BrainPOP Jr.
© 2006 BrainPOP, LLC.
First released in 2004, BrainPOP is a browser-based web-delivered set of tutorials and movies, available by annual subscription. Prices range from $100/year for home use, to $1000/year for classroom use. Each student is given a screen name and password to Login. This junior version for K-3 (available at http://www.brainpopjr.com) includes topics geared to national standards. Animated lessons include short movies, quizzes and simple games. It is possible for students to upload their work or see other students' drawings or writings. Topics include the food pyramid, allergies, animal hibernation and telling time. After the movie, children can play games or take quizzes to test comprehension. The navigation is clean and well-designed, and new content is featured up front. Parents or teachers can customize the pacing of the movies to give children the chance to answer questions independently or make predictions before proceeding. Besides the sharing of content, there is no record keeping or smart features, such as branching. The beauty of this service is its simplicity. If your browser can view Flash content, you can use BrainPOP. Note that the free subscription mode includes five-minute movies and a unique notebook feature corresponding to the content. Note that the science video on exoplanets had some out of date information (they included pluto as a planet). Also, it would be nice if you had better control over the way the videos are played.
$100, Internet Site
Teaches: science, health, reading, writing, social studies and math
CTR Rating: 86%