Reviews

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The following information has been kindly supplied by teachers, parents, and students who tried and tested Numbers Up! 2 Baggin' the Dragon and liked what they found! Read on to find out just what they thought was great.

Teacher Review

'Congratulations EdAlive! Numbers Up! 2 Baggin' The Dragon is a high-quality maths support program ... more>

'The students in my class thoroughly enjoyed playing Numbers Up! Baggin' the Dragon ... more>

'I thought the program was great. The graphics and the interesting array of problems challenged the kids. The pupils enjoyed playing and couldn't wait to finish to meet the dragon.' – Andrew Watson, Teacher

'Numbers Up! Baggin' the Dragon' is a very useful program for the classroom teacher or Maths support teacher. Useful for helping children with basic Maths problems or for consolidation of Maths knowledge.' – Glenn Druitt, Teacher and Computer Coordinator

'Both the children and parents love the Numbers Up! programs. We've had nothing but positive feedback. Well done.' – Frank Naarstig, Primary Teacher

'I would just like to say how much the children have enjoyed Baggin' the Dragon. Thank you.' – Jenny Leeding, Teacher

'Your educational software augments the range of interventions I am able to use with students with learning difficulties. The quality of the integrated interactive material is fantastic.' – Owen Davies, Learning Difficulties Teacher

'Your software has proven to be innovative and engaging. Our students look forward to using the software. It is most popular with all age groups.' – Darren White, Teacher

'The boys in Year 4 and 5 love playing Baggin' the Dragon. They are solving problems that they would never attempt if presented to them on paper.' – Rosemary Sunner, Teacher

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Hazel O'Neill for Primary Choice

This easy-to-use CD-ROM is an excellent resource for all areas of Numeracy and was an instant hit with my Year 3 class. It caters for a wide age-range (5-15) and contains over three thousand questions linked directly to all areas of the Numeracy Strategy.

The CD-ROM comes with a clear and simple instructions for a quick start and a very detailed on-screen teacher’s guide that allows you to tailor the product to the differing needs and abilities of your class. Once you have logged the children on, you can set the difficulty of play appropriate to each child’s individual ability. They are then able to play at their own level against the computer, or each other, with specifically targeted questions. I found this particularly useful as I could allow my pupils to choose to play against their friends, rather than keeping them within ability groups (which they thoroughly enjoyed) and was a fantastic way of subtly differentiating. The other main advantage is that the teacher can set which areas of Numeracy are covered in the game, which I found handy when planning a data-handling unit.

The software's theme is a knights and dragons adventure board-game, in which players have to answer questions correctly to progress, gain ‘strength’ and ‘courage’ in order for them to ‘bag’ the dragon at the end of their game and win the battle. At the start, pupils select their own personalised game-piece and board, which are all highly-colourful and very child-friendly. The game can be played either by turns or number of minutes (which can fit in well with any part of a Numeracy lesson). Players take it in turns to click and roll a dice to progress around the board and are asked questions or quick-fire quizzes about all areas of the Numeracy curriculum. The questions are set out clearly, with superb interactive graphics. The shape, space and measure questions were particularly well structured, involving practical use of the mouse to discover properties of angles and shapes, which most of the children accomplished well - although some dexterity with a mouse is required. The quizzes are exciting mental maths challenges, where ‘strength’ is awarded for both accuracy and speed. These proved a major hit in my room, where the children were trying to beat each other’s times! Players can also land in the stocks, where they have to answer a question correctly to get out, and the shop - where they can swap their ‘strength’ for powers and equipment to help them foil other players and beat the dragon. The ‘shop’ was a very useful tool, as it encouraged the children to manage their own accounts with quick and accurate mental maths.

As it's suitable for both support and extension work, Baggin' the Dragon proved invaluable in my daily Numeracy lessons. The children really enjoyed the board-game approach to the program, found the high-quality animations appealing and loved the challenge of playing against each other.

The teacher’s area allowed me to track individual progress, change the level they were working at if necessary and alter the areas of study to tailor the game to reflect my weekly mathematical theme. The only negatives were that the game has no speak function, which frustrated my less able readers, and the children complained that they couldn’t ‘bag the dragon’ themselves at the end of a game (there is an end-of-game animation, which is enjoyable but not as satisfying!). From a teacher’s point of view, this is a great resource to use for quick revision of all areas and I found it a fantastic incentive for children to use as a reward activity in lessons.

In brief

• Uses a board game approach where children race to 'bag the dragon'
• Has 3000 questions linked to the Numeracy Strategy
• Changing the difficulty settings allows pupils of different abilities to compete against each other

Kids' Comments

'The questions are fun. I like the quizzes - they made my brain work hard'

'I think the shop is good. You can get gadgets and cool stuff to attack people with'

'It's like my games at home. I wish we could kill the dragon ourselves - that'd be fun, but I like the pictures about it.'

Parent Review

'What a brilliant CD. All our kids love it! Congratulations. They're learning heaps!' – Patricia Hanson

'Did you know that in Australia, mathematics is referred to as "maths?" We didn't but then we didn't know how much fun playing with an educational software title could be. This exceptionally kid-friendly title is designed for use either in your home or in the classroom. The vivid graphics and sounds help lure children into the game, while success depends on their ability to answer adjustable, grade level mathematic problems. The storyline involves escaping a fire breathing dragon (is there any other kind?). Testers got so involved in collecting points and looking for swords that they forgot that they were answering questions like they would in school.' – TNPC

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What Kids Think

'I liked the graphics lots and the dragon is SO COOL! I think it's a top game and a fun way of doing Maths.' – Lucy, 12

'It helps you learn. It was really fun to play. I think it's the best computer game in the world.' – Isabella, 7

'I like Numbers Up! 2 because it has gadgets and swords. I like it because it is a maths game and it is not too hard. It is fun and it helps you at maths. I like the questions.' – Ethan, 9

'It is really cool it's got good graphics.' – Damien, 11

'It is easy to understand, it is good, lots of fun and really cool.' – Grace, 6

'I like it because the questions are very good.' – Marnie, 8

'I like the graphics on the screen and how it helps you learn.' – Hayden, 12

'It was really awesome. Not what I see everyday. It made the questions really fun to do.' – Ebony, 8

'I think it is a good game because you can pick which character you want to be and learn new maths skills.' – Jasper, 10

'Really cool, good graphics, well thought up, makes kids interested in maths.' Andrew, 12

'I like the gadgets and swords and when the dragon comes. Also the questions are fun but I like the quizzes the most.' – Tom, 10

'Its easy to understand. It's really good to play. It's cool. It's fun.' – Jordan, 11

'It's a great Maths game and helps you learn. It's really fun to play. I think it's the best computer game in the world!' – Isabella, 9

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Your Feedback

If you have purchased a copy or tried the downloadable DEMO, we would love to hear what you think! We value comments, queries or questions which will help us improve Numbers Up 2 Baggin' The Dragon or simply share your experience with others. Send a comment now.

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