Category Archives: language arts apps

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Spelling Test by FunExam.com

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spelling test

FREE for a limited time  – Spelling Test by FunExam.com, a cool tool for improving spelling test scores. To use this app you must create a free account by submitting your email and a password. Then you can begin creating your tests. First you name your test – short a words, days of the week, first grade/week 1, sight words/list 1, etc. I would make the name match the lesson so that your data is more meaningful. Then you type in the words – the app is case-sensitive. If you enter a proper noun, the app is going to mark it wrong without a capital letter. 🙂 Then you record the words. The app gives you enough time to also include the words’ meanings or sentences using the words – perfect for homonyms. That’s it – easy!!

Once your test has been created, kids can practice. They simply click on the test they would like to take. The words are pronounced and the kids spell them by typing them in. The app grades the test as you go  – correct words are shown in green, incorrect words in red. The correct spelling of each word is also shown. When the test is complete, the final score is shown in two ways – 5/7 and 71%. Kids are given the option of retaking the missed words or retaking all of the words. The results can be emailed. This app is fantastic – easy to use and it tracks progress. Kids would love creating their own test at the beginning of the week. Teachers could use it for phonics lessons, to teach homonyms, and more. Older students could us this app for science vocabulary, to learn foreign language words, etc. There are lots of applications (beyond spelling) for this app. Just use a bit of imagination – LOVE it!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spelling-test-free-by-funexam.com/id426041393?mt=8&uo=4

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Grandmas Loves Bugs

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grandma

FREE for a limited time – Grandmas Loves Bugs, another adorable educational app for preschoolers by Fairlady Media. Kids join dancing grandma in her garden to learn all about bugs. The app features 10 educational games – all thematically linked. Kids will love helping grandma in her garden and they will be learning math & reading as they do. The app also features short videos of real bugs in action. Some of the educational content in the games include: colors, observation (spot the difference), numbers (recognition & counting), letters (upper & lower case), memory, problem solving, and vocabulary. This app is nicely done for little ones – educational content covered in a fun way with a dancing Grandma to celebrate a job well-done!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grandma-loves-bugs/id666526099?mt=8&uo=4

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Preschool University – phonics/spelling apps

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spelling-magic

Moveable Alphabet option from ABC Spelling Magic

Wow!! Preschool University has 12 phonics/spelling apps available for FREE again. There are links to all below. I have them grouped by the skills that they teach and from easiest to most difficult. The first group teaches letter sounds.

  • ABC Magic Phonics – initial letter sounds, 1 picture for each letter       ABC MAGIC PHONICS - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 2 –  initial letter sounds, 4 pictures for each letter       ABC MAGIC 2 - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 3 Line Match – Kids apply what they know about sounds by matching. There are 2 modes: matching 2 pictures with the same beginning sounds or matching letters to a picture that starts with that sound.       ABC MAGIC 3 Line Match - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 4  – Kids are given a letter and they must find pictures of 3,6,or 9 items that begin with that sound.       ABC MAGIC 4 - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 5 Letter Sound Matching – Kids match sounds in 2 modes: picture to letter or letter to picture. As kids become more advanced, you can increase their number of choices (4, 6, or 9) and increase the number of matches per round (5,10,15,20,or 25). ABC MAGIC 5 Letter Sound Matching - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 6 – is the same as Sound Beginnings (follows #8).
  • ABC Magic 7 Memory Match – A matching game with 2 options: match letter to letter or match picture to picture. Letter sounds and picture names are pronounced with the option of turning the sounds off. Grids of 12, 16, or 20 are available.       ABC MAGIC 7 Memory Match - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Magic 8 Sound Matching – This app is an extension of ABC Magic 7. It’s another matching game with 2 options: letter to picture having that beginning sound or picture to another picture with the same beginning sound. Letter sounds and picture names are pronounced with the option of turning the sounds off. Grids of 12, 16, or 20 are available.       ABC MAGIC 8 Sound Matching - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • Sound Beginnings – This app is the most advanced of the letter sound teaching apps. It is called sound beginnings but actually teaches beginning, middle, and ending sounds. There are two options: a picture to letter and letter to picture. As kids become more advanced, you can increase their number of choices (3,4, or 5) and increase the number of matches per round (5,10,15,20,or 25). Awesome practice for beginning readers!!       SOUND BEGINNINGS - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY

The second group of apps uses letter sounds to spell words that phonetically regular. There are 2 ways to use each of these apps. Word Jumble provides the  child with the letters of the word and the child puts them in order. Moveable Alphabet (the more difficult option) has the entire alphabet across the top of the page and the child must find the correct letters to spell the word. If a child touches a picture, the app reads the word. If a child touches a letter, the app gives the sound for that letter. Each vowel is taught in isolation but there is also a shuffle option which provides mixed practice. Vowels are printed in blue and consonants are in red so you can reinforce the CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) pattern.

