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Posted by Mitchell Clark 9/18/09: Lesson Planet is a search engine designed to save the effort of designing various lesson plans by providing over 150,000 teacher approved lesson plans and over 75,000 worksheets. This site provides material for all subjects in grades K-12 and also includes state standards. Content: This Education World sponsored site has an incredible amount of information that has been provided by many teachers in various fields. It has lesson plans for all grade levels and all subjects including math, science and technology, language arts, education, social studies, health, art and music, and it also includes research resources. Each lesson plan includes the author and date that the lesson plan was posted. Also every lesson plan is rated on a scale of 1-5 by other teachers so you don't waste your time searching through inadequate lessons. Another great feature about this site is that because teachers can post their own lesson plans, there are always new and relevant lesson plans. These plans are easy to access due to multiple links which are designated to different fields of education i.e. science or math. There is also a search bar at the top of the web page that allows the user to search specific lesson plans as well as narrow their search results to grade level and rating (1-5). Overall this is a well organized site that provides a wealth of knowledge. The only thing to keep in mind is that these plans are posted by individual teachers which could contribute to a partial bias in the lesson plan. Another thing to consider is that there is $40 dollar membership fee for this site which is an inconvenience, but this fee also discourages the submission of junk lesson plans and worksheets by other internet users. Design: This site is well designed and very easy to navigate. There are no advertisements or links to unrelated material. The sponsor of the site and contact information is clearly displayed at the bottom of the page as well as t

-Overview: Lesson Planet is an excellent resource for teachers to find ideas and lesson plans for specific topics and grade levels. They are able to type in exactly what they are looking for and it is just like a Google search engine just for lesson plans. There are other links to related articles and blogs for teachers, and there are places where teachers can access the standards. It is a very good place to create lessons from and gain ideas for teaching successfully in the classroom. -Content: The content is easily accessible from exactly what the teacher types in to find. There are specific tabs and easy instructions to help the teacher find what they are looking for. It is a very helpful resource tool that teachers can use to plan activities for specific subjects, for a specific standard and find worksheets and articles that relate to the topic they are teaching. There is a huge amount of content within the website that is easily accessible for anyone who would like to use it. On each page there are tabs to things that relate to the topic as well as a list of subtopics that are easily accessible as well. -Design: The creators are in the process of creating a new design that may be more visually appealing, but currently the design is very simple and professional. It has enough color and visual recognition tools to help you locate specific things quickly and find what you are looking for without creating distractions and taking away from the content. The search portion is big and centered on the top of the homepage so it is easy to type in and find exactly what you need right off the home page.

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Hannah Clucas. October 10, 2012. Overview: This website is a website that has educational powerpoints for teachers to use. It also has links to free templates, clip art, tutorials, and videos. The site is highly useful for teachers who are teaching grade levels from kindergarten to eighth grade. Some of the links, however, are useful for highschool grade levels. I found the site helpful but overwhelming. Content: There is an exhaustive list of powerpoints for all sort of content areas for grades k-8. There are also free templates and clipart for teachers to use. The external links are useful for teachers, parents, and students. There are links to educational gaming sites and to educational video cites as well. There are also links to sites that talk about topics and authors, such as F. Scott Figzgerald, which are for grade levels of ninth and higher. All of the content is useful and relevant. The only problem that could come up is that there is so much to choose from that it may take a lot of time to find what you want. Design: The design is colorful but very simple. It is well organized but it can sometimes take more than three clicks to get to what you are looking for. The powerpoints are very simple and not that aesthetically appealing. All of the links are in areas that are apparent but do not break up the logical flow of the website. Unfortunately there is no search bar and it can take quite a few clicks to find the information you are looking for.

Overview Math Archives is specifically a math website for grade levels K-12. This website introduces lesson plans, software, contests and competitions. Each subject is very easily identified by grade level so that the user knows the appropriate application. This site is extremely comprehensive and helpful for math students and teachers. Content: This website loads quickly. This site is very helpful because it includes other math website links that you can click on and go to get more information on math. This website has well written information about the site and the authors of the site are identified down below the page. Although this site doesn't have a good updated revision, it clearly shows the contact information, phone number and address if you have any questions about the site. Design This site's homepage is well organized and is easy to move from the contents to the subject in Math that you would like to learn more about or the lesson plans that you would like to teach. The subject pages are appealing and provide great instructions to help the student obtain all the knowledge in math as they can. All the graphics, pictures, videos, and animations are great and really help the students desiring to learn math. Overall, this website just needs some updating to the information for more of the subjects.

