Magazine

Espresso

9/26/2012 By: MaryAnn Karre

www.espressoeducation.com • Retail Price: A one-building subscription to Espresso costs $1,595, including access from home. Multi-building and multi-year pricing discounts also apply.

Espresso Elementary for Pre-K to grade 5 is a crosscurricular learning site with a huge library of videos that can be integrated with interactive activities, games, quizzes, and a weekly news service, all which can be blended to create rich lessons based on the Core Curriculum standards.

Quality and Effectiveness: Espresso Elementary provides a variety of interactive, video-rich, classroom resources. The resources include more than 1,400 multimedia activities and quizzes, 5,600 video clips, interactive games, and simulations, 4,100 printable worksheets, a weekly news service, and modules that collect the resources into subject-specific units. All of the resources are aligned to state Common Core standards and can be searched by topic or standard. Lessons can be used independently, combined with other Espresso resources, or utilized with additional materials to create units that can be saved, edited, and reused.

Ease of Use: In addition to introductory videos and an ever-present help button, Espresso offers teacher support in every section. There are tabs at the top of the page that lead teachers to planning tools, and the program also offers tables that show modules on specific subjects and topics. Teachers can drill down by subject area, search for specific topics, or browse by standards from each page. It’s hard to get lost because there is a breadcrumb trail that allows teachers to backtrack easily. New features to Espresso include Module Guides, which help teachers choose appropriate materials quickly and ensure that they will reach the depth of learning required by state Common Core standards.

Creative Use of Technology: By using the Lesson Planner function, teachers can set up a variety of classrooms, add students, and assign them to groups. Students are given an access code, which allows them to work outside of the classroom and strengthen their home-school connections.

The lesson planner also helps teachers to collect Espresso pages, bringing together videos, images, activities, and quizzes to create lessons. Teachers can then assign those lessons to students and track each pupil’s progress. They can differentiate the lessons to meet each student’s abilities, edit units by changing the sequence of the pages, and add open-ended, multiple-choice, or true-false questions.

Suitability for Use in a School Environment: Espresso is designed to be used in classrooms and libraries from Pre-K to grade 5, although there are more resources for students in K through grade 3. The materials are so versatile that they can be used with an interactive whiteboard for a whole class, in small groups, or by individuals. They can also be accessed from home for review or homework activities.

TOP FEATURES

• Espresso helps teachers easily create engaging lessons, integrate technology in a meaningful way, and apply real-world context through videos, news articles, and other multimedia elements.
• All elements and resources are tied to state standards, including Common Core standards.
• Students can learn with Espresso at their own pace, inside or outside of school, in large groups, or individually. This program also allows teachers to track students’ progress. The ease and freedom of Espresso is ideal for flipped classrooms and differentiated instruction.