Professor Garfield Fact or Opinion

February 27, 2015 | appydazeblog

Professor Garfield Fact or Opinion is a FREE educational app. The comic teaches kids why it is important to know difference between fact and opinion, especially when using the internet. Garfield’s friend, Nermal, gets an F on his report about goats because it includes facts & opinions. With the help of Professor Garfield, Nermal learns that not all information on the internet is true. He learns that fact is “something that can be proven to be true” and an opinion is “something that someone believes but cannot be proven.” Nermal learns how important it is to read with a questioning mind. After reading the comic strip, kids practice what they have learned by helping Nermal write a report about school lunches and by feeding facts to the Fact-Bot. I love this app! Kids start learning about fact vs opinion in second/third grade but many of them struggle with the concept. This app presents the content in a fun way then gives students the opportunity to apply what they have learned. It does a fabulous job of teaching kids an important element of critical reading – in my opinion. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/professor-garfield-fact-or/id401257010?mt=8&uo=4

18 Apps for Beginning Readers

February 8, 2015 | appydazeblog

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 2 – initial letter sounds, 4 pictures for each letter
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 4 – Kids are given a letter and they must find pictures of 3,6,or 9 items that begin with that sound.
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 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 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.
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!!

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 2 Consonant Blends – teaches consonant blends and consonant clusters
ABC Spelling Magic 3 Blends & Syllables – GREAT practice spelling multi-syllable words
Sentence Reading Magic – Kids built 2 or 3 words sentences using phonetically regular words.

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.

These educational apps from Preschool University provide good practice for preschoolers and early readers!!

Currently $2.99 – Super Readers, an animated storybook app for early readers! This educational 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).

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/super-readers-dolch-sight/id560348568?mt=8&uo=4

Listed as “New & Noteworthy” in August 2013, Learn with Homer is an educational reading app for kids 3 – 6. Its FREE trial download includes multiple stories and lessons with additional content available through in-app purchases. The app was updated on February 5, 2015. Learn with Homer now includes 50+ reading skills that help get kids ready for kindergarten and first grade.

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. Kids choose where to begin their reading adventure. The Learn to Read lessons teach phonemes (sounds) in sequence, then words, and then sentences. These lessons provide 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!

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

Currently $2.99 – Gappy’s First Words. This educational app has beginning readers constructing 200+ three-letter words – 174 of the words following the CVC pattern. There are also 37 three-letter sight words included. Kids start with basic letter and sound identification then progress to making words. As they work through the app, kids earn parts to redesign Gappy’s house – with over 700 possible combinations. Parents can disable the music, change letters from upper case to lower case, and control the number of word lists used in the settings. I like that the app varies which letters (beginning, middle, end) of the words are missing in the easy levels. In the medium level, two letters are missing and in the hard level, all letters are missing. Kids are gradually learning to spell – nicely done for little readers. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gappys-first-words/id614840334?mt=8&uo=4

Currently $1.99 – Smiley Sight Words. This educational app teaches kids 1,600 common sight words compiled from high frequency lists such as Dolch, Fry, Pinnell-Fountas, UK, and others. Why learn sight words? Over half of the words we read each day are sight words! For early readers, this percentage is much greater. Many of these words do not follow the rules of phonics and/or cannot be represented by pictures. In order to read fluently, students should learn to read these words “by sight.”

The app is very simple to use. First enter the students’ names and pictures. In the settings you can enter up to 40 students – perfect for a classroom teacher or an intervention specialist! Next you choose a list of words for each child to work on. There are 40 sets of Smiley Words (the 1000 most frequently used words), 18 sets of Dolch words, 10 sets of Fry words, 10 sets of UK words, 12 sets of AU color-coded words, plus 11 additional sets (upper case letters, lower case letters, number words, color words, etc.). There is also the option of making customized lists by mixing and matching words from other lists within the app. The app is ready to use! It displays one flashcard at a time. Tap the word to hear an American-English pronunciation. Then rate the ability to read the word with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. To be proficient, 3 thumbs up need to be collected for each word! The app generates a progress report at the end of the session which can be saved to photos. Once saved, it can be printed or emailed. The progress report is stated positively – Thumbs up % Pretty slick! This app makes it easy for teachers to provide individualized practice and keep track of their students’ progress. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smiley-sight-words/id361006388?mt=8&uo=4

