0

Jungle Picnic

Jungle Picnic

FREE for a limited time – Jungle Picnic, a cute story with embedded learning games for 2 – 4 year olds. Charlie the Monkey and his friends, Alice the Zebra & Ralph the Giraffe, are planning a picnic. Charlie’s silliness causes some problems along the way and kids are enlisted to help save the picnic. As they help the animals, kids are working on early math skills – matching, sorting, and one-to-one correspondence.  Literacy is also embedded in this app  – the words are highlighted as the text is narrated. Words can also be touched individually to hear them read aloud. Jungle Picnic is a perfect blend of story & learning skills – fantastic fun for little ones!

Recommended!

Jungle Picnic - Shiny Things

0

Trixie & Jinx

Trixie & Jinx

FREE for a limited time – Trixie and Jinx, a story for kids by New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Trixie, the main character of the book, is Dean Koontz’s much-loved golden retriever. In the story, Trixie and Jinx the dachshund are best friends. Jinx goes on vacation with his family and Trixie discovers that no one can take his place. This story is wonderful – the perfect blend of a fun story with a great message about the importance of friendship.

The book can be read in 3 modes: read myself, read to me, or autoplay. Another very unique feature of this e-book is the ability to personalize it. Kids can edit the illustrations (repaint background & character), the narration (record it being read by a parent or a child), and Jinx’s name (add their dog to the story). The app also includes an “extras” section featuring an introduction to Dean Koontz, a tutorial on how to use the app, a photo gallery with pictures of the real-life Trixie, and a link to an organization called Canine Companions which provides assistance dogs for children & adults with disabilities.

This app could be incorporated into a reading unit centering around friendship stories or animal stories. It could also be used as a springboard for all sorts of creative writing – write about your dog, your dog’s best friend, your best friend, etc. There are so many possibilities for using this wonderful app in a classroom. And the most obvious reason to use it …. it’s a fun, GREAT story!

Highly recommended!!

Trixie and Jinx is an interactive story book app for kids that describes all the wonderful things that two best friends enjoy; written by the bestselling author Dean Koontz, illustrated by Janet Cleland. (iPad Lite Version; by Auryn Apps) - Auryn Inc.

0

Super Readers – A Dolch Sight Words Based Story Book App That Will Help Turn Your Child Into a Super Reader!

super readers

FREE for a limited time – Super Readers, an animated storybook app for early readers! This app uses the Dolch sight words in 10 vocabulary controlled stories at 5 different reading levels: kindergarten, beginning first, middle first, end of first, and beginning second. Kids can choose to have the stories read to them with automatic text highlighting or they can touch individual words to have them read. Another great feature  – kids can record themselves reading the book and then play it back. What a wonderful confidence builder for little ones trying to build their fluency!!

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. c. Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).

Recommended!

Super Readers - A Dolch Sight Words Based Story Book App That Will Help Turn Your Child Into a Super Reader! - Jorge Sanchez

0

Dr. Seuss Camera – The Cat in the Hat Edition

dr. seuss camera

Just in time for Dr. Seuss’s birthday/Read Across America Day on March 2 – Dr. Seuss Camera – The Cat in the Hat Edition is FREE and over 40 Dr. Seuss apps are on sale. Take a picture of your child with Cat in the Hat characters or turn your child into one of the characters using this app. There are 16 picture choices within the app. And… it is VERY easy to use. Just use the camera on your device or access photos from your library. Then add crazy borders, stamps, and Seussian text. Share the cards to your photos or email them!! FABULOUS resource for Read Across America Day!!

Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition - Oceanhouse Media

0

Cookie Next Door – Rainy Days

cookie

WOW – here’s one you don’t want to miss!! FREE for a limited time –  Cookie Next Door-Rainy Days. This app was a choice in the “New & Noteworthy”  section of the app store earlier this month. Kids become storytellers in this animated adventure. Their speech, songs, and rhymes bring Cookie and his friends alive. The app includes a Creative Comic Book, a Voice Over Studio, and an Animated Stage Projector. Creative Comic Book utilizes storyboards to guide kids through the storytelling experience. In the Voice Over Studio, kids can change the pitch of the characters’ voices. As kids tell the story their speech, singing, etc. is transformed into the voices of the characters. Once the story is complete, the Animated Stage turns it into a play with dancing props! This app is very creative, very fun and it’s great for developing oral language skills. I am looking forward to more adventures of Cookie and friends!!

