My Apps
ABC Magic 2 (free)
This app is geared towards younger students who require initial consonant sound support. It first says the letter sound, then highlights one picture at a time that has that letter sound (ex. the sound of ‘f’ then it highlights a picture of a ‘fork’, highlighting the initial sound of the word).
Bubble Rhymes
This app is geared towards students who require help with their rhyming skills. The app displays a picture, and states the word, of the word that the student has to rhyme. Then the student has to read the simple words (3-4 letters) that are floating on the screen in bubbles. If the student touches the incorrect word, the bee says ‘try again’ in a neutral tone. If the student touches the correct word, a fireworks display appears in the top right hand corner of the screen. The student would require some literacy skills to be able to read the words in the bubbles.
Magic Reading 3 Letter Words
This app is geared toward elementary level students (not necessarily younger students) who require help in their letter-sound processing. This app has 3 levels of play: Blending, which has both the letters and the picture hidden, so the student would have to figure out what the picture is from tapping the blank sound boxes; Segmenting, which has the picture in view, so the student would have to discover the individual sounds of the letters; and Reading, which has both picture and letters in view, so that the student makes connections the letter and the sound together.
MemBlock
This app is geared towards people of all ages who would like to improve their auditory and visual memory. It is based on an old handheld board game that I remember playing when I was younger (like the Rubix cube). The app flashes a colour and a specific musical tone, and the player has to remember the flashes and/or the tones in order. It repeats the sequence over whenever it adds a new one. No literacy skills are required.
Miss Spider
This app is geared towards younger elementary students who enjoy Miss Spider (it is a children’s television show). There are three things to do within this app: Watch, which reads a story to the student using a voice that is clear and full of expression. It also highlights the words as the story is read. The second thing to do is Read, which allows the student to read the story by his or herself. The student glides his/her finger to turn the pages, and there are certain places where, if the student taps the screen, animation occurs. The last thing to do is Play, which contains a matching game, a jigsaw puzzle, and a paint function. There is a trial version, which contains half the story. To access the full story, you would have to buy the app for $1.99.
Playwords
This app is geared towards students who require help in decoding and developing their phonemic awareness. This app has 3 games: Picture Blast, which shows a picture (that appears to be drawn by a child) and a word. The player simply touches the picture, and it says the word. The second game is called Word Match, which shows a picture, and the student has to touch the word that identifies the picture. The last game is called Lost Letter, which displays a word that is missing one letter, and the student has to pick the correct letter out of 4 possible letters. My 7 year old son was playing this game and was sounding out the word to figure out what the missing letter was. The good thing about the app is that if the student touches an incorrect response, the incorrect response highlights in red, and the student cannot select it anymore.
Reading Logs for Kids
This app is geared towards all students who are required to keep a log of all the books that they have read. When the student taps the ‘reading log’ icon at the bottom of the initial screen, he/she is directed to a screen where the student inputs his/her personal information. Then he/she must enter in the title of the book read, the date completed, and who it was read to/verified by. When the student has read 60 books, a visual and auditory display of fireworks celebrates the achievement. The student can record 60 books for free, however, if the student wishes to record more than 60 books, the fee is $2.99.
Text Audio Books
This app is geared towards upper elementary and secondary students who have decoding difficulties. There are several books that the student or teacher can download. When the student touches the ‘play’ button located at the bottom of the screen, the text is read to him/her. The text is not highlighted; therefore the onus is on the student to pay attention to the story being read. This app is better suited for strong auditory learners who have difficulty decoding, but very little difficulty in comprehension.
Photo Touch Sight Words (free)
This app is geared toward students who require sight word practice. It is very fun and engaging. It says the sight word, and the player has to find it in an increasing number of sight words. The sight words are not read to you; therefore the player is practicing his/her skill at recalling visual stimuli (the sight words).
ZAP Phonics
This app is geared towards young children who need help in connecting the visual letters to the sounds that they make. Zap explains to the student that sounds are represented by letters, and that letters make words. This app is very engaging, has a storyline, and beautiful graphics. The one drawback of this app is when the student ‘picks’ up the letters, Zap says only the sound the letter makes, and not the letter name.
My partner's apps
This app is used for the purpose of fostering an enjoyment of reading. It is a great app to share with parents, colleagues, basically anyone who would like any support with they have a reluctant reader and are looking for additional support to ‘hook’ a child to reading. Once you have new and fresh ideas to try with the children a child’s perspective for books may now be turned from “ugh I can’t do this” to “wow, let’s give that a try “ and that’s exactly why this app is beneficial.
'Spell-It' Tapping on the button will spell the word, kids listen to it and learn how to spell it. The best way to memorize the spelling is listening to it. Great feature, along with Help, see next.