Currently $2.99… Word Wizard – Talking Movable Alphabet. This educational app features advanced text to speech capabilities to help kids with reading and spelling. Emergent readers can utilize the phonics movable alphabet to explore and play with words and sentences. As they do so, the app pronounces and spell-checks their work. Consonant letters are blue and vowels are red – helping kids to become aware of the differences. The short pronunciation of the vowels is featured as the letters are moved onto the board. Once a word is spelled, the app changes the vowel’s pronunciation for that word if necessary. If a word is not recognized by the app, it is still pronounced (according to the rules of phonics) but it is highlighted in red. How cool is that?!

Word Wizard can also be used for spelling practice. The app features lists of words – more than 1,400 words in all. I love that it includes the 1000 most frequently used words. Learning to recognize these words is important to a child’s overall reading fluency. The app also lets you add your own word lists. Teachers can add in their weekly spelling list and track the progress of their students. Reports can be emailed from teacher to parent or from parent to teacher. There are lots of possibilities for using this app – teach letter sounds, explore word patterns, small group word building, spelling practice, the list goes on… It’s no wonder that this app was featured in the New York Times, featured by Apple as “New and Noteworthy” and named a winner of a Parents’ Choice Award.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-wizard-talking-movable/id447312716?mt=8&uo=4

Currently FREE – Fry Words, an educational app that teaches sight words from the Fry Word List. The Fry Instant Word List contains 1000 words arranged by their order of frequency in printed materials. In order to build reading fluency, it is important for early readers to recognize these words by sight. It is suggested that first graders learn the first 100 words, second graders learn the second 100 words, and third graders learn the third 100 words. The remaining words on the list should be mastered by the end of fifth grade.

The app presents the word in a manageable fashion – lists of 10 words. There is a learning mode and a quiz mode. In the learning mode, words are presented one at a time. In the quiz mode, kids have to choose the correct word from a list of 2 – 6 words. The app permits you or your child to pronounce/record the words in your own voice – a great option for kids working on articulation. This is a nice app for helping kids learn important sight words. If it only kept track of what was mastered – now THAT would be fabulous!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fry-words/id470926345?mt=8&uo=4

Read with Biff, Chip, and Kipper

February 8, 2015 | appydazeblog

FREE for a limited time – Read with Biff, Chip, and Kipper – Level 1, eight interactive books for young children who are ready to read. The series stars the characters from the UK’s Oxford Reading TreeRead. The app includes four stories with controlled vocabulary and four phonics books with letter/sound practice. Each book also features “Tips for Parents” – simple ideas for reading and talking about the story with your child. The books encourage kids to have fun looking for details in the story. Five additional levels of this series are available for purchase. Download these level one for your beginning reader!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-biff-chip-kipper-level/id771805962?mt=8&uo=4

Toontastic

February 7, 2015 | appydazeblog

Toontastic is now 100% FREE! Launchpad Toys has joined Google to create even more amazing tools for kids. To celebrate, every playset and feature has been unlocked for kids to create their own adventures.

Parents and teachers love Toontastic and kids can’t stop creating! Named by the NY Times as one of Top Ten iPad educational apps of 2011, Toontastic is a fabulously creative app for kids that is now 100% FREE! Kids can draw, animate and share their own cartoons using this educational app. To create their storyline, kids use a “story arc” which includes a scene, conflict, challenge, climax, and resolution. The app includes fifty scenes (North Pole, Dr. Crankenstein’s Lab, The Pawspital, Pirate’s Cove, etc.) to spark kids’ imaginations. They can use backgrounds and characters from the app or they can create their own backgrounds and characters with the drawing tools that are provided. Over fourteen million cartoons have been created in 200+ countries. Unleash your child’s creativity with this great educational app!!

