Dear Teachers:

Welcome to Villainy, Inc., a Maryland Public Television Electronic Field Trip that delves into the exciting world of mathematics.

Each Villainy "mission" includes a detailed storyline, and three opportunities for students to solve mathematical challenges.

You may want to begin your visit by visiting the For Teachers section to get a quick overview. As with any new content area, students will be most successful when they have the level of support they need to handle new and unfamiliar concepts. Less skilled readers will require even greater levels of assistance.

We have embedded strategies specifically designed to ensure that all readers can successfully understand the content. Since this online field trip focuses primarily on math concepts and activities, middle school students will not encounter large sections of text that could pose problems for either less skilled or reluctant readers. When text does appear, a number of design features help support readers.

Design features that support readers:

• The animation is closed captioned and narrated for students to develop fluency as they read along silently.



• The prose is clear and written in a style that middle school students can easily read.



• Animations are appealing and engaging.



• The size/style of the font and amount of print on a page are accessible and motivating.



• Graphical information (cities on a map, for example) offer additional information via pop-up feature for easy reading.

Strategies for using the site successfully:

• Consider introducing the characters, the storyline and the setting prior to beginning a mission. If students get intrigued with the characters, they will be highly motivated to follow the mission mathematics carefully. You might consider teaming with a language arts colleague, or assigning the reading for homework.



• Students can choose two helpers to assist them throughout the mission. Again, introducing students to the helpers' "back-stories prior to beginning the mission will help them set the stage for success. Assigning this "background research" prior to beginning a mission will ensure that students are fully prepared to follow (or discard!) their helper's advice.



• The teacher's edition for each mission has the following supports:
  
  
  • Vocabulary lists - Consider introducing words in a word sort activity or predicting the meaning of the word if it's presented in a sentence
  
  
  
  • Mission Scripts - Consider assigning some or all of the story line to be read for homework.
  
  
  
• For general support in using missions successfully in the classroom, check out the Teacher Tips.

Best of luck! Enjoy tackling the Villainy, Inc missions with your students. All types of readers will be eager to solve the math problems as the lively animated characters lead the way.

Suzanne Clewell, Ph.D.
Joe Czarnecki, Ph.D.