Elfishki and the Giant Cake by Applicable2U

  Elfishki and the Giant Cake

By kidsiphoneapps.net

There are a number of states in the US that have been following the Common Core Standards for a number of years, while others are just coming on board.  For those new to the Common Core Standards many are questioning what it might mean for how material is presented or how it compares to previous standards.  Common Core Standards are designed “to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young audience needs in order to be successful.”  This level of success can come in any format and Kids iPhone Apps is making that possible via your iPad device running iOS 4.3 or later.  Recently launched in February of this year is a wonderful interactive book called Elfishki and the Giant Cake.  Whether you are an educator in a school or home setting or you are a parent trying to teach your child(ren) conscious reading skills, then this needs to be your next educational app download!

What Applicable2U loves about this development company is that their goal is to create not only captivating stories, but to apply their stories and illustrations as teaching tools.  As an educator just delving into the Common Core and how technology fits in, this review could not have come at a more appropriate time.  In order for our children to fully participate in today’s global community, we need to keep in mind the 4 C’s of 21st century skills (Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication).  Elfishki and the Giant Cake is designed for children ages 6-9 and is supporting those 21st century skills just mentioned, exposes children to a familiar genre; fairy tales, myths and legends, and it integrates several Common Core Standards for English Language Arts along the way.

Come journey to Rainbow Island which is in the middle of Sparkling Sea and meet the adorable fairy tale creatures called Elfishkis.  Hear a wonderful story of how our main creatures or characters, Elfizz and Maggie are able to put their two worlds together and become friends, regardless of their differences.  As you enter this interactive, educational book app users will immediately notice the brilliant and crisp colors which makes the story images pop off the screen.  This original story can be experienced in English or in Russian as it is either read to you by a professional narrator or is read by the reader themselves.  Regardless of which is chosen, some young readers may even feel like they are apart of the board game Candy Land, with its magical feel, scrumptious candy and food all around.  With one or more simple taps, certain parts of each page will come to life as an animation.  Not only will objects and characters move, but each page has the reader stop and answer three questions before moving on with the story.  By implementing this feature, educators and parents will have opportunities to build a variety of academic skills such as:  comprehension check-ins, predictions, vocabulary building, discussion of story elements, points of view and to recall prior knowledge related to the information and events in the text.  A note to the developers- might it be possible to also offer new and more fluent readers the option to highlight words as it is read.

Elfishki and the Giant Cake can be implemented in a number of ways.  At times, reading for some is a challenge and not seen as fun.  When reading is differentiated for all learners, children’s academic attitudes will miraculously change.  If chosen to use in a classroom or home school environment, connect your iPad device to a large screen or projector and experience the wonderful world of the Elfishkis as a whole group.   As you navigate through your fairy tale genre unit, use Elfishki and the Giant Cake to support and reinforce what makes up a fairy tale.  Along the way stop and discuss connections, while implementing each pages guiding questions.  To enhance a readers creativity, have children create drawings or visions of what might happen next in the story or even an alternative choice that our main creatures could have taken.  In addition, Elfishki and the Giant Cake could also be used individually or in small groups.  If you walk into any classroom, children are usually in reading groups based on one’s reading level.  Some groups are larger than others and some are much smaller, this interactive book would be a wonderful addition to the school’s library.  Use Elfishki and the Giant Cake to spark communication, critical thinking and collaboration as they answer guided questions provided by the application. As the apps questions are shared, students might find that they have their own questions to share as well.

Applicable2U is pleased to have this interactive book apart of our iPad library.  There are so many books out their in hardcover, softcover and now as an app for your mobile device.  To know that while reading Elfishki and the Giant Cake your child(ren) or students will be building their love of reading, incorporating a number of academic needs and celebrating each others differences is well worth the $2.99 download.  To learn more about this and the other books that Kids iPhone Apps has to offer, please visit their website here.  Which character will you gravitate more towards, Elfizz or Maggie?  Download Elfishki and the Giant Cake to find out by simply clicking here.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com

Clever Tales by Applicable2U

Clever Tales
By AppGrade

Once upon a time there was a small beetle named Buzz.  Buzz happened to be afraid of the dark, along with his friend Dana. With two evil crows and a little magic grass, a problem is solved with the help of a firefly.  The story “How a Firefly Learned to Glow” is just one of the many fairy tales that the recently launched book application, Clever Tales, has to offer.

Of those applications that I have downloaded and reviewed, this is only the second book app that does not provide an interactive approach to reading.  With an iTouch or iPad and a family member, stories will come to life by spending quality time together at the palm of your hands.  Clever Tales is a database collection of fairy tales for children ages 4-7 and on, which will encourage positive morales such as love, kindness and the idea that miracles can happen.  As you  manipulate through this app you will hear kid friendly jazz music that can play while searching the database of fairy tales and/or as you read with your child.  What a great addition to ones night time routine of calming music and a good story.

There are a number of things that set this book application apart from other mobile book downloads.  Clever Tales does not incorporate options for reading or arrows to navigate from page to page.  Stories can be read as landscape or portrait, illustrations have a hand drawn appearance to them, text size can change based on the readers needs, and pages scroll from top to bottom.  What really stands this book application out is the option to set your iPad or iTouch screen with a day to night view.  Want to read at night, but don’t want others to know that you are awake? Maybe you happen to be driving in the car, turn the night screen on and your reading adventures can continue.

As a parent and a teacher, I can see this application being implemented in both the classroom and in your home.  Like most schools, the genre of fairy tales is discussed in depth.  By incorporating this mobile application, students will experience non-traditional fairy tales along with the traditional Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen or Grimm’s fairy tales.  As students see various examples, the key components of what makes up a fairy tale are truly understood.  Unlike most book applications that I have come across, Clever Tales provides a temporary empty library which can store “Tales From Our Readers.”  Why not ask your students to write a fairy tale of their own and one day that tale could appear not on paper but in the next update of Clever Tales for all to read and share.

Applicable2U thinks that it would be a “clever” idea to download this application.  If you would like to learn more about AppGrade be sure to visit their website here. To begin downloading Clever Tales today click here for your iTunes library.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com