Here is a link to more information: Toontastic: Play, Create, Learn on the iPad!.

The possibilities for creating stories with this educational app are endless. A child’s work can be shared with parents, grandparents, other classes, etc. Toontastic = fantastic!!

Toontastic Jr. Pirates is also FREE. This storytelling app, from the creators of Toontastic, has kids creating their own pirate cartoons. They start by choosing a beginning, middle, and ending for their story. Then they add animation by moving the characters and recording their voices at the same time. The educational app features twelve story starter videos and a cast of characters to get kids started. If kids would like to create a story with friends or family, they can utilize StoryShare, a new feature in Toontastic Jr. which is very cool! It enables kids to talk & create stories with friends or family anywhere in the world! Yo, ho, ho… how fun is that??

12 Alphabet Apps :)

January 31, 2015 | appydazeblog

Here are twelve of my favorite ABC apps. They vary in style but they are all nicely done. All twelve were free when I downloaded them but only three apps are currently free. Sign up to receive my blog via email so that you don’t miss out on good FREE apps! I only write about apps that I would recommend. Enjoy!!

Once named an Editor’s Choice in the app store, Endless Alphabet is currently $6.99 but it occasionally goes on sale. This adorable interactive app combines learning letters & their sounds with learning vocabulary. There are currently 26 words featured in this educational app – one for each letter of the alphabet. But the app promises to be truly endless with new words to be added.

Kids tap a letter and its word appears of the screen. Then silly monsters come by and knock it over. Kids work to reconstruct the word with animated, talking letters. To teach the meaning of the word, there is also a short animation included. Words featured include: bellow, cooperate, gargantuan, portrait, quarrel – clearly not words found in the average ABC book. The vocabulary development in this app makes it appropriate for a wide range of kids.

Love this app – it’s silly, fun, and educational. My friend’s grandson learned all the letters and sounds of the alphabet because he loved this app so much. 🙂 It’s super cute!!

Currently $2.99 – AlphaTots Alphabet, a GREAT ABC app for kids! What makes this educational app unique is that it uses 26 action words to teach the alphabet. Kids are asked to complete 26 interactive tasks, for example: b – build a robot, p – play instruments, z – zap alien spaceships, etc. This app has been featured on The Today Showand has received a lot of positive press. It is a VERY fun app for toddlers/preschoolers who are learning their alphabet!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alphatots-alphabet-learning/id436142340?mt=8&uo=4

Currently $2.99 – Word Wizard – Talking Movable Alphabet. This educational app features advanced text to speech capabilities to help kids with reading and spelling. Emergent readers can utilize the phonics movable alphabet to explore and play with words and sentences. As they do so, the app pronounces and spell-checks their work. Consonant letters are blue and vowels are red – helping kids to become aware of the differences. The short pronunciation of the vowels is featured as the letters are moved onto the board. Once a word is spelled, the app changes the vowel’s pronunciation for that word if necessary. If a word is not recognized by the app, it is still pronounced (according to the rules of phonics) but it is highlighted in red. How cool is that?!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-wizard-talking-movable/id447312716?mt=8&uo=4

Montessori ABC for Kids HD

Currently $3.99 – Kids Academy · ABC Alphabet Phonics App HD. This educational app has two sections: animated flashcards (to teach kids the letters/sounds) and traceable worksheets (to teach kids how to write the letters). The flashcard section has cute animations to teach kids letters & sounds in a fun way. The writing section has two modes (right-handed and left-handed) to teach upper and lower case letters. The app is designed to have multiple users and parents can track their children’s progress. Nicely done!!