ArtikPix (Price 29.99)
ArtikPix is an application to help expressive language learning and, in particular, consonant phonemes in English. It uses images, reinforcement sounds, a game, a data collection system and other functions that together make it an attractive application for children, a useful tool for adults and a complete learning environment from a professional standpoint. ArtikPix allows you to practice certain phonemes based on seeing pictures and words associated with those phonemes and optionally recording audio so the student can hear himself saying those words and allowing the teacher to enter the results obtained.
This app will be particularly useful in my current job as a speech and language resource teacher. It has all the specific isolated sounds that I would use as an articulation teaching tool. It is also suggested that this could be used for children with Autism if they have concerns with individual phonemes. It has the capability to record the child saying the letter allowing them to self monitor the specific sound. I like the matching component that is involved with this app. It is like using the flashcards themselves but now it is on the iPhone. If my SLP does not have this excellent app, then I will be introducing it to her upon my return to school.
PhonoPix(Price 24.99)
Description
This program allows you to practice with 36 sequences, by ordering the images that form them, reading the descriptions of each of the three images of each sequence, hearing the explanation of the complete sequence, etc., and all this in a fun way. The ultimate goal: to know these sequences and to practice narrative and even reading skills. Speech with Milo: Sequencing comes with 36 sequences, each one consisting of three images showing the Milo (sometimes accompanied by Melvin) performing a series of actions. There are several sequences of habits, such as dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth, tying shoes, eating a hamburger, going to school, getting up or going to sleep, etc. Other sequences show sports and other leisure activities, like reading a book, going to the movies, building a sand castle, sliding at park or celebrating birthday. Yet another group shows parents activities, such as driving a car or baking a cake. Finally, there is one about Milo driving a rocket to the moon. Speech with Milo: Sequencing can work with all the sequences or you may choose one by one which sequences will be used. This is something that can easily be done by checking or unchecking them. You can also choose if they are going to appear in order or randomly.
I really like this app and I will use it for several reasons with my children. It is one of a series that is good for early literacy, for children with autism, children with language difficulties, and children who need extra help with sequencing and practicing retelling. It has good graphics to entice the children coupled with fun music when an answer is given. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to change the settings according to the development of the student.
My partner's apps
Here are some really interesting apps that I have researched and enjoyed that will be useful for reluctant readers. The apps are not limited to reluctant readers but can be used for many purposes which is why I choose these particular apps. I have included an excerpt from the their sites describing each app(in case it interests you and you want to download it for yourself) and then I give a little feedback on each app that I chose. Hope you enjoy!!!
Reading for Kids-100 ways to encourage your kids to read. (Price. Free)
Description
This app is full of great ideas that will encourage your kids to be eager, happy readers. Studies show that the more children read, the better readers and writers they become. You can make reading an everyday part of your kids’ lives. Here’s how, from the time they are babies through elementary and high school.
- Approaches for infants, as well as young children and teens
- Web activities that have kids reading and writing daily
- Reading hints to replace television watching
- Use maps, recipes, coupons, horoscopes and games to get kids excited about reading
- Rewards and incentives
- Ideas that give kids confidence
- Practical suggestions that work
A1 Spelling App (Price Free-But as you use the trial version the other spelling categories requires you pay 0.99 for each)
Description
A1 Spelling App is an easy to use engaging app that help kids learn common spellings. The kids see a picture and hear the word and then type the spelling using the on screen key pad.'Spell-It' Tapping on the button will spell the word, kids listen to it and learn how to spell it. The best way to memorize the spelling is listening to it. Great feature, along with Help, see next.
ABC Phonics (Price 1.99)
Kids learn to read early by using Word Families (as known as Analogy Phonics) by finding commonality (i.e. short a sounds or long e sounds) among a set of words - Educators use these word families to teach early readers to see and hear the patterns of these words.
FIVE LEARNING MODULES
1. WORD FAMILIES - Review the words in each of their respective word families. This reinforces the commonality with the word's sound, spelling, and constructs.
2. FLASHCARDS - SEE the spelling, HEAR the audio, and LEARN the word.
3. DRAG & SPELL - HEAR the audio, then SPELL the word. Teaches fine motor skills to DRAG the letter into the right spot to teach spelling of the words.
4. UNSCRAMBLE - Test reinforced learning to see if your child comprehend the lessons from the top three modules.
5. PRIZE AWARD - Encourages and rewards your child and makes learning fun. After completing each level in the Unscramble, your kids can go to the Prizeland to play and with the prizes. The more levels they complete, the more prizes they will unlock.
2. FLASHCARDS - SEE the spelling, HEAR the audio, and LEARN the word.
3. DRAG & SPELL - HEAR the audio, then SPELL the word. Teaches fine motor skills to DRAG the letter into the right spot to teach spelling of the words.