  • ABC Spelling Magic Short Vowels – teaches short vowels       ABC SPELLING MAGIC Short Vowel Words - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Spelling Magic 2 Consonant Blends – teaches consonant blends and consonant clusters       ABC SPELLING MAGIC 2 Consonant Blends - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • ABC Spelling Magic 3 Blends & Syllables – GREAT practice spelling multi-syllable words       ABC SPELLING MAGIC 3 Blends and Syllables - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY
  • Sentence Reading Magic – Kids built 2 or 3 words sentences using phonetically regular words.       SENTENCE READING MAGIC - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY

These apps provide a lot of good practice for preschoolers and early readers!!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K. RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. Associate the short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
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Kid in Story Book Maker

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Kid in Story

Just went FREE about 10 minutes ago and does not stay free for long! – Kid in Story Book Maker, great app for creating personalized stories that support your child’s learning and social monitoring. It’s easy to make your child the star of the story with this app. One-of-a-kind technology (Locolens™ image detection ) makes it easy to superimpose your child onto the story backgrounds – similar to “green screening.” The app includes 8 story templates for you to customize with your own images, text, and narration. You can also create your own original stories by using the “Blank Story” template. Story templates included are – Faces I Make, Let’s Get a Haircut, Are Monsters Hiding in My Room?, A Day at the Movies, At the Playground, What Will I See in San Francisco?, and When Is It Time to Wash My Hands? The app also makes it super easy to share your creations via email and/or Dropbox. Parents, teachers, and/or language therapists – this app would be fabulous to support early literacy, establish routines, model social behaviors & emotions, and more! Most kids love being the star of their own story!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kid-in-story-book-maker/id594403164?mt=8&uo=4

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Grammar Wonderland (Primary) & Grammar Wonderland (Elementary)

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grammar primary

grammar

FREE today – the full versions of Grammar Wonderland (Primary) & Grammar Wonderland (Elementary). In both games kids lead their characters through different adventures as they practice  nouns, verbs, adjectives, and more. The primary version is for younger children – the words are read and some levels include pictures. The app does not teach the parts of speech but it provides lots of practice for kids in a fun game-like environment. After teaching a lesson about parts of speech, teachers can have kids show what they know with this app. Practice is provided for the following: common nouns, proper, nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, singular nouns, plural nouns, possessive nouns, pronouns, action verbs, present-tense verbs, past-tense verbs, future-tense verbs, linking verbs, adjectives, articles, comparative/superlative adjectives, and more! Many parts of speech are taught in both apps – perfect for differentiating your instruction for a variety of reading levels. Both also apps permit multiple player – great for the classroom!

Recommended!!  – Download them today 🙂

Grammar Wonderland Primary       Grammar Wonderland (Primary) - McGraw-Hill School Education Group

Grammar Wonderland Elementary       Grammar Wonderland (Elementary) - McGraw-Hill School Education Group

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Strawberry Shortcake Berryfest Princess

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Strawberry

FREE for a limited time – Strawberry Shortcake Berryfest Princess from Cupcake Digital. Kids join Strawberry Shortcake & her friends as they plan the Berryfest Ball in this cute story about friendship and working together. The story is filled with fun animations and it has 3 after-reading activities: Tea Party, Crochet, and Coloring. The Tea Party game has kids helping to set the table and the Crochet game asks kids to complete words by finding the missing letter. There are 6 pictures and a blank page for kids to color in the app’s Coloring section. There is also a Grown Up’s Corner which has 2 sets of questions about the story. The questions address literal understanding of the story (thin questions) as well as extended meaning (fat questions). Also included in the Grown-Up Corner is information about the Common Core Standards addressed by this app which are predominately kindergarten standards. Print-outs and activities to supplement the story are available online at cupcakedigital.com.  This educational app is a must-have for Strawberry Shortcake fans!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strawberry-shortcake-berryfest/id735298184?mt=8&uo=4

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Phonics Tic Tac Toe Interactive Game

