Year: 2015

Alive Studios announces the release of Learning alive, its innovative, supplemental reading and math bundled solution for PreK to 3rd Grade. This suite of software is injected with a hefty dose of Augmented Reality, an exciting technology that provides a 3D experience without the glasses. The goal is to have kids proficient in reading and math by the end of the third grade. Currently, 55% of U.S. students are not proficient in reading and math by the end of the 3rd grade.

The company is actually the first of its kind in the world to use augmented reality in a full year, supplemental educational curriculum. They have been introducing their software solutions across the country in many of the educational conventions and expos. Within a matter of hours, they have the attention of show attendees with their brightly colored booth, trumpeting animal noises and amazing software that enables plain-looking flash cards to jump to life with animated and interactive 3D characters.

“Everywhere we go, the common theme amongst teachers is how to engage students,” states Alive Studios CEO, Cynthia Kaye. “Shortly after seeing our reading and math solutions, and how we use music, sounds, animation, interactivity and the magic of augmented reality, they realize they’ve found their solution for engaging students,” she adds.

The Learning alive Suite, which is now shipping, includes the new Letters alive v3.0, the recently released Math alive, and the interactive digital stories included in Storybooks alive. “Delivering an amazing brand experience is very important to us,” says Kaye. The PreK – 3rd Grade software solutions are infused with 26 lovable characters that draw you into their safari world, and before long, you know each of them by name.

In the midst of all the interactive fun, an independent research study shows kids are learning letter sound fluency and letter naming fluency at a faster pace than those not using the software. “After all the flashy fun of engaging young imaginations, we are primarily focused on getting kids proficient in reading and math by the 3rd grade,” says Kaye.

Early childhood educators attending the National Title 1 Conference in Salt Lake City this week will be treated to a hands-on experience of the latest in 3D augmented reality (AR) curriculum.

Alive Studios has announced that it will launch and demonstrate their newly integrated Learning alive Suite of AR-based learning products that supplement reading and math curriculum for early educators. Administrators and district-grouped educators are encouraged to visit booth 535 early to schedule a hands-on demonstration.

Math alive, a full-year, game-based supplemental math curriculum, is the newest addition to the Learning alive Suite. Math alive uses AR to engage students in 7 essential units of math comprehension. The 3D technology engages children, who say they learn “without even realizing it.” The Lesson Plan Manual is directly mapped to Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten and makes classroom integration seamless. Math alive allows students to interact with some of the same animals from Letters alive, the flagship product from Alive Studios. The combination of reading and math makes the Learning alive Suite comprehensive over subjects and further engages students.

The full Learning alive Suite includes Letters alive, Math alive, and Storybooks alive. Both Letters alive and Math alive feature curriculum guides that make classroom integration effortless with lesson plans, worksheets and activities, enabling full learning integration. Storybooks alive includes captivating, digital, interactive stories that teach children honorable character traits.

39 STATES PIONEERING AUGMENTED REALITY LEARNING

Letters alive is already being used in Pre-school and Kindergarten classes throughout the United States. “We use Letters alive to reinforce what our children are learning in the classroom,” says Raquel Baldwin of Baldwin Academy in Tamarac. “To see the look on their faces when they see the animals come to life is truly amazing. The children seem to be much more engaged and focused on what they’re learning.”

Audra Cervi, K-3 Reading Resource teacher at Audubon Park Elementary in Orlando, agrees. Cervi says the students “love the new flashcards because the letters actually come alive! Children are 100% engaged, watching every movement on the board. They are so excited to learn about the letters and the sounds!”

Audubon Park’s primary Special Education Teacher Mary-Elizabeth Langston says her students benefit from this rich, positive learning experience. “I hear the children throughout the day repeating the sounds they learned. We’re starting to see the difference in how they form sounds and words… there’s a willingness to learn that we had not seen before.”

LETTERS ALIVE:

Letters alive is a supplemental reading curriculum currently in use by educators in 11 countries and in hundreds of classrooms across the United States. Letters alive was designed in alignment with Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten classrooms, as well as early childhood reading within grades 1 – 5 for ESL students, RTI students and students with special needs.

The curriculum gets students excited about reading by using the same mind-blowing, computer-generated augmented reality technology implemented by the Imagineers at Walt Disney World, only in the classroom, where 26 alphabet cards spring to life to help students grasp key concepts in reading.