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.1 – Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Currently $2.99 – Interactive Alphabet is one of the best alphabet apps that I have seen for babies, toddlers, & preschoolers. It’s so cute and well designed! To start you choose an accent (American or British) and a mode. It has 3 modes for your developing child – baby, explore, and trace. The baby mode takes your child on a guided, touchable tour of the alphabet. The explore mode lets children discover the sights & sounds of the alphabet at their own pace. It features fun activities that kids will want to explore multiple times. In the trace mode, kids learn to properly trace letters (lower case, upper case, or mixed) and words. The app keeps track of your child’s progress by starring the letters & words that are traced most often. The app can also be personalized by adding your own words and pictures. Your child can learn to trace his/her own name as well as the names of other family members, family pets, etc. This educational app truly lays the foundation for reading and spelling! Fabulous – this developer seems to have thought of everything!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/interactive-alphabet-abcs/id383967580?mt=8&uo=4

FREE again – Little Writer is a letter writing app for the iPhone/iPad that is designed to teach 3 – 6 year olds how to write upper & lower case letters, numbers, shapes, and words. It starts by showing the shape of the letter and naming it. The child traces along lines to write the letter. Then the child is praised and told what letter, number, shape or word he/she has just written. When writing a word, the letters are presented one at a time with the full word shown in the upper right-hand corner. When the word is finished, a picture pops up with the child’s writing underneath it.

There are a lot of great things about this app. I like the size of the letters – nice and big for little hands. I also like that there are subtle dotted lines on the page. But, the best part of this app is the ability to customize it. You can turn items on or off in order to introduce letters, numbers, etc. slowly. You can record your voice or your child’s voice pronouncing the names of the letters, numbers, etc. You can add in your own pictures & words so that your child can learn to write his/her own name and names of family members or whatever you wish! You can add additional letters for foreign words so that you can use it to teach simple words in another language. SO many possibilities……

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.1 – Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Currently $1.99 – Drawnimal, an ABC app for kids that has them thinking (and drawing) outside the box. Kids begin by placing the device on a piece of paper or other drawing surface. Then they draw around the device (as shown above) to complete the drawing of an animal. When they press play, the app identifies the animal. Finally, they tap the animal for a delightful surprise! Kids will love the animal animations that they helped to create. It’s the perfect combination of an alphabet app and a drawing app for little ones. And, it’s in 5 languages – English, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, and French. It’s super cute and super fun!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drawnimal/id586239095?mt=8&uo=4

FREE again – My A – Z, a fully customizable alphabet app. Using this educational app, you can easily create alphabet flashcards for your kids with personal pictures and personal recordings of up to 30 seconds! The app comes with words & pictures for each letter of the alphabet but you have the ability to edit those and/or add your own. Just use already existing photos from your photo albums or use your device’s camera to take new photos. Easy!!

There are so many fun uses for this app. You can help kids make alphabet cards of their family, friends, or a family vacation. They can include recorded greetings from the people pictured! The app can also be used to make alphabet cards for another language, to teach math terms, or make holiday editions of alphabet cards. Obviously, the audience for this app is not just limited to toddlers. It would be fun for older kids to create their own ABC flashcards in any subject area. The possibilities are endless!

FREE – A to Z Music Videos. This educational app has 26 animated videos – one for each letter of the alphabet. As kids watch the videos, they earn tickets to unlock other videos. There is also an option to purchase tickets to unlock videos more quickly. The videos are top-notch! They help children learn letter names and sounds AND develop vocabulary. Every video is produced in a different musical style, so kids are also introduced to a wide variety of musical genres. This app is a must-have for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teachers – a perfect introduction to the letters of the alphabet!

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.

Currently $2.99 – My Beastly ABCs, an educational app featured in USA Today’s Top 10 iPad Apps for Kids. Kids join a young boy (who is reluctant to get out of bed) on a magical adventure through a not-so-ordinary day! Told in rhyme, the story recounts the boy’s day as he encounters 26 friendly monsters (one for each letter of the alphabet) from all over the world. Kids join in this interactive tale as they play hide & seek with a Boogey Monster, learn how to floss from a Vampire, uproot a Mandrake family, and much more. The app is narrated by Jim Dale with whimsical background music & great sound effects. It has 3 play modes: with narration, without narration, or auto-play. Everything about this app is top quality – beautifully illustrated with the perfect amount of animation & interactivity. There is also an index that gives kids monster facts & descriptions. Kids can read and learn about each of the beasts’ unique characteristics and place of origin. Lots of fun!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-beastly-abcs/id578158826?mt=8&uo=4

