation: A
Content/Features: A
Ease of Use: A
Product Support: A
Company: Capstone Press, Inc., 151 Good Counsel Drive, Mankato, MN 56002. Phone: (800) 747-4992; Internet: www.capstonepress.com.
Price: $395 per building per year. Volume discounts are available. A free demonstration version is offered online.
Audience: K–2 emergent readers, both at home and at school.
Format: Web-based subscription database with audio, video, and still images for computers with Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems.
Minimum System Requirements: Basically, a fast internet connection and a newer computer are required. Video and other elements of the site, however, generate some additional hardware and software requirements.
Windows computers should have a 450 MHz Pentium II processor, 128MB RAM, Windows 2000, 1280 x 1024 monitor resolution, support for sound, Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 2.x, Flash Player v9.0.115, and JavaScript.
Mac and Linux computers have essentially the same requirements. Macs require Power PC GC, 500 MHz, Intel Core Duo 1.33 GHz processor, Safari 3.x, and Opera 9.5 or Firefox 2.x. Linux machines require Red Hat Enterprise Linus (RHEL) 5, openSUSE 11, or Ubantu 7.10 with Firefox 2.x or SeaMonkey 1.11.
Description: Aligned to national curriculum standards, PebbleGo introduces K–2 students to database and research concepts with information about hundreds of animals. The program navigation, the level of difficulty of the text, the read-aloud component, and other features are designed for use by emergent readers.
Reviewer Comments:
Installation: The installation essentially consists of being sure the proper equipment with the correct software is available, followed by arranging a subscription. Installation Rating: A
Content/Features: PebbleGo, named after the Capstone Press Pebble Books series, is a subscription database designed specifically to help K–2 students learn to use databases and perform research tasks.
The program provides animal information in a database with a visually pleasing interface. Since reading ability can be one of the big problems for younger children doing research, PebbleGo offers a number of features designed to make research possible despite the characteristically low reading level of this audience.
The program is attractively designed with information about approximately 200 animals, including different classes of animals (amphibians, mammals, reptiles, etc.), animal behavior, home territory, and more. The information examines body, habitat, food, life cycle, and fun facts in a type of slide show.
The text is carefully leveled and age-appropriate. The image on the body slide can be printed as an activity that provides a list of body parts and blank spaces, offering the opportunity to correctly label the animal.
Students can click an on-screen button to hear the sound an animal makes. Another button offers a brief video clip. Additional
June 1, 2009Booklist - Maren Ostergard
PebbleGo is an animal database that presents information on more than 200 animals in a format suited to meet the needs of emergent readers. The home page features a search box on the top right of the page. The search box includes a feature that will be especially useful to emergent readers. As they type in the letters of their search term, a drop-down menu appears featuring all the subjects that begin with those letters. On the left-hand side of the screen are buttons for Animal of the Day, a poll for students to participate in, and a Games button. The center of the screen features the access to the informational content of the database, presented by 16 icons. The categories are somewhat arbitrary, including Amphibians, Birds, Reptiles, and other animal groups, along with Animal Behaviors, Animal Classification, and Animal Habitats, as well as Pets and Dinosaurs. Clicking on any of these leads to additional choices. For example, when users click on Amphibians, they are taken to the next screen, which offers three choices: Frogs,
Newts, and Salamanders.
Each subject entry presents information arranged in five categories: Body, Habitat, Food, Life Cycle, and Fun Facts. Each category offers a few sentences of information. In addition, each category is accompanied by a different color photograph, some of which can be printed along with their labels. Watch and Listen tabs accompanying many of the entries offer live-action video and sounds. (Although the live-action videos may appeal to users, they do not include narration.) Words appearing in purple are clickable, resulting in a written definition. Word-by-word highlighting and read-aloud audio can be turned on and off. Some entries feature a Share What You Know button that takes users to a PDF page with space for drawing a picture and jotting down some simple facts.
The Games page offers six games: Predator and Prey, Classify It, Wheel of Dog Breeds, Habitat Hunt, Name That Animal Sound, and Which Animal Is It? The games are simple. For example, in Predator and Prey, users click on a choice of four predators and then click from among another four choices for its prey. One of the matches is the arctic fox and the lemming. Although the entry on the arctic fox mentions that it eats “fish, birds, and other small mammals,” lemmings are not included as a subject entry in the database and may be unfamiliar to young users.
The database can be accessed from school or home. It would be useful to public libraries or schools wanting to provide electronic research information to their youngest researchers. Subscription price per year is $395. (Last accessed May 5, 2009.)
June 1, 2009Learning Magazine
2010 Teachers’ Choice Awards for the Classroom
September 1, 2009Book Links - Terrency E. Young
Online reading resources that require paid subscriptions include...PebbleGo from Capstone Press, a database that introduces early readers to research concepts through information on hundreds of animals. If funding is a problem for online subscription resources, check with your Title I person and request that Title I Parental Involvement Funds be used.
January 22, 2010School Library Journal - Shonda Brisco
...this database deserves an A+ for breaking new ground.
July 1, 2009Booklist - Mary Ellen Quinn
Top 20 Best Bet for Student Researchers, 2009
Here is an animal database that presents information on more than 200 animals in a format suited to meet the needs of emergent readers. Special features include games, live-action video, and read-aloud audio.
September 1, 2009Library Media Connection - Allison L. Bernstein
STAR REVIEW: This attractive, full color online research database about animals is aimed at the youngest of researchers. With thorough, yet very simple articles, full color pictures, and brief video clips, this database is an age appropriate research tool. Students can search for their animal by typing it in a search box, or by browsing the categories, such as fish, dinosaurs, or pets. The home page has animal “buttons” that are animal entry has 5 areas to explore: Body, Habitat, Food Life Cycle and Fun Facts. Articles can be read to the user with highlights, and more difficult words appear in a different color, allowing the reader to click on the word for the definition. Attractive printable worksheets are available, where the user citation information is provided. Some pages have audio clips in addition to the video of the given animal. An available administrative tool presents usage statistics and article popularity, and “Resources for Educators” provides links to individual state standards. This database is an extremely useful tool for young researchers, providing a wealth of information that can be used independently, even for emerging readers. Highly Recommended.
January 22, 2010Learning & Leading with Technology
K-2 emergent readers can use Capstone Press PebbleGo animal database, which has more than 200 articles that fit life science standards, to improve their reading. The database includes animal audio, video, text, educational games, and read-aloud features. PebbleGo was created with young learners in mind. The program features easy-to-use searching tools and introduces early learners to database and research concepts. The cost is $395 per school subscription. A free demonstration is available online. MORE INFO: www.PebbleGo.com.
May 1, 2009