Sight Words List-Learn To Read

"Sight Words List-Learn To Read" is a free app that is simple and helps your child learn vocabulary and how to read. It contains 315 words that are broken down into appropriate age groups. It has five game modes that correspond to different age groups that ascend from Pre-k to 3rd grade and then the 6th section is all about nouns. The five game modes start off from easy (2 words only) to challenging (6 words per page).

How it works: It has big and easy to read flashcards for memorization and better understanding. It has different mode settings ranging from easy to more difficult stages. You can also record your own voice to save words and add your own unmlimited number of flash cards. It has customizable speeds of the switching of flashcards.

Martha Speaks Word Spinner

Martha Speaks Word Spinner is an interactive app for children but also is family friendly can be played with family members. The age of children can be age 4 to 7. It costs $1.99 on ITunes but was featured for free from PBS kids free app packet. This app can be used in the classroom to introduce new words to students.Some examples are oral vocabulary skills and storytelling. I plan on using this app to increase my student’s higher frequency words. I would use it as a tool to give more opportunities to help students learn and hear more words they may not have seen before.

Here is how it works:

The app is setup as a board game and the object is to get to the doghouse to win. Along the way the players will spin a spinner to see how many spaces to go and then on the spinner there are mini games to play on each spinner space. Some mini game examples include bucket ball, name 5 things, story sounds, stuff sort, who am I? , and word connector. After each mini game they receive a dog bone with a new word on it and hear the definition of the word.  You can see examples from screen shots below.

http://pbskids.org/apps/martha-speaks-word-spinner.html

Booksource

Booksource is a free app and website that allows teachers to organize their classroom libraries. You can input the title, author, ISBN, and number of copies, as well as a photo of the book. There are two pages—a teacher page to organize the texts and a student page where students can check out and return books. Pages can also be password protected.

You also have access to a page of suggestions for your library, and you can purchase these books directly through the website/app. You also have the ability to manage students and view reports. Reports include student checkout history by reading levels (AR, Lexile, Guided Reading), as well as the book distribution by reading level, fiction, or nonfiction. It also tells you what books are currently checked out.

First, you’ll need to create a free account. Once you are logged in, you can begin entering books into your library. You can input manually, scan the book using your phone, or import from Excel. Once entered, you can also export this information to Excel. You can manage the columns displayed, so that you can only see the information that is important to you. Overall, this is a great way for teachers to organize and maximize their personal classroom libraries for students.

https://classroom.booksource.com/default.aspx

Little Bird Tales

Little Bird Tales is an app that allows students to create their own digital story. It’s easy to navigate, which makes it great for even the youngest children. The accompanying website can be used to upload stories, share photos, write journals, and further learn about digital storytelling. Additionally, once uploaded to the website, you can share your story, embed, create PDFs and MP4s. The website also offers user uploaded lesson plans and Common Core templates.

One downside is that the app isn’t free. It costs $2.99 in the App Store, but honestly the possibilities are endless and it’s a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom. It can be used with all types of assignments—from documenting science experiments to having students create their own personal stories. Parents can also use it to record family memories and events in albums. This is definitely a great multipurpose tool that can be used by kids and adults alike.

Once you’ve purchased the app and created an account, you’re ready to get started! You can create a title, can add text, and upload photos. Best of all, you can record your own audio as well as create original artwork in the app’s art pad. You can then preview your story and upload it to the website to share with others. 

Web Link

Little Bird Tales Example Video

http://littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/463384

Book Writer

Book Writer

Description:

This app gives anyone the ability to create their own interactive book.  This could be used in a number of different ways, as the app has the ability to create a photo book, recipe book, diary, PDF documents, etc. This app could be used in a class for creative writing to help bring life to the students’ writings.

How it Works:

A multimedia book can be created by adding pictures, text, voice recordings, songs, and videos to a page, or using the drawing tool. Everything within the story can be edited, which creates a much more personalized story. Books can be shared using iBooks, Google Drive, iTunes, email, or save it as a PDF document.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/book-writer-ebook-pdf-creator/id481160195?mt=8

ZoomReader

ZoomReader:

ZoomReader is an iOS app designed to provide persons who are blind or visually impaired with tools to enlarge, capture, or hear text read aloud.

The app uses the built-in camera on iOS devices to zoom in on text and images. Voice recognition enables hands-free image capture; Optical Character Recognition scans and converts imaged text into words you can listen to using text-to-speech.

Low-vision users can leverage ZoomReader to increase independence. The app's features enable users to look up phone numbers and TV listings; read pill bottles, price tags, or street signs; or scan restaurant menus without having to ask for help. This can be used as an assistive technology in the classroom.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zoomreader/id414117816?mt=8

Letter Lab

Letter Lab

Are your students struggling to write and recognize their ABCs? Letter Lab will help with that! Letter Lab is specifically designed for apple touch products, included the IPad, IPhone, and IPod. It presents the students with both upper and lowercase letters and provides student with the opportunity to interact with the shapes of the letter. In my classroom, I would use this app when covering the standard ,CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1. Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet. I would use Letter Lab as a center activity to reinforce the content that had already been taught.

How it works: Letter Lab is creatively designed to let students trace the letters using their finger or a stylus. It also has a real world object associated with each letter. Students trace the letter, and then tap object to hear a voiceover that states the letter and the object. Students can select specific letters to work with using the tab on the side of the screen.

Price 0.99

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letter-lab/id365981111?mt=8

IOS for Special Education

IOS for Special Education

This app is available on any Apple product. The app helps students with disabilities, in areas such as  literacy, vision and hearing problems. Physical and motor skills can also be advanced by using this app as well. Teachers can minimize visual stimulation by liminting access to a single app and students can use face time and camera to communicate with more than just words. Additional apps work within this app helping autistic students communicate better by using their iPad and or iPhone.

https://www.apple.com/education/special-education/ios/