Samantha Snethen- Feb. 5, 2012 Overview: OER Commons is website designed to allow educators from all over the worlds to share educational resources for primary, secondary, and post-secondary school. The website is free to view and has tens of thousands of lesson plans, classroom activities, assessments, video and audio lectures, games and much, much more. The site also has a bookmarking feature, in which users can bookmark new online educational resources to share. This website is a great tool for educators of any grade level to find and share wonderful classroom and teaching resources. Content: At first glance the site doesn't seem to give a clear idea of what it contains. However after reading some of the smaller print and doing some navigating it becomes clear. It provides a clear link to the creator and sponsor of the website, ISKME, so finding information about the organization is easy. One downfall about it is there is no last revision date provided, so it is hard to determine how old some of the resources available are. There is also little interactivity with the site. The majority of the content however, is easy to navigate, well organized and achieves the purpose it was created for. Design: The site is not designed to be very eye-catching and seems confusing at first glance. There were no directions for users available and again there was not last revision date provided. However, there was more than enough information and resources for almost any subject for almost every grade level. The information was also presented in well organized manner, which makes it easy for the user to narrow down the types of resources they are searching for.

Locate open education and creative commons resources for teachers and students of all grade levels

Shea Mangold September 1, 2010 This website is fantatsitc. The content it well organized it has a tool bar at the top to access exaclty what you need from articles, to tips, to discussions, to lesson plans (!) even a search engine. The targeted audience is hard to tell, many lesson plans can be used for a lot of different grades, but with the photos and extra's it could be more targeted at elementary ed but could also work for secondary. This website supports a bunch of other teaching websites and it is listed on the page. I cannot find where the author is listed but at the bottom of the page it has (© 1997- 2010 A to Z Teacher Stuff, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms of use.Send questions, comments, and suggestions to webmaster@atozteacherstuff.com) So there is a place to talk to one of the authors. It doesn't have where the whole website has last been updated but the copywrite shows it's been updated in 2010. The teacher discussion forum is uploaded with new discussions every hour. And the lesson plans are updated frequently. All of the content is complete, the conection works very fast, and most importantly all of the super helpful stuff is free, no gymics saying it is the first time then you have to pay. The design meets up the the content perfectly. It is 100% professional. It makes you feel comfortable that you are on a trusted website. The graphics are appropriate for any grade of teachers, The store is appropriate and all of the sponsors look great on the page. All of the information is useful, clearly presented, and is easy on the eyes. I would give the content and design both an A.

A-Z Teacher Stuff - Review on 10/4/12 Diigo i.d= Jessle33 A-Z Teacher stuff's purpose is to provide a way to help teachers find online resources more quickly and easily. It helps to find lesson plans, teaching materials, worksheets, books etc. for the everyday teacher to help them out in the classroom. The site is designed for teachers of pretty much any grade level k-12 and any subject they teach. There are various resources available to them such as: themes, lessons, tips, articles, discussion, printables, and ages. All of these tabs at the top of the site take you to where you want to go and help to narrow your search in the area of your necessities. My overall impression of this site is that it is very helpful to teachers and can really help them find the things they are looking for in their classrooms. There was so much to choose from and so many categories that are available. Teachers need help to and this site does just that.

Posted by Tanisha Daugaard on September 21, 2009 This site is specifically designed for English teachers at any age level. It has many useful resources ranging from children's literature to ESL. It covers a wide range of topics and issues in English education. Content: This site is highly organized and really easy to navigate. The links are divided into the different areas of English and grammar. The site includes a date for which it was last updated, and it appears that it is updated often. The purpose of this site is easy to determine and it has sufficient information on the topic. The content appears to be complete and put together in a useful way to all skill levels. The information I found had good grammar and spelling. The site appears to be created by someone who is highly educated in English education. In general, the links work and route the user to other useful sites, and everything flows together nicely. This was the most useful site I have found yet! Design: This site is designed brilliantly. Everything was really easy to navigate. It does include a couple ads, but they do not take away for the purpose of the site. It does include some ads that do pertain to the subject and purpose of the site. All of the links are useful and divided in a manner that is easy to locate the information you need. The site is eye-catching and uses graphics and fonts to get the users attention. The site is modified frequently and includes contact information. Overall, it is designed in a way that keeps the attention of the user and is easy to use. Attribution: This site also isn't specifically designed for information that is quoted. However, it does give permission to link to any educational site. The site is copyrighted and has contact information for the site creators. All of the information and links are very useful and is meant to be used by teachers; it can also be used by students or anyone else needing help with English.