Cookie Next Door ~ Rainy Days - Sabodu LLC

0

Juno’s Musical ABCs

juno

FREE again for a limited time – Juno’s Musical ABCs. Narrated by Brooke Shields, this e-book for the iPhone/iPad was created by Emmy Award winning composer, Belinda Takahashi. Kids join Juno and her friends on a musical journey through the alphabet. The book, written in rhyme, teaches kids what instruments look & sound like as well as some musical terminology. It has 3 reading modes: read it to me, read it myself, or autoplay.
Kids will enjoy interacting with the characters (who talk & move when touched) in this cute, colorful book. Nicely done – what a great ABC book to share with a music class!

Juno's Musical ABCs HD - The Juno Company

0

I Learn with Transportation

ilearn

FREE for a limited time – I Learn with Transportation for the iPhone/iPad. This app for toddlers teaches word names, sounds, colors, shapes, numbers, and environments of different means of transportation. Colorful, happy vehicles travel through the pages of this interactive book. Kids tap the vehicles to learn more. I like that the developers set the app up so that kids can name the sound, color, shape, etc. on their own and then they tap to see if they are correct. The app is also bilingual – it can easily be switched to Spanish. Your little one will love exploring the 21 different means of transportation in this cute app. Recommended!

I learn with transportation - DADA Company

0

The Opposites

The Opposites is currently FREE for the iPhone/iPad. Designed for kids 7+, this app requires the matching of increasingly difficult pairs of opposite words. There are two sections of the app: dictionary and play. In the dictionary section, words are listed next to their opposites. To learn the meaning, students just tap on the word and a definition appears. There are 10 levels with 100+ words per level. In the play section, words are pronounced by a boy or a girl as they appear in bubbles and float towards the top of the screen  Kids are to tap pairs of opposites as they appear – which makes the words turn a color then pop. The goal is to match 12 sets of opposites  – which completes the level. A bonus round then appears in which the student has 20 seconds to match up an entire  board full of opposites. This app starts off simply but becomes quite challenging in the later levels. It could be used for differentiating a lesson and/or for helping students grow their understanding of antonyms.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 4.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c.Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
  • 5.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.

Recommended!

The Opposites - Mindshapes Limited

0

Same Meaning Magic (Synonyms)

same meaning

The day I downloaded this iPhone/ iPad app it was FREE. It is now $.99. In this word game, kids help two young magicians named Leo & Luna by choosing a synonym for the bolded word in the sentence. Kids earn coins for choosing the correct answers. At the end of each level, you are shown the number of questions answered, the amount of money collected, and a percentage score for that level. There are 5 levels of play from very easy to very hard. Although I found some overlap in the earlier levels, the difficulty of the sentences definitely increased. Lots of good practice…  This game could be used in a one iPad classroom to teach using context clues. The app could also be used as an independent or buddy activity. Also available is Same Meaning Magic Part II for an additional $.99.

Keep reading my blog to find out when these apps are offered for FREE.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 4.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c.Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
 Same Meaning Magic (Synonyms) - NRCC Games
0

Jumbled Sentences 3

Jumbled Sentences 3

Recently released and currently FREE, Jumbled Sentences 3 for the iPad helps kids learn sentence word order in a fun way. Kids put words in order to form a correct sentence while earning coins for each correct answer. If they get stumped, they can use a coin to buy a hint. There are three levels. In level 1 kids rearrange words to form a sentence – picture clues are given. In level 2 there are more words than needed. Kids must choose and arrange the proper words to construct a sentence that goes with the picture. In level 3, kids have to make sentences without picture clues. If the sentence submitted is wrong, the app keeps the correctly placed words and removes the others so kids can try again. The app is simple to use with a cute alien/space theme. Worth downloading 🙂

Jumbled Sentences 3 - Innovative Net Learning Limited