Each card features an animal that corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, but these are not just simple flash cards or basic animations; These animals pop up in 3-D with no glasses needed, and seem intelligent as they amazingly respond to the questions and sentences that students will build. Even reluctant learners enthusiastically respond to the animals, sounds, and movement. [more]

MATH ALIVE:

Math alive gets students excited about math by helping teachers teach math to early learners in a new and engaging way. Lessons and activities are mapped to Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten. Math alive develops critical learning skills that children need to meet major milestones throughout the school year at Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade levels. Math alive uses 45 skill-based interactive games and the latest “mind-blowing technology” — Augmented Reality. [more]

STORYBOOKS ALIVE:

Storybooks alive makes reading fun and engaging for children with digital interactive storybooks. They can read the stories themselves or have the program read it to them. Children are able to interact with the pages of the digital book with the same lovable animals that are in Letters alive and Math alive. One character trait is incorporated in each digital story. (i.e., being on time, courage, or kindness) Each story has mini games and activities that are aligned to Common Core State Standards. [more]

ABOUT ALIVE STUDIOS:

Alive Studios is the world’s first augmented reality learning company, dedicated to engaging early learners for success in reading and math. Offering research-driven tools backed by a proven teaching methodology that kids love, Alive Studios delivers Letters alive, Math alive, and Storybooks alive  in 11 countries and in classrooms across the United States. More information at www.alivestudiosco.com

JOURNALISTS NOTE:

To receive interviewing contact information for parents, teachers, school, or district administrators, please contact Ian Bryan, 828.713.3310, pr@alivestudiosco.com.

For independent research:             http://bit.ly/K-12study

About Learning alive:                     http://alivestudiosco.com/

 

Our next stop on the trade show circuit was the FETC Convention in sunny Orlando, Florida. What a treat to have 60+ degree weather in January!

We selected FETC to be where we officially announced the newest addition to our educational software solutions, Math alive! On the heels of the successful, Letters alive – our supplemental reading program for PreK to 3rd Graders, comes our solution for early math learners. Like Letters alive, Math alive is infused with an amazing technology known as augmented reality. As expected, attendees who passed by our booth were stopped in their tracks; firstly, by the jungle noises accompanying our 26 animal characters, and secondly, by seeing our characters come alive and jump off the screen!

One of our booth visitors was Barbara, an LAUSD Common Core Math Specialist. She was glued to our booth and full of questions. Seeing so much potential in Math alive for her teachers, she gathered all the information possible to bring back to California.

Our faithful crew ran demos non-stop, which caused the crowd to consistently be 3-4 people deep. (We apologize if you had questions and we were not able to assist to you.) We had all kinds of magic going on and brought out all the stops; From our colorful Converse to Gerdy Giraffe roaming around the booth, we made every attempt to bring well-deserved attention to Math alive. We are on a mission to get children proficient in reading and math by the third grade, and FETC was another great stop on the crusade.

We cannot talk about the FETC Show without mentioning the two lucky winners of our Learning alive Suite! Our educational software bundle for reading and math is valued at $1,295. Jane, of Buncombe County Schools, and Debra, of Port Orange Elementary, had their names drawn from the entries and celebrated the win. Congratulations to both and we look forward to hearing how much your kids love learning with our beloved characters.

Our next stop is the Title1 Show in Salt Lake City. The crusade marches on!! Yay!!

OK, we’re back from Santa Clara! What an awesome time at the PK1 Show!

This two day show was small but power-packed. It is always so cool meeting like-minded people who get jazzed about teaching PreK – 3rd Grade children. We met so many fantastic folks from all facets within California’s PK1 initiatives. The demos of our Supplemental Reading and Math Solutions were such a blast! We never stop smiling thinking about people’s facial expressions when they first see our Augmented Reality characters jump of the screen and respond to the curriculum activities.

California has a real push behind TK-1, the transition of children from Kindergarten to First Grade. Thank goodness they recognize the importance of striving to get the kids proficient in reading and math early on; This establishes the solid foundation for their continued education. We hope to be a small part of that effort.

Our Supplemental Reading and Math Solutions are the first ever to infuse Augmented Reality into an educational curriculum. The level of engagement and excitement from kids is unparalleled and teachers are loving it in their classrooms. This is what we are attempting to convey during our demos. God bless the neighboring exhibitors who have to endure our 26 characters chirping, bellowing and roaring through the showroom aisles. Hah!

If you were one of the many who stopped by to see us, drop us a line and say “hello.” We’d love to hear from you and are so excited to have been introduced to the great things going on in California early education.

Oh! And a HUGE congratulations to Katie Uebner for winning our drawing for the FREE copy of the Learning alive Suite, our Supplemental Reading and Math Software Solution for PreK to 3rd Grade (valued at $1,295).