Cara Storey 9/2/10 Overview: Web English Teacher is a website designed as a teaching aid for English teachers through grades Kindergarten to 12th grade. The site offers a variety of resources including lesson plans, classroom activities, reading lists, and resources for students to excel in the classroom. This site is a useful site for any English teacher looking for resources. I found it to be a helpful site based on content, and the design easy to navigate. As a teacher I would use this site in my classroom. Content: At first look it's very easy to determine the directive of this site as it clearly identifies its audience and contents. The information on the author of the site is easily accessible and gives the reader an opportunity to contact them. All of the pages had been updated in the last couple of months and all the links were working well. The purpose of the site was clearly informational, and the purpose of the site was achieved through its contents. The site's content is very applicable to its audience, and offers accurate information and other links that could help with planning a curriculum. Design: This site downloaded easily and on several different browsers. The homepage was attractive without being distracting from the contents, and it clearly indicated the audience and contents of the site. Navigating is made extremely easy by the table of contents and the "sitemap" a list of links categorized by subject. The content of the site was organized and labeled, and there was enough content to make visiting the site worth while. The information on the site was easy to find and decipher. The site was current and up to date. It also clearly listed the author and contact info for any questions.

Scholastic.com Learning Activities (Grades K-5) Sara Scribner 1/23/10 Overview: I found this website to be very helpful. It has numerous resources for student activities and links to other sites with information and resources for teachers. Ads are present throughout this site, but they do not overwhelm you. Also, on the primary page with learning activities for students there aren't any ads at all. Not only would I use this source in my classroom, but I would recommend it to others. Content: Scholastic, a website for teachers is very credible. Information found on this site is current (updated and links work) and information to contact or learn about the sponsor/author is available. There does not seem to be any hidden agendas on this site. This site is organized according to grade level, K-2 or 3-5, and has activities for both age groups. Its information is consistent/accurate, easy to understand, and organized making it easy to navigate. Another positive aspect of this site is that it has activities for subjects like math, science, language arts, social studies, and Spanish. Design: This site is definitely worth visiting. It's content and links to other useful websites makes it a valuable resource. Content layout is organized and everything is clearly labeled. Graphics provide a glimpse of what each game entails and add appeal to the page/game description. Animations and sounds make one's experience as he plays the games enjoyable and exciting.

Posted by Kate Guerrieri 9/18/2009 Title of web page: Creative Writing Teacher Resources (Grades K-12) Content: This is a general web page for teachers. It just offers link to sources about teaching creative writing. It is a good resource for research. It offers links to sources for all different grade levels. Design: This is a just a web page that has a list of links a teacher could use. It is easy to navigate. There are some advertisements but not too many. Attribution: This website is credible. It is copy righted and the information for citation can be found at the bottom of the page. The information is open to everyone.

This website is for both students and teachers. Grade levels from K-8 were posted with activities and lesson plans for each grade. There are games for students to play as well as lesson plans and activities for teachers. The purpose of the website is to make math more fun. I feel like this site is awesome because both teachers and students can benefit from the materials posted. There are worksheets for free on this site so it is a good resource for new teachers. The owner of this site is Jumpstart. They have been in business for over 20 years. This website had a current 2014 copyright date. Therefore I would consider this site to be up to date in all aspects. The games and lesson plans are based off of the Common Core standards and they try to push the students to learn the next step. This website was harder to navigate around. There were way too many links and buttons. This also is good because there is a lot of information, but it can get a little tricky to navigate. The design is very appealing to kids. They have a lot of cartoon characters and bright colors. The section for kids is easy to navigate so I would recommend it as a good resource for students. The teacher's section is the most challenging to navigate because there is so much going on. Overall there are parts that are better set up than others, but as a majority there is just way too much going on as far as the design goes.

