Bluster! for iPad

App Title: Bluster
Grade Level: 2-4
My app reviews are usually for iPod and iPhone apps that are often compatible with the iPad. I am reviewing this iPad-only app because we have had so much fun with this one at school.
I have a few first graders that are super readers and writers and are working on expanding their vocabulary. This app fits the bill. They have explored the Single, Team, and Versus modes of the game and like all three equally. They are in it for the conversations about the words and the teamwork required to solve the puzzle. I imagine that older children will be a bit more competitive.

The grade level range is 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, but certainly could stretch one grade above or below for certain students. The specific skills include rhyming words, prefixes, synonyms, suffixes, word roots, homophones, and adjectives.

The game includes a weather component and if timed correctly, a player can zap his opponent with a tornado, blizzard, or hurricane. This temporarily freezes the player’s board, allowing an opportunity for the other player to get ahead in using all of their words to win the round.
Bluster, created by McGraw Hill’s Center for Digital Innovation, claims to include over 800 vocabulary words! It also enables specific skill work and includes a high score table. Bluster is available on iTunes for free.

Reviewer Name: Carolyn Wojtera
Reviewer Blog: Teach with Tech

eSkills Learning: Parts of Speech and Compound Words by Applicable2U

Parts of Speech and Compound Words

Over the past several months, eSkills Learning has been hard at work to expand their collection of educational apps.  The eSkills Learning team have designed BINGO like apps that relate to core curriculum standards in the areas of: Language Arts, Reading Comprehension, Math and Algebra Video apps. Both Parts of Speech and Compound Words can be played on any Apple device running iOS 3.2 or later.  The applications may be pricey compared to other educational apps out on the market, however, the eSkills Learning team is devised of members with over 30 years of educational experiences.  Their goal is to motivate and challenge those using their applications.  The academic end results that a parent or teacher will see in their child or student after having played will be worth the download.  Through this game format, students won’t even realize that they are learning, reinforcing and reviewing for their next language arts lesson or even a state preparation exam.

What truly amazes Applicable2U about the integration of the eSkills Learning apps is how the use of a mobile device can change an educational setting while meeting a variety of standards.  In their About section of their website, they clearly indicate that the design of these two apps and all others were built with the Common Core Standards in mind.  When visiting the Common Core State Standards website, I came across a general key point under Language “the standards expect that students will grow their vocabularies through a mix of conversations, direct instruction, and reading. The standards will help students determine word meanings, appreciate the nuances of words, and steadily expand their repertoire of words and phrases.” At each grade level, this key point will be met and will be developed upon over time. Through the use of various levels of difficulty and multiple ways of playing (single and multi-player and practice mode), each return BINGO experience can be different, without a sense of feeling that there is no reason to return. With a brief set of directions on each question, users will read a sentence and fill in the blank with one of three choices as they practice parts of speech and compounds words.  Both applications will challenge the user as they game for a reason. Below are some highlights of each application:

Parts of Speech 

• Levels of Play – Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Pronouns, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections
• A collection of real world images that students can make connections too
• Improve their visual discrimination skills as they locate pieces on a board
• It is important to note that there will need to be pre-teaching/direct instruction done prior to using this application on definitions of the various parts of speech that the app will focus in on
• Games are not timed during the single and practice mode to alleviate undue stress on the user(s)
• Integration of multiple devices as they safely connect with one another via the devices Bluetooth
• Practice mode gives the user control over how many questions they will need to answer.  There is no BINGO board in this mode of play.
• Parts of Speech Lite version has 200 questions
• Parts of Speech Full Classroom Version has 400 questions
• Developer support is provided for parents and teacher in a Teacher’s Guide

Compound Words

• Levels of Play - Locating the 2nd Half of the Compound Word – Easy Vocabulary, Locating the 1st Half of the Compound Word – Easy Vocabulary, Locating the 2nd Half of the Compound Word – Harder Vocabulary, Locating the 1st Half of the Compound Word – Harder Vocabulary
• Through game play, users will be increasing their word recognition skills, the ability to look at words in many parts and the development of vocabulary as they listen, speak and write.
• Compound Words Lite version has 100 compound word questions in total
• Compound Words Full Classroom version has 400 compound word questions in total
• Developer support is provided for parents and teacher in a Teacher’s Guide