4. UNSCRAMBLE - Test reinforced learning to see if your child comprehend the lessons from the top three modules.
5. PRIZE AWARD - Encourages and rewards your child and makes learning fun. After completing each level in the Unscramble, your kids can go to the Prizeland to play and with the prizes. The more levels they complete, the more prizes they will unlock.
I enjoyed this app when I started playing with it because of its appeal and learning capability. The whole premise of the app is to reinforce phonics in a cool and interesting way. As the teacher you can control what the student’s focus will be on learning whether it is individual letters or word families. Also depending on the student’s learning letters you can provide hints for words or not allow any hints to see how well the student it doing. There are also pleasing positive reinforcement sounds and when you choose an incorrect response it will buzz so you will have to try again. It has cause and effect, fine motor capabilities and rewards in playland for doing a great job!!
ArtikPix (Price 29.99)
ArtikPix is an application to help expressive language learning and, in particular, consonant phonemes in English. It uses images, reinforcement sounds, a game, a data collection system and other functions that together make it an attractive application for children, a useful tool for adults and a complete learning environment from a professional standpoint. ArtikPix allows you to practice certain phonemes based on seeing pictures and words associated with those phonemes and optionally recording audio so the student can hear himself saying those words and allowing the teacher to enter the results obtained.
This app will be particularly useful in my current job as a speech and language resource teacher. It has all the specific isolated sounds that I would use as an articulation teaching tool. It is also suggested that this could be used for children with Autism if they have concerns with individual phonemes. It has the capability to record the child saying the letter allowing them to self monitor the specific sound. I like the matching component that is involved with this app. It is like using the flashcards themselves but now it is on the iPhone. If my SLP does not have this excellent app, then I will be introducing it to her upon my return to school.
Literacy Skills Level 1 (Price 0.99)
Description
Introducing the third in a series of "skill" applications that can teach your child or student basic and advanced skills that they need to succeed. In Literacy Skills Level 1, your child or student can learn and develop fine motor skills by following a dotted line and tracing various letters. They will learn to identify the difference between uppercase and lowercase and be able to draw them against examples on screen. There are flash cards and also a Free Draw section. Included in this application are:
* Flash Cards* Tracing* Writing Letters* The Right Letter* The Right Picture* Upper Cases
* Lower Cases* Free Draw
* Flash Cards* Tracing* Writing Letters* The Right Letter* The Right Picture* Upper Cases
* Lower Cases* Free Draw
This app could be used for children who need development with their fine motor skills as well as developing phonemic awareness, sound/letter relationships, upper vs lower case letters, visual cuing etc. I really like this app because of its multi use functionality. It is not an app to use for only one thing and then you need to move on to another program, lessons can be carried on until a skill is mastered then another targeted skill can be worked on next within the same program.
PhonoPix(Price 24.99)
Description
PhonoPix is a phonological app and the companion to our successful articulation app called ArtikPix. PhonoPix has flashcard and matching activities with minimal pairs to contrast childrenʼs incorrect responses with the target responses. Example minimal pairs include “tea” and “key,” “ton” and “sun,” “bee” and “beach,” and many more.
PhonoPix has 10 decks with 40 minimal pairs in each (400 total pairs) for the following phonological processes: prevocalic voicing, word final devoicing, final consonant deletion, fronting (palatal and velar), marked blend reduction, unmarked blend reduction, gliding (“l” and “r” sounds), stopping, backing (palatal and velar), and initial consonant deletion. Children view the minimal pairs in double-sided flashcards by flicking through an album and tapping an around button. In the matching activity, children have fun matching the minimal pairs in three different levels: easy with 3 pairs, medium with 6 pairs, and hard with 10 pairs.
This app will be particularly useful in my current job also for speech and language resource. It has the capability for me to teach all the necessary foundations to speech and language for struggling readers. Children with language processing issues (auditory, memory etc) will benefit from this app. I like how the information with this app is so detailed and helps to pinpoint which specific skill you are trying to teach with regards to speech. Great app!!!
PhonoPix has 10 decks with 40 minimal pairs in each (400 total pairs) for the following phonological processes: prevocalic voicing, word final devoicing, final consonant deletion, fronting (palatal and velar), marked blend reduction, unmarked blend reduction, gliding (“l” and “r” sounds), stopping, backing (palatal and velar), and initial consonant deletion. Children view the minimal pairs in double-sided flashcards by flicking through an album and tapping an around button. In the matching activity, children have fun matching the minimal pairs in three different levels: easy with 3 pairs, medium with 6 pairs, and hard with 10 pairs.
This app will be particularly useful in my current job also for speech and language resource. It has the capability for me to teach all the necessary foundations to speech and language for struggling readers. Children with language processing issues (auditory, memory etc) will benefit from this app. I like how the information with this app is so detailed and helps to pinpoint which specific skill you are trying to teach with regards to speech. Great app!!!