Mike Wilson Site review September 18, 2009 Dr. Saul's Biology in Motion Introduction Biology In Motion is a relatively simple website designed to provide engaging animations for basic biology concepts. The site is designed for both teachers and students. Student level is Junior High School but could be easily used for entry level 10th grade Biology. Teachers can use the site for in class presentation. Teacher tips for in class use are provided. There are 9 animated self guided lessons and/or games. These lessons are information correct and convey the material to be learned very well. This is an excellent site targeted at specific biology topics. Google ranking of 6/10 - Excellent with 61 backward links. Content Evaluation First Look The home page clearly in both text and graphics conveys the purpose of the site. All the key information is above the fold. Information Providers Biology In Motion is a creation of Dr. Saul, a university Biology Professor and Web game / site developer. Links to Dr. Saul's credentials and additional websites are top left on the home page Information Currency While the site has not been updated for 4 years, there is not a need to do so. The science content is fundamental concepts that will not change. The graphics are age appropriate and play quickly. Information Quality Site is fully functional. Each interactive lesson through the use of text and animations teaches the subject concisely. There are Google link ads on each page which I do not like from a pure educational standpoint. On the other side, the ads are not obtrusive and what are a few extra bucks in a teacher's pocket. Design Evaluation Speed All pages and graphics load very quickly. Animations are well designed but are not speed bulky. Home Page Very appealing and all critical information to keep you on the site is above the fold Ease of Navigation All lessons are linked from the home page and need to know information is top lef

Tyler Skinner, Aug 31 2010 The purpose of this website to to help give tips and ideas for history educators. From elementary to high school, this can be used for all different grade levels. Overview This website has all sorts of nifty tools. There are separate links for different education levels, helping instructors on what works best with each grade. Along with that, there are also videos on introductory subjects to help with lectures. Content Ranging from the Revolution to the Iraq War, Ancient times to the Present, there are all sorts of awesome tools to use in lectures. They help give more input and teaching techniques to make the lessons go more smoothly. Design The organization of this website is very clear. With links to the side for separate grade levels, its easy to locate what your looking for. Video clips and materials are right on the home page, and with a little click of the mouse information just bursts out everywhere. All in all, this website is a great resource to help out history teachers.

Amy Andreen 9-14-11 Overview: This site has great resources for those teaching history to elementary students all the way through high school students. There are activities, documents to review, lesson plans available to view, and picture to look at. It is a great resource to history and Social Studies Teachers to help with content and classroom ideas. Content: teachinghistory.org has an inexhaustible amount of resources available to the viewers. There is a section devoted to English Language Learners that I found to be extremely interesting and useful. There is also a section that allows you to ask questions to other teachers, historians, and digital historians. I also really like that it has areas of history that often go untouched and unexplored. Design: For the most part, this site was really easy to navigate. Everything was pretty well laid out. However, one issue I faced was that I wasn't always aware of where I was at within the site. This became slightly confusing at times. The information included was very important but not easily accessed. I did like that there were different areas for different topics like "Reviews", "Beyond the Textbook", a "Weekly History Quiz", and "National Resources".

Trevor Santy Sept 14 2011 Overview: This site is most a game site for the elementary school level. With many different activities ranging from crosswords to other games this site would probably be used as a second hand activity (like when there is free time). The activities also cover a large variety of topics from science to math to English making it a good learning tool as well as a good place to practice the skills associated with that subject. It even says the grade level the activity was meant for making it a must have for a teacher's resources. Content: As stated in the overview, all of this sites content is varying games for varying levels. The crosswords come in varying difficulties and each activity has an age group suggestion underneath the description making it easier to organize a plan. Most games are straight forward in their descriptions and directions making the content in them easy for kids to understand. Design: This websites design is extremely simple and straightforward. The entire site is essentially just a list of activities/ games and links to play those games. This easy style of site makes it really easy for younger kids (1st - 3rd) able to navigate the site. However, once again I believe this site would be better used as an extra activity.

