EdTechLens: Rainforest Journey ~ Review

Recently Eli, Rebekah and Quinton have had a fun, interactive science supplement to work through.  This online science program for kids, from EdTechLens has taken them on an adventure through a rainforest.  For this review, we received a one year subscription to Rainforest Journey; with Eli working through the 4th grade level, Rebekah the second grade level and Quinton the Kindergarten level.

A Closer Look at the Fourth Grade Class

There are five units to each of the classes.  Each of these units is then divided into chapters which are further divided into lessons.  For example, the lessons in Unit 1: Looking Inside the Forest: Chapter 1 of 4th grade are:

• Lesson 1:  Forest Floor
• Lesson 2:  Understory
• Lesson 3:  Canopy
• Lesson 4:  Emergent
• Lesson 5:  Types of Rainforests

At the end of each Lesson, there is a Lesson Review that can be printed off for the students to complete.  The lesson reviews vary based on the grade level.  The fourth grade reviews typically have 2-3 questions that require 2-4 sentence answers.

 

At the conclusion of a Unit, there is a review of the vocabulary words and their meanings that were introduced in the preceding  Unit.  There is then a Depth of Knowledge portion that can be printed off as a PDF or can be taken online.  When completed online the student’s results are displayed for them to see at the conclusion of the Depth of Knowledge.  In addition to the Depth of Knowledge quiz, their is an Open-ended Assessment.  This assessment can also be completed online or printed off.  Each of the questions in this assessment are short answer or essay.  The final assessment is the Factual Assessment.  Again this one can be printed off as a PDF or completed online.  It is a multiple choice type assessment.  As with the Depth of Knowledge portion, the Factual Assessment also shows the student their results which I really appreciate.

I did not find a way to be able to pick and choose which reviews were completed.  If I could change one thing it would be that you could select which assessments the students were required to complete.

The 2nd grade and Kindergarten classes cover the same topics as the 4th grade class but at varying degrees of difficulty.  This would make it possible to use the course again with the same students in another year.

A Closer Look at the Teacher’s Portal

When logged in as the teacher it is easy to access where each of your students are in the progress through the Rainforest Journey.  You can also choose whether they complete the course in the Guided mode (completing the course in sequential order) or the Open Mode (the content is viewed in whatever order the student chooses).

From the Teacher’s account, you can download and print off all the assessments ahead of time.  There are also helpful hints for the teacher regarding the presentation of the material and helping students get the most out of their class.  There is a also a support section that contains both a Quick Start Guide and a longer User Guide which answered all the questions I had about the program.

What Did We Think?

We have enjoyed working through the Rainforest Journey.  A really neat part of the Rainforest Journey, is that the lessons have audio that pre-readers or those that struggle with reading can click on to hear the text read to them.  This was extremely helpful for Quinton because he could be working through the program somewhat independently which made him feel very grown up.  All three of the kids have enjoyed working through their respective levels.  The pictures are absolutely beautiful throughout all of the lessons and levels!

If I could change something it would be that the teacher would be allowed to determine which assessments must be completed prior to moving on to the next unit.

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Blessings,

Jennifer