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tic tac toe

FREE for a limited time – Phonics Tic Tac Toe for the iPhone/iPad. This game reviews letter sounds (vowels, vowel combinations, consonant, consonant combinations) and syllables in a tic, tac, toe format. There is a lot of great phonics practice in this educational app. I really like that the app varies the placement of the missing sounds – at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word. I also like how the app uses words with the same letters making different sounds. Since there is no sound, kindergarten/first graders might need help reading the questions. However, it would be perfect for independent practice for most second/third graders. Teachers could use it in a learning center, as independent seatwork with a friend, for small group intervention, etc. I only wish it had the option of having the questions read aloud for younger students. That being said, this app is definitely worth downloading!!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K. RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. Associate the short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
  • 1.RF.3/2.RF.3/3.RF.3/4.RF.3/5.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Phonics Tic-Tac-Toe Interactive Game - Lakeshore Learning Materials

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Learn with Homer

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Learn with Homer

Listed as “New & Noteworthy” in August 2013, Learn with Homer is an educational reading app for kids 3 – 6. Its FREE download includes 30 stories and lessons with additional content available through in-app purchases. The app was updated on February 6, 2013. The update includes a FREE Presidential Pack featuring lessons on Presidents Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. 

Homer, a gray pigeon, resides in an interactive world designed to help kids learn to read. The fun starts in the Hat Shop where kids have photos taken in the “thinking caps” of their choice. Kids then proceed to a carousel which features every part of the app: Story Time, Learn to Read, Discover the World, Draw a Picture, Songs & Rhymes, Record Your Voice, and U.S. Presidents. There kids choose where to begin their reading adventure. The Learn to Read lessons teach phonemes (sounds) in sequence, then words, then sentences in a sequential, step-by-step reading program. The Story Time section is divided into categories – Homer stories, poetry, folktales, first readers. It includes some free stories with many more offered as in-app purchases. Discover the World is a series of adventures in science, history, art, etc. designed to increase kids’ basic knowledge and vocabularies. The drawing & recording tools help kids develop their expressive skills. There is also a parent website to track children’s progress and/or download printables & book recommendations. This educational app seems to have it all – a well-designed, comprehensive approach to learning to read with real kid appeal!

For more information go to Homer: Parent Resources.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-with-homer/id601437586?mt=8&uo=4

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Kid in Story Book Maker

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Kid in Story

FREE today (normally $6.99) – Kid in Story Book Maker, a great app for creating personalized stories that support your child’s learning and social monitoring. It’s easy to make your child the star of the story with this app. One-of-a-kind technology (Locolens™ image detection ) makes it easy to superimpose your child onto the story backgrounds – similar to “green screening.” The app includes 8 story templates for you to customize with your own images, text, and narration. You can also create your own original stories by using the “Blank Story” template. Story templates included are – Faces I Make, Let’s Get a Haircut, Are Monsters Hiding in My Room?, A Day at the Movies, At the Playground, What Will I See in San Francisco?, and When Is It Time to Wash My Hands? The app also makes it super easy to share your creations via email and/or Dropbox. Parents, teachers, and/or language therapists – this app would be fabulous to support early literacy, establish routines, model social behaviors & emotions, and more! Most kids love being the star of their own story!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kid-in-story-book-maker/id594403164?mt=8&uo=4

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ICDL (International Children’s Digital Library) – Free Books for Children

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FREE – ICDL (International Children’s Digital Library) – Free Books for Children. This app brings thousands of free children’s books from 60 different countries to the iPad – it’s truly a worldwide collection of books at your fingertips. Books can be searched in a variety of ways – by age appropriateness, length (short, medium, long), genre, ratings, awards, picture vs chapter, and more. You may register if you wish, but it is not necessary. Some advantages to registering include – saving favorite books on a personal bookshelf, returning to the last page that you were reading, and selecting the language you prefer to use.

The feature that I really like is the “Browse Exhibitions” section. The exhibitions are theme based collections of books from around the world. Examples of some current themes are: Celebrating Differences, Everyone Needs Water & Water Needs Everyone, and Forever Friendship. Within each exhibition is an overview of the theme, links to the books included, descriptions of why the books are included, and related activities (in pdf format). As the world becomes more mobile, school systems are facing language barriers. For example, Chicago Public Schools has over 70 languages spoken by their students. What an awesome resource to promote worldwide citizenship and understanding!

The mission of the International Children’s Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is to support the world’s children in becoming effective members of the global community – who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas — by making the best in children’s literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children’s books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this literature through innovative technology designed in close partnership with children for children. 

Read more @ http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

ICDL - Free Books for Children - International Children's Digital Library - ICDL Foundation