Word Magic - Show #37 and Brueck Review #2
Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 2:51PM Grade Level: Early Elementary
Program Functionality: B
The app is easy to navigate from an interface standpoint, but it loses a mark for its lack of text or audio instructions.
Purpose: A
Word Magic has a very specific purpose, which challenges emergent and early readers to identify individual letters and letter blends to complete a partially spelled word.
Overall Educational Value: B
Word Magic provides teachers with some opportunity to differentiate instruction by shifting focus from BEGINNING/MIDDLE/END sounds and also LETTER/BLEND based on individual student need.
Cost: $.99
Recommendation: I recommend this app for personal use and school use at this time. I feel this app would be most appropriate to supplement or enhance reading instruction. Children will benefit from teacher or adult modeling of use, but most early elementary students will be able to operate independently after their first interaction with the app.
Creators Website: http://www.anusen.com/website_wordmagic.html
ITunes Link: Click Here
Hey, check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize these devices to the their fullest. We hope to bring app developers and educators together to make truly educational apps.
brueckei.org Integration Suggestions:
Class Lab
Small Group
Partners: Beginning Sounds Game Show
2 students:1 iPod
Students take turns playing the roles of the contestant and game show host. Children can sit on chairs or floor, but should be facing one another. The host holds the iPod out of view of contestant. Play begins with the host declaring either BEGINNING/MIDDLE/END to the contestant, depending on the game setting. The host then names or describes the picture that Word Magic displays. Contestant replies with the letter that is missing from the BEGINNING/MIDDLE/END. Host then reveals the iPod to contestant and taps the contestant answer into the app to check for accuracy. If answer is incorrect, then contestant can use the letter clues that the Word Magic app provides to select a follow-up answer. Host touches in subsequent answers and checks for accuracy. Play continues until contestant collects a reward on the Word Magic app (5 correct answers). At that point, students trade roles and follow the same sequence.
Limiting factors: Sound. Although there are no verbal cues presented with the picture in the app, both auditory feedback is provided after the student selects a letter.
Individual: Skill & Drill
This has been another I Education Apps Review. I’m Jeremy Brueck from brueckei.org where we are dedicated to Helping educators meet the changing demands of 21st Century teaching and learning.
Jeremy Brueck, Spelling, Words | in Early Elementary 
Reader Comments (1)
As an early elementary teacher who is passionate about the teaching of reading, I am dissappointed with this app. I love the fact that you can modify it by having children foucs on Beginning, Middle or Ending sounds, however, it is not logically set up from a decoding standpoint. For example, when teaching children how to read, we work with them to get their mouths ready for the beginning sound. This is often times a single consonant at the early level or a blend or diagraph later on. In this app, beginning sounds are cut in the wrong part of the word. For example: barn is shown as _ _ r n. Children are given the following options: ba, ff, gd, and bi. Logically, the beginning sound would be only the 'b'. Sun is shown as _ _ n and the options are ik, nk, su, and yh.
The same holds true with middle sounds. The words are not appropritate for middle sounds. For example, the word ring has an onset and rime, not a middle sound. Additionally, the app shows the child r_ _ g and expects them to insert the i and n. Brown is a great example of a word that would have a middle sound (ow) but the app shows it as b _ _ w n. Not a logical sequence of how we stretch through words.
I think the premise for the app is wonderful but definately needs an update to bring it up to speed for effective classroom use!