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The Ultimate Tool for School The Visual Thesaurus Drives Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension and Good Grades
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Aug 20, 2005, 15:44

(ARA) – One million students at every grade level, from primary school through graduate school, are embracing The Visual Thesaurus software. It brings the English language alive by displaying words; their meanings; their sounds and their connections to each other. It speaks to people who think visually and it’s a great way to see our words; what they mean, how they’re used and where they come from.
It helps students understand, read, write, speak and even think more clearly. From vocabulary quizzes to term papers to SATs, The Visual Thesaurus helps students understand, find and use the right word in the right context. Robbie Calvert, a junior at Hillcrest High School in Salt Lake City said, “It helps a lot with English papers. It makes you sound a lot smarter.” Classmate Steve Summers concurred, “I’m not huge into English, but I’m always looking for new tools and I see great potential in the Visual Thesaurus.”

American and British spellings and pronunciations are built-in. Certified as meeting standards-based requirements at national and state levels for teaching vocabulary, reading comprehension, grammar, writing and pronunciation, it is being used in hundreds of school districts. High school English teacher Sharlene Beck pointed out, “It does more than a regular thesaurus does.”

Turning the cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words” on its head, the Visual Thesaurus creates a matrix of type, colored dots and floating lines to display the meanings, parts of speech, synonyms and the relationships between 145,000 English words. Kids see what words mean, hear how they are pronounced and can move them around to see shades of meaning and relationships between words.

The Visual Thesaurus has been selected as one of the leading examples of outstanding design produced in 2004 by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Arts. The Visual Thesaurus was cited specifically for excellence in the clear display of information.

Move the mouse over any meaning to reveal the definition. Mouse over any line and the relationship between words is displayed. Click on any word and the constellation rearranges itself with the “clicked” new word at the center of the constellation. With 16 different semantic relationships embedded in a fun-to-use format, the Visual Thesaurus builds vocabulary, sparks brainstorming, deepens understanding and is a tool valued by anyone who needs to read, write or speak English.

Yahoo reviewed the Visual Thesaurus saying “It’s a near perfect combination of content and design.” PC Magazine gave the Visual Thesaurus 4.5 stars and concluded “ It is a remarkably inventive and interactive way to explore language.” The New York Times reviewer called it “Inventive. Imaginative. Ingenious and Fanciful.”

Adopted by the State of Utah, the Province of Ontario, 52 school districts in 28 states and 4 provinces, and almost 200 individual schools, The Visual Thesaurus is also being used at the University of Calgary, the University of Michigan, Quinnipiac University and the University of Chicago among others. It has been purchased by public and private schools and by parochial schools of almost every denomination. Individual schools in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Holland, Malaysia and Israel have also integrated this unique tool into language arts curricula.

“Students, teachers and parents have embraced the Visual Thesaurus because it shows our complex language in ways that improve understanding, build vocabulary, grow word associations and spark creative ideas,” says Michael Freedman, CEO of The Visual Thesaurus. “It’s a tool for school that resonates with the “Gameboy”generation because it’s easy and fun to use.”

The Visual Thesaurus is designed for use with both Windows and Macintosh operating systems and synchronizes with Internet Explorer 4+, Firefox, Netscape 7+ and Safari browsers. The Desktop edition is $29.95. The Online edition is $19.95/year. Try it for free at www.visualthesaurus.com/ara. Courtesy of ARA Content

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