The program allows pupils to choose one of five legendary characters; Jason of the Argonauts, Sir Lancelot, Hiawatha, the Pharaoh or Rama and send them on a treasure stealing, monster bashing quest to save their true love. Along the way there are cross-curricular puzzles to be solved, choices to be made and babes to swoon over. Not your typical literacy lesson then!

Anyone can be a legend in the classroom!

These adventures are wonderfully atmospheric so I decided to take my year nine, mixed ability class to the darkened sensory studio for this special session! I use a portable multimedia projector linked to my laptop and switches to allow access for my pupils, which makes the room as dark as possible during the scary bits and adds impact during the lighter scenes. Of course, Legends can be taught in a variety of ways - on an interactive whiteboard, a classroom PC or even using the handy printouts contained on the CD.

When the pupils have settled, the session begins with a recap on the software using print outs from the previous session. They remember that Jordan decided on the story last time (Jordan excitedly remembers too!) and that he chose to be Sir Lancelot who got into a scrape with a grizzly bear.

Today, it's Sarah's turn. Sarah has profound difficulties so she makes her choices using the 'auditory scanning' feature and her head switch. The students are ready, the lights dim and the story begins.

Sarah starts her quest by choosing a character and becomes very animated when the Red Indian drum and pipe music begins as she chooses Hiawatha. The enthusiastic narrator informs us that Hiawatha has lost the love of his life, Minnehaha, and must go on an adventure to get her back! First Sarah must choose a mode of transport - will he travel by canoe, ship (the Argo no less!) or elephant? Sarah uses her switch to choose the elephant and we're away. Then she chooses to go to the scary castle. The narrator informs us with reverberating melodrama that he went "into the darkness within.!" The door looms open and the screen (and sensory studio) goes black. Scary stuff!

Now the quest really begins. The pupils must choose between two doors, behind which lurks either treasure or a monster. The tension builds as Sarah chooses her first door and we are all relieved when she stumbles upon an ancient peace pipe (though my pupils are warned that smoking even peace pipes is as dangerous as fighting beasties!) Feeling quite chipper as we've reached level 2, we choose from the next set of doors and yelp as we are faced with a fearsome dragon! "To get past me and reach level three," he hisses, "You must answer a question!" The pressure is on as the million dollar question is offered - "What do you need when it's sunny? A raincoat, an umbrella or sunglasses?" Luckily, the class are SwitchIt! Weather veterans so Sarah's 'ask the audience' option is not wasted as they successfully help her to answer the question, handily saving us from a trip back to the start of the level.

Level three and this time Minnehaha is behind the door, locked in a cage. Only the correct answer to the final question can save her! We steel ourselves for the final challenge - "How many sides has a triangle? The options begin to scan. Sarah ignores 'one' and the crowd hold their breath. She ignores 'three' and there are nervous glances around the room. The silence is broken as the audible scanning asks "four?" and Sarah looks at me, cool as a cucumber. Back to the start of the options and with one mighty 'click' the correct choice is made - she did it! The crowd go wild as Hiawatha and Minnehaha are reunited. Well done, Sarah!

We are asked if we want to hear the story again and as we're not ones to say no to a free plenary and because Sarah is feeling so pleased with herself we decide that she can ramp up her self esteem and feel all empowered by telling us the tale again. Of course this is used as a comprehension session for the rest of the class with Sarah strangely excited to be 'demoted' to teacher for this part of the session! So here ends a truly invigorating literacy lesson with lots of excited pupils ready for their next quest (which today is surviving one of my food technology lessons!)

Product features

As with all Inclusive products, the access options include mouse, keyboard, IntelliKeys and switch access as well as a range of scanning and differentiation options. The teacher can change the number of levels and determine the difficulty of the monster's questions, from matching a picture to a spoken word up to answering a written question with no pictorial clues.

The graphics and sound are very good and Nick Wonham's narration exudes infectious enthusiasm. The accompanying music is enjoyable and appropriate and really does add ambience. As a welcome bonus, contained within the CD are invaluable flashcards to print and also black and white pictures for the pupils to colour.

Uses

The three main foci of the software in terms of child development are encouraging choice making, understanding cause and effect and the improvement of switching skills. All of these important areas are handled admirably and the range of teacher options really does allow the software to be easily tweaked to fit any user.

The product can be widely used across the curriculum, ranging from a fantastic, literacy strategy-friendly English lesson to a self-esteem inflating PSHE session. Additionally, the program is packed with cross-curricular material (including elements of history, geography, RE, maths, music and science) so can easily find its way into almost any area of the curriculum.

The program can also be used very effectively with a single pupil or a whole class and the range of printable materials contained on the disk really adds value, enabling the activity to be carried on away from the computer (or even allow the pupil to take their story home for shared reading with parents).

Benefits/results

This a novel and exciting way to enhance understanding of cause and effect, improve switch use and encourage choice making as the software is an exceptionally motivational tool that simply sucks the student in and allows them to make and tell a story, regardless of ability - a huge inclusive plus! It is also a wonderful self-esteem builder where a single pupil can be the star of the class and be crowned a hero in a single lesson!

Of course, all of the main characters are heroes - I'd have loved to see the girls in my class playing as Maid Marion rescuing Robin Hood. Other than that, I can't praise this product enough!

Pete Wells