Overview This site is for grade levels kindergarten through high school. It has so many different subjects that you can access from Reading and Writing, Math, Social Studies, Science, Language, and Foreign Languages. To help the students prepare for these subjects for tests, quizzes, or even homework, this website has test prep for all grades and subjects. This website has puzzles, printable activities, and critical thinking exercises for students to engage in and have more fun on the website. This website also includes information for teachers. Teachers are able find lesson plans and worksheets for their classrooms. This website is very well layed out and easy to navigate for teachers and students. My observation of this website is good. Content There are so many different subjects you can learn about, and every subject has different content that contains important information that you can learn about. You can learn about anything! This website mandates that you be a member in order to be able to make use of all the activities and information. Design This website design is very easy to maneuver and navigate through. The subjects are surrounded by many different games, puzzles, and critical thinking activities that students can access. It is very well organized and has great pictures and themes. This website clearly shows that it is very informative and promotes interaction by the student or teacher.

Emily E. KrabbenhoftJanuary 22, 2011Overview: This website, created by Discovery Communications, is an excellent resource for parents, students, and teachers. For parents it provides ways to help motivate their children and ways to help with homework. For students it all gives homework help and other ways for students to further their knowledge or to practice what they already know. For teachers there is interactive projects, lesson plans, and puzzle makers. Content: The content of this website, the information providers, and the quality is well presented to users. While the information is provided by a company to further their products, it offers a lot of free resources for everyone. It also does not push its products on the user, for example no pop-ups or constant nagging to purchase things.Design: This website has a great design. You do not get lost when you are navigating the website because it has great descriptions and titles of the pages. All of the links work properly and direct you to the appropriate websites or links. 

Hannah Clucas. October 10, 2012. Overview: This website is a giant database for schools. It has something for administrators, teachers, students, and even parents. There are a lot of available resources. The website is amazing and helpful for all facets of learning. Content: For administrators, there are curriculum options, helpful assessments of resources schools are currently using, and a host of other useful things. For teachers there are lesson plans, puzzle makers, additional resources, and even information on student travel. For parents there is a section on ways they can motivate their students and give them help in homework. The student section has a homework help section as well as links to contests they can join and clipart. There are also videos that parents, teachers, and administrators can use. The website is probably more helpful to teachers and administrators. Lesson plans are divided into two grade level groups, k-8 and 9-12, making it easy to find lesson plans for intended grade levels. Some of the links on the website are not useful, such as the link to downloading Google Chrome. But none of the links are inappropriate. Design: The design of the website is logical and flows well. There is a section for administrators, teachers, parents, and students at the top and bottom of the home page. It is colorful and fun to get your attention, but not to the point that it is overwhelming. Its use of media is appropriate and helpful.

Lorena Garcia Evaluation date: 10/13/14 The site I chose to evaluate was Discovery Education located at www.dicoveryeducation.com. The purpose of this site is to provide free education resources. The intended audience of this site is teachers, students, and Parents. This site provides some downloadable lessons. It offers lessons plans for the various school grades. I feel this site could be a great resource for new and veteran educators. I found that this page is quickly to determine the content because there are links about who they are, what they offer, also they have links for students, parents, and Teachers who are the intended audience. In fact there is contact information for anybody who has questions or verify information about it. Anybody can contact them by phone, (1 800 ), Twetter, and Face book, and e-mail. It is clear that this page is to provide Educational information with the different options of downloadable lesson plans. It is worth visiting this page, specially Educators. They can find a lot information and great ideas for lessons. The information is clearly labeled and organized school year. These links are very well organized and easy to find. I did have some trouble finding my way back to the original page. However, overall I would most definitely recommend and use this website.

Overview: This website is compiled of worksheets for all subjects at an elementary level. This is organized to assist teachers from preschool through fifth grade. Content: The authors and sponsors are clearly identified. Also, the copyright date and updated dates are clearly visible on each link. The content is organized so you can follow the link for the grade you need. Within the grade, there are links for the subjects taught in that grade and worksheets that correspond with the concept being taught. There are some single page worksheets and also packet worksheets. There are also worksheets with themes and for holidays. Design: This website is made up very simply, but it is still appealing to the audience. It is not filled with too many graphics to make it distracting. This site is very navigable because it is organized so that the user can quickly find what they need without having to go through many steps. There are also other sites that are linked so the user may find more information for the subject they need.