The Reading Game (Price 0.99)
Description
The Reading Game makes reading books more exciting and fun than ever before! Now different users can track their own books and get rewarded every time they read. With over 300 rewards to unlock, this game transforms daily reading into your favorite thing!
This app is primarily used for reluctant readers who would get an enjoyment from the interest level of their own books that can be added. A good feature of this app is the fact that the children can track their own books and get rewarded. This hopefully will foster an enjoyment for reading and want to continuing reading and make it a beneficial learning experience.
Speech With Milo (Price 1.99)
This program allows you to practice with 36 sequences, by ordering the images that form them, reading the descriptions of each of the three images of each sequence, hearing the explanation of the complete sequence, etc., and all this in a fun way. The ultimate goal: to know these sequences and to practice narrative and even reading skills. Speech with Milo: Sequencing comes with 36 sequences, each one consisting of three images showing the Milo (sometimes accompanied by Melvin) performing a series of actions. There are several sequences of habits, such as dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth, tying shoes, eating a hamburger, going to school, getting up or going to sleep, etc. Other sequences show sports and other leisure activities, like reading a book, going to the movies, building a sand castle, sliding at park or celebrating birthday. Yet another group shows parents activities, such as driving a car or baking a cake. Finally, there is one about Milo driving a rocket to the moon. Speech with Milo: Sequencing can work with all the sequences or you may choose one by one which sequences will be used. This is something that can easily be done by checking or unchecking them. You can also choose if they are going to appear in order or randomly.
I really like this app and I will use it for several reasons with my children. It is one of a series that is good for early literacy, for children with autism, children with language difficulties, and children who need extra help with sequencing and practicing retelling. It has good graphics to entice the children coupled with fun music when an answer is given. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to change the settings according to the development of the student.
Word Magic (Price 0.99)
Word Magic is designed keeping preschooler and kindergarten kids in mind. It is very ideal for kids between the ages 3 to 6. It is an excellent application for kids to have fun with words and their spellings and learn them. A picture is shown and the kids should select the missing letter for the picture. The picture for the word will be read out. There are three flavors. Based on the kids level, you can choose missing letter at the beginning or in the middle or in the last.
Word magic is loaded with lot of fun features:
- Very simple design. Kids need to just touch the answer.
- Very attractive and funny pictures.
- Once they identify the correct answer, shaking the iphone will take them to a new problem.
- Every time they pick the answers they get appreciated with surprise appreciation (real voice)
- After every 5 successive correct answers different colored stars appear as their rewards. Kids love this.
Word magic is fun learning experience for kids which would help them in
- Positive reinforcement
- Surprises and rewards
- Very simple design
- Vibrant colors
- Attractive and funny pictures
Word magic is loaded with lot of fun features:
- Very simple design. Kids need to just touch the answer.
- Very attractive and funny pictures.
- Once they identify the correct answer, shaking the iphone will take them to a new problem.
- Every time they pick the answers they get appreciated with surprise appreciation (real voice)
- After every 5 successive correct answers different colored stars appear as their rewards. Kids love this.
Word magic is fun learning experience for kids which would help them in
- Positive reinforcement
- Surprises and rewards
- Very simple design
- Vibrant colors
- Attractive and funny pictures
I am recommending this app because it would be very enticing for a reluctant reader who is at the very beginning stages of literacy. It is full of vibrant colors, with positive reinforcement for correct answers and opportunities for correction. It also allows the teacher to set up the learning environment within program to allow for specific skill sets. The teacher can choose the level, what part of the word they want the student to work on and what type of reward etc. It is a good pre literacy app.
Zombies VS Literacy (Price 1.99)
Description
Stop zombies from eating your brain by learning early reading skills. Practice word families and sight words and you'll discover that your brain is too big to be eaten! Fun, interactive application to practice early reading skills. Swipe through the alphabet, word families and sight words. Touch letters to hear them spoken. Watch our for the zombie stampede...they're looking for brains.
- Complete Dolche and Fry sight words (K-5)
- Interactive word stampede; drag letters back to make fix the word.
- Keep track of the frequency and date of word lists.
- Build a custom word list to practice.
- Complete Dolche and Fry sight words (K-5)
- Interactive word stampede; drag letters back to make fix the word.
- Keep track of the frequency and date of word lists.
- Build a custom word list to practice.
I liked this app because it was designed to help practice early reading skills. The app uses sight words from Dolch and Fry with sound so you tap to hear each word. The app provides a visual representation for the letters coinciding with a voice for the letters as you tap. It also has positive reinforcement when the letters are correct. If you like this type of app then the same provider made Elephonics(in case you do not like the zombie theme).
Excellent! thanks sacha
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