Currently $2.99 – Wee Sing & Learn ABC for the iPhone/iPad normally sells for $2.99. Wee Sing has been around for over 30 years. When my children were small, we always had a Wee Sing tape in our car. This app teaches toddlers the alphabet in a musically fun way. Every letter has a page with its own song featuring an animal with an instrument (both beginning with that letter). There are also three additional words for each letter which are pronounced and spelled. The real sound of every animal and each instrument are also included in the app. This app is well done with great attention to detail – a must have for every toddler 🙂

ABC Expedition is currently $2.99. Captain Wallace leads a tour of the zoo in this aesthetically pleasing alphabet app. The alphabet letters are placed on large buttons – easy for kids to push. Each button take the child to an animated page featuring that letter. The page contains both upper & lower case letters and an animal (with its word) that begins with that letter. The animated animals are appealing and include sound effects. GRReat! Both words and letters are pronounced when the child touches them. This app is simple but well done – love the unique color scheme! What a great app for toddlers who love animals and are learning the alphabet. Use it before or after a trip to the zoo! Keep reading my blog to find out when apps are offered for FREE.

Pixel and Parker

January 15, 2015 | appydazeblog

FREE today – Pixel and Parker, an educational app that puts a new spin on storytelling – literally! Parker and Pixel (his cat) are best friends. One day Pixel is missing so Parker sets out to find him. Kids use a game spinner to determine the order of the story’s events in this cute tale. The story is never the same twice. The app also features 30+ activities that engage readers while advancing the plot of the story. This app would be great for a lesson on the elements of story. The characters, setting, problem, and conclusion are the same but the order of events can be changed! Cute colorful illustrations also add to the appeal of this story. Pixel and Parker is the first in a planned series of adventures. 🙂 Great idea!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixel-and-parker/id548751986?mt=8&uo=4

12 Vocabulary Apps for Kids

January 12, 2015 | appydazeblog

FREE & fabulous – World’s Worst Pet-Vocabulary, an educational app for kids in grades 4 – 8. Snargg, a cute blue pet needs kids to use their vocabulary skills to get him out of trouble. The app’s four games teach context, word sorts, synonyms, & antonyms as they expose kids to over 1000 words across 5 levels: grades 4 – 8. Words are taught in sets – 10 conceptually related words per set. Kids are encouraged to replay each word set to improve their scores. Other features of the app include: clearly explained definitions with examples of how the word is used, multiple exposures to words, writing prompts, and… a really fun narrative with rewards. The app allows multiple players which makes it perfect for the classroom. Teachers can use it to differentiate instruction, as part of a center, for individual or group assignments, as homework, etc. There are so many great things about this app – meaningful content, a fun interface, and it meets CCSS. It’s fantastic, wonderful, remarkable, tremendous, amazing … 🙂

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.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worlds-worst-pet-vocabulary/id730540095?mt=8&uo=4

Recently updated for iOS 7, Bluster is a FREE app for the iPad developed by McGraw-Hill. This educational app was designed to teach vocabulary and word development to students in grades 2 – 4. Topics covered are rhyming, prefixes & suffixes, word roots, synonyms, homophones, and adjectives. There are 3 modes of play – single, team, and versus. Team mode permits collaboration with a friend. Versus mode allows head-to-head play with the ability to disrupt your opponent by causing weather related attacks. Kids start by choosing their mode of play, grade level, and word match type. They then swipe through the list to match 3 words with the same meaning, rhyme, prefix, suffix, or word root. There are 10 groups of 3 to match in each round of play. Bluster presents 800+ vocabulary words in a fun way!