Kandase Quinn 9/5/11 Overview: Made for teachers teaching K-12. This website gives lesson plans for all different grade levels and all different subjects. It is clear and easy to use and I found it useful when thinking of new ways to present different material to students. Design: Lay out is easy to navigate throughout the different links. They have a contact link and the copyright is clearly stated. Texts are all readable and all links and pictures worked. Content: This site has printable, assessments, special needs resources and lesson plans by subject and theme. There are also many other links on this site to get more information that this site may not have.

Katrina Swanson February 26, 2013 The intended purpose of this website is to provide teachers from many different grade levels access to creative and fun lesson plans, printables and other fun activities to include in their classrooms. Content: This website contains a lot of material that is very informational and helpful to teachers. There are links to almost any subject and more to incorporate into a classroom. Design: The design of this website is attractive but pretty basic. It is for teachers to use not students, and this is very clear just from looking at the different pages. Everything runs smoothly and the links seem to be working properly!

K-5 Math Teaching Resources is a website for elementary teachers that provides example activities that are aligned with Common Core State Standards.  It is easy to determine the content of the site because of the navigation bar one the side of the page. Within this bar there are options to browse specific content areas, as well as the intended audience (grade level).  After you choose the content area you're interesting in planning a lesson for there are links that take you to site that provide information based on that content. The links with possible activities also provide you with information of which common core state standard the activity correlates with.  Another thing that I really liked about this website is that it gives you examples of outside resources you can use (titles of books, pattern block, etc.) that you can use to keep your students physically engaged in the activity and learning. No ads are present on this website, and all of the links provided work. There are also some resources that teachers can use for their school to incorporate special days for the students, like 100th day and states day, which keep the students engaged on special days of school.  This site is very easy to search through.  They also provide you with a link that states the terms of use at the bottom of the website page. It also clearly identifies that it was first published in 2010 and updated up through 2015, and is published through the K-5 Teaching Resources LLC.

Discovery Education is a site for teachers, students, and parents to browse for educational resources. Navigational bars located on the page website makes it very easy to browse, and find content that fits the interest of the intended audience whether it be a teacher, student or parent. It even includes ways to make learning fun by having a puzzle maker! I think that this would be a good website for parents to browse along with their children, because of the links for helping with homework and keeping students motivated, but I chose to view this website as if I was a teacher. When you first navigate to the site you have to choose a content area and let the website know the intent of the audience, yourself. After choosing whether you are looking for information pertaining to grades K-5, 6-8, or 9-12 you can then choose what topic you are looking for within these grade levels. There are options to choose from math, science, English, social studies, as well as find resources like lesson plans, puzzle makers, and worksheets. There are also links on the top of the webpage that can change the information displayed due to audience type. I chose to view this website as if I was a teacher, but there are also resources for students and parents that include homework help, games, step-by-step math lessons, and a motivation station. All of the links on this page work, and download very quickly. The only thing that I do not like about this website is that beside the three main navigation bars, as well as below the navigational information on the webpage there are some ads. Other than that I think that this website is very useful and user friendly. This website is published through Discovery Education, and on the bottom of the website there is a link for the terms of use to be easily accessed.

Mitchell Sept. 5, 2011 Overview: Math Playground is an interactive website that has a bunch of different games for kids of all levels. It contains games, word problems, logic puzzles, and videos. The site was designed by a teacher who's class needed a fun way to practice math facts. The site provides great opportunities for students to work on problem solving, math art to real world math. Content: The games that are listed all have great educational value and are based on specific concepts. The second tab is word problems. These are organized by grade level and cover many different levels. Some of the games can be selected by certain topics, others are general and cover specific topics. The problems all have a "Need Help?" button that helps explain the question if students are lost. This site also contains logic problems that help to get kids thinking, a very important skill for kids. The most valuable tab is the math videos tab that helps explain different topics for kids who need it. Design: The layout of this site is very inviting and open for students. It is easy to navigate and fun to use. The pictures are inviting and help to understand what the games are about. The only downfall is the ads that are on the top and bottom of the pages. These are easily mistaken as part of the site. Kids might have a hard time knowing what is part of the site and what is not. The colors are very nice and would draw the attention of students very easily.

This is an intended audience from kindergarten to 7th grade, each game is classified in a group of games designated for a certain grade and subject matter. The purpose is to give students a fun way to apply what they are learning. I liked the activities and I think the games themselves were very good and user friendly. They really hit on the math topic and some of them are really challenging. I also like that they can compete with others or there are other games where you can go at your own pace.