It's What's Inside That Counts: Anatomy Challenge Has Arrived!

Our newest game from our Challenge series is for Science teachers everywhere: Anatomy Challenge.

Like all our Challenge games, we made this to work perfectly with your interactive whiteboard, but there's other ways to use the game, too. In a lab, projected on the wall, on your classroom computer-whatever machine you use, the game is always fun, and students are always learning!





Here's the link to a sample for PC users: right here!

Folks more inclined toward Macs can find a sample to download over here: linky link!

Digital Games for French, Spanish, and German Class

We've developed two lines of electronic games to help you reinforce basic vocabulary in French, German, and Spanish classes.






Our Concentration games have students pick from two sets of cards, looking to match the image on one to the word on the other. A voice reads the word every time a word card is flipped.






One neat feature of the Concentration games is the Whole Class report feature. When you play a Whole Class game, you can post your score to the Teacher's Brunch Online Scoreboard. See how you stack up to other schools across the country!


The Flashcard Challenge games review a lot of the same vocabulary in a completely different format.










Some more screen shots can be found here.

And here.

Barbie Turns 50!

We here at teacher's Brunch HQ in water-logged Auburn Hills, MI are taking a moment to say "Happy Birthday" to Barbie.

In the last 50 years, Barbie has been a significant part of girls' lives, for better, and for worse.





An interesting project might be looking into Barbie's history, and seeing how she's changed in the last 50 years. Or maybe students could look into the positive and negative social effects she's had.

Of course, you could do that with any toy. . . .

More Dr. Seuss!

This site features a great retrospective of Dr. Seuss' work during World War II.

It's interesting to see the style we usually equate with characters like the Cat in the Hat being used in a different context.





This is not our first posting about political cartoons, so obviously we think they're cool, and valuable in the classroom.

The depictions of the Japanese, in particular, are more than a little off-putting today. Maybe that's something you and your students could consider.

How does war influence our perceptions of the enemy? How will today's enemy be depicted tomorrow?

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

We in frigid Auburn Hills, MI wish Dr. Seuss happy birthday today!

Not too long ago, we made a Dr. Seuss poster as part of our series of author movie posters.

Studying the "biggies" of literature is all well and good, but we like to remember our love for reading started with a cat and a hat.

Periodic Table of Scientists

We blogged a little while ago about a periodic table we made.

We have several of them actually. We have one here, too.



We've finally made our first periodic table for use in an actual science classroom. Of course, it's not your usual periodic table.

Instead of elements, this chart features over 100 famous, and not-so-famous, scientists, arranged by their field of research.


Science teachers will love it, because it looks great on the wall, and is an awesome way to kick-start writing across the curriculum.


Students will love it because it has Chuck Berry--which is our way of saying, we're doing what we can to make science fun.

Our Favorite Things We've Made (part four!)

Alicia has this to say about a PowerPoint presentation she ushered forth into the world called "The Reagan Revolution and the 1980s":

"The Reagan Revolution and the 1980s PowerPoint is much more than leg warmers, leotards, and shoulder pads--although we couldn't possibly leave all those crazy '80s fads out! Reminisce as you relive the days when 'Thriller' moves ruled the dance floor, the Smurfs found their way onto your TV set every Saturday morning, and you purchased your first 'car phone.'"

"Students can learn about Ronald Reagan, the man who was president while all this was going on. Follow along on his journey from humble beginnings in Iowa, to his acting days in Hollywood, to his emergence on the political scene, and to his years in the White House. Teach your students the definition of 'Reaganomics' and show them its triumphs and downfalls. Examine the Iran-Contra Scandal, the end of the Cold War, and the effects of being a 'Great Communicator.'"








It's a great piece. We even have a game to go with it!


Here's a link to download a sample if you're a PC user.

Here's the download link for Mac users.


We hope you'll check it out and let us know what you think.


(By the way, Alicia is the young lady with dark hair who seems to appear on every other page of our catalog.)

Our Favorite Things We've Made (part three!)

Nina has this to say about her favorite PowerPoint presentation, the French and Indian War:

"If only there was a teaching aid when I was in school that brought the French and Indian war – the battles, people, places – alive like this PowerPoint does.

Listening to the audio, watching the animated maps, and looking at colorful slides will make your students understand that this was the war that truly began it all for our country."






Here's a sample to download for PC: click here, PC person!

Here's a Mac download: Mac folks, this is for you!

Do You Use Editorial Cartoons?

Yahoo has a great comics section under its news tab.

Some of the country's best cartoonists are represented.

The best things about the political cartoons is that they are so timely. Great for discussion starters, activating prior knowledge, or just having a laugh.

By going back to previous entries, you could even track how public perception--or at least the cartoonist's perception--is evolving.

Our Favorite Things We've Made! (part one)

Here is the first part in an ongoing series, highlighting the teacher stuff we've made that we think came out the coolest!

Stephanie writes the following about her favorite game, "Forensics Challenge:"


"I love the dramatic images that are in the Forensics Challenge. Its suspenseful while waiting to see the next image. I really like the questions about real crimes. They help me remember some of the major crimes from the past. The concepts in this game help me see what it would be like to solve an actual crime. "



Like all of our Challenge games, Stephanie made this to work perfectly on an interactive whiteboard, or projected just using a regular wall. It would also be fun to use in a computer lab or on a stand alone machine.



You can see some more preview pictures, and buy the game, here.

Here's a link to download a PC-friendly trial.

And if you're Mac-ish, here you go.

Tell us what you think. Did Steph do a good job?

Teacher's Discovery Catalogs Hitting

Catalogs for all of our divisions at Teacher's Discovery are just about in the hands of teachers across the country.

For those of us who work hard creating and finding great stuff for teachers, and then work hard to get it all between the covers of our catalogs, the catalogs hitting always mark the end of one long process and the beginning of the next one.

Games and books and posters that aren't in the most recent catalogs are already in the works for the next ones, waiting to make big debuts in the Fall.

One of the neatest aspects of the making of a catalog is picking our covers. Our Foreign Language division has one for each language we support, English has two, Science will have five, and Social Studies has five. That's a lot of time spent sifting through tons of great pictures.

If you've gotten your catalog, drop us a line and tell us what you think. If you'd like one, give us a call and we'll be happy to send one to you. Our contact information is here.

By the way, I am partial to the U.S. History cover, but that's just me.