Common Core Standards met:

2.L.4 – Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell). Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).
3.L.4 – Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat). Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
4.L.4 – Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
4.L.5. Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bluster!/id416160693?mt=8&uo=4

Words to Learn By by McGraw Hill has 300 words to study. It was offered for FREE when I downloaded it but it is currently $.99. The words are grouped into 3 levels – building, expanding and advancing. Each word includes a definition, an audio pronunciation, and a synonym. There are 4 options in the quiz mode – flashcards, definitions, fill-in-the-blanks (GREAT for teaching context clues), and a synonym shuffle game. This app is not too difficult and could be used with upper elementary and junior high students.

Word a Day was offered for FREE when I downloaded it but it is currently $1.99. This app takes a fun approach to expanding your vocabulary – one day/one word at a time! This app features a new word every day – each word has a humorous illustration and a narrated audio which pronounces the word, defines it, and uses it in context. If you feature a vocabulary word of the day in your classroom, you may want to look at this app – it’s a cute one!

Vocabology – Word of the Day was offered FREE the day I downloaded it but is currently $.99. It offers words of the day from several sources on the internet: foreign language words (Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, Latin), Dictionary.com, Wiktionary, Merriam-Webster, TheFreeDictionary.com, Yahoo Education, Common SAT words, Urban Dictionary, and WordSmith.org. The app also includes a quizzes. In-app purchases are available for SAT words, Latin words, and more. BEWARE – some of the words from the urban dictionary are explicit and NOT suitable for the classroom. You have the option of disabling this word source within the app. You need to do so before you put this app in the hands of kids! I appreciate that the developer has included this option.

Currently $.99 – Cultiwords, an educational app for systematically building your vocabulary. The app comes with a 40-words set which includes definitions, anecdotes, and review questions. There are 3 additional sets of words available as in-app purchases. The app introduces each new word by posing a multiple-choice question with 3 possible answers. After you answer, it tells you if you were correct, gives the word’s definition, and provides additional clarifying information about that word. Words are then added to your personal dictionary. The review mode quizzes you on words in your dictionary. Review questions test a deeper understanding of the word – synonyms/antonyms, contextual settings, etc. Once you answer 3/3 questions about a word correctly, that word moves to the Acquired List. Well-organized and simple to use – this app would be great for kids in upper elementary and beyond. My only wish is that it had more words!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cultiwords/id585437267?mt=8&uo=4

Was FREE but now $3.99 – 3rd Grade Vocabulary Prep, an educational app designed to improve children’s vocabulary. Teachers enter an administrative password before entering their students’ names. This administrative feature permits teachers to review their students’ scores and track individual student improvement. The app also generates a “most difficult words for this student” list so teachers can see where individuals are having difficulty. Once the students’ names have been entered, kids can begin to study. There are 10 words to study at each level. Kids click on each word to hear its pronunciation, meaning, and a sample sentence. I love that the words are used in context! They can go through the lesson as often as needed to learn the words. There are 2 quizzes to take to make sure that students are making progress. If a student misses a word on one of the practice quizzes, the word goes back in the deck for further review. A test must be passed (90%) in order to move to the next level. Teachers can send emails to parents that provide specific test results or that recap the child’s progress to date. Nicely done!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3rd-grade-vocabulary-prep/id416481779?mt=8&uo=4

FREE – Find the Synonym, an app designed for the iPhone/iPad. This app is listed as a game rather than an educational app but it would be great for kids in upper elementary school/junior high. A word is shown with its part of speech and definition. Kids are challenged to create a 4 – 7 letter synonym of that word using the letters provided. Points are awarded based on the length of the word, the time involved, whether clues are used, and/or if any mistakes are made. Badges are earned as the game is played. It’s simply designed – not a lot of bell & whistles but it is heavy on content. There are a total of 1600 synonyms in the app. After you find 250 of them, the antonyms are unlocked. There are 700 antonyms in the app.

I realize that this app was not necessarily designed for students but it could easily be used for educational purposes. More flexibility in the settings would make it more suitable for classroom use. I could not find a way to restart the game. The game picks up where it left off & points are cumulative, so only one person can play. Also, having access to both synonyms and antonyms would be a plus. Regardless, I am sure that teachers will come up with creative ways to use this resource. 🙂

FREE again – The Opposites for the iPhone/iPad. Designed for kids 7+, this educational 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.

Same Meaning Magic – 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.

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).

FREE (with in-app purchase to complete) – Quizzitive, a vocabulary game that helps you master “1000 Words Worth Knowing” – chosen by Merriam-Webster editors. The app has ten levels of difficulty. The first two levels (100 words each) are free. An in-app purchase of $1.99 unlocks the full game. The game features four kinds of vocabulary quizzes: Speed Drill, Name That Thing, Tunnel Vision, and Hidden Letters. After playing each game, there is the option to review your answers. You can replay each level as many times as you want – without resetting the game. The app tracks your achievements as you master the words and try to beat your personal best. It also compares your scores to other players’ scores. Try the FREE levels to see if this app is for you. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quizzitive-merriam-webster/id645814720?mt=8&uo=4

Vocabulicious Kinder for the iPhone/iPad is a flashcard app designed to help preschoolers and kindergartners increase their vocabulary. The FREE version includes 4 categories: animals, more animals, fruit, and plants. 14 additional categories are available as in-app purchases. Children earn stars by correctly tapping on the named/written object. The images on the flashcards are high quality photographs. There is an option to show either 2 or 4 cards at a time which permits adults to adjust the level to meet their child’s needs. There is also an option to set the type to be all caps or lowercase letters. The settings permit you to have up to 4 players. This app could be used with toddlers, students with language delays, or ESL students. Check out the FREE version if your child needs to work on vocabulary development.

Alien Buddies

December 24, 2014 | appydazeblog

Alien Buddies is FREE again for a limited time. Formerly listed as “New & Noteworthy” by Apple, this educational app is geared towards kids ages 3 – 7. It features 4 different activities (matching, puzzles, dot-to-dot, and stickers) with varying levels of difficulty. Matching can be played in 2 modes (visual or audio) to reinforce colors, shapes, numbers and letters. Puzzles can be set to contain 4, 6, or 8 pieces. In the sticker section, kids add out-of-this-world stickers to 8 different space scenes. All activities are well done but I especially like the dot-to-dot activity which has a “please help” or an “I can do it myself” button. Kids need to visually recognize the order of the numbers to connect the dots and the app counts as the dots are connected – love it! The app is cute, colorful, and sure to appeal to kids!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alien-buddies-preschool-learning/id469461540?mt=8&uo=4

Spelling Star

December 5, 2014 | appydazeblog

FREE for limited time – Spelling Star, an educational app for practicing spelling lists. The app is simple to use – just type in and record the words. You may also include sentences to clarify the words’ meanings. Kids must spell each word correctly three times to become a Spelling Star. Words are presented in random order. As kids practice, they can get a hint – a quick look at the word spelled correctly. When they spell a word without a hint, they earn a star. Spelling Star provides feedback after each word is spelled with the option to “try again” when an error is made. This educational app is great for home and/or school. Parents can use it to input spelling lists for multiple kids. Kids may enjoy inputting their own lists at the beginning of the week which would be GREAT practice! Teachers can create lists on one device and share those lists with anyone who has the Spelling Star app. Simple to use, effective, and tracks progress – what more do you need? 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spelling-star/id557070660?mt=8&uo=4

ABCmouse.com 26 A-Z Music Videos

December 3, 2014 | appydazeblog

FREE – A to Z Music Videos. This app has 26 animated videos – one for each letter of the alphabet. As kids watch the videos, they earn tickets to unlock other videos. There is also an option to purchase tickets to unlock videos more quickly. The videos are top-notch! They help children learn letter names and sounds AND develop vocabulary. Every video is produced in a different musical style, so kids are also introduced to a wide variety of musical genres. This app is a must-have for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teachers – a perfect introduction to the letters of the alphabet!

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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Category Archives: language arts apps

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ABCmouse.com 26 A-Z Music Videos

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