Overall, Applicable2U continues to be pleased with the educational apps that eSkills Learning has to offer.  Depending on your child or students level of need in learning or reinforcing either of these two topics will determine the academic approach that will be taken.  For some it may be challenging, so working alongside a higher level partner might be useful so as to differentiate when needed.  A note to the developers, in a future update, might it be possible to include an option for the device to read sentences when necessary.  Although direct instruction will be provided, could users tap on an unknown part of speech, causing a help window to pop up for further support. Finally, within the practice mode, has your team thought about generating a short report which shows how that student did during that session.

If you would like to learn more about eSkills Learning, please visit their website here.  As mentioned in the brief overview of each application, there are two available versions.  When making this decision, do not look at the dollar value, look at how it will support and guide your child academically.  To begin adding Parts of Speech Full Class version to your iTunes library, simply click here.  To add Compound Words Full Classroom version to your iTunes library, simply click here.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com

My Word Wall

App Title: My Word Wall

Grade Level: Pre-K - 1

Purpose: A   The app allows children to practice alphabet and basic words.

Program Functionality: A  I love the way this app is designed. The main home screen has an uncomplicated layout with ABC and word writing right in the center. The 4 games are on the bottom and have cheerful graphics to entice you to explore. The home screen is easily referenced by the house icon at any time during game play.

 
Overall Educational Value: A  This game allows children to see, hear, say, and write alphabet and basic words. The four games offer a variety of activities for a variety of skills. See & Find is a picture to word matching game. It has two levels: 6 cards or 8 cards. When you make a match, the word is read. Hide a Word sports a darkened screen, with a spotlight to swipe around to look for a word. This is fun for my first graders - they don’t get tired of finally spying that word! Bubble Words is perhaps my favorite. It is a spelling game that features a mix of words: cvc, cvce, and words with other vowel and consonant combinations such as ou, oy, or, ar, and st. It would have been great to have a way to set this to practice developmentally... cvc words only, cvce words, then other vowel patterns, etc. The last game is Jigsaw Words - simple puzzles to put together to build words.

Cost: $ .99 for iPhone, iPod app.  iPad HD version call Word Wall for $. 99.

Recommendation: Pre-school through 7 years will enjoy and benefit from this game.
Classroom Use Examples / Ideas: We use this 2-3 times a week in word study time in first grade. The students return to this app for the fun and I keep it on their iPods for the learning impact.
Developer Website: Punflay, Emantras
iTunes Link: My Word Wall
 
Reviewer Name: Carolyn Wojtera
Reviewer Blog: Teach with Tech

eSkills Learning Verbs by Applicable2U

   Verbs

At the end of August, eSkills Learning launched Verbs.  If you love the bingo like concept that this development group incorporates with a variety of academic skills, then you will want to add their recent launch to your collection.  eSkills Learning is a development group that works very hard at building and then integrating mobile learning apps that correlate with the Common Core Standards.  The Common Core Standards are considered robust and attempt to meet the needs of students as it relates to the real world.  Amazingly, there are only 6 states currently not following such standards, but in time, I am sure all 51 states will be following suit.  Looking over my own state standards, the language skills development of verbs is introduced as early as second grade and further reinforced in third.  Whether you are just beginning to introduce or providing reinforcement of various types of verbs or simply preparing for a higher education exam, eSkills Learning Verbs is certainly Applicable2U.

eSkills Learning Verbs has been broken into four levels of play: Level 1 – Action Verbs, Level 2 – Two Word Verbs,Level 3 – Irregular Verbs and Level 4 – Difficult Irregular Verbs.  Interaction and learning can occur as a single player, multiple player or simply practice mode.  As a single player, you compete against yourself on your individual device.  However, when implementing the multiple player mode, each participant has their own device which has been loaded with the eSkills Learning Verb app.  Within this mode of play, each user must set the bluetooth capability to on within their settings of their device.  Together, players will experience an “old school” game of bingo without any real chips or someone calling out numbers and letters like B-10.  Instead it is done virtually with the latest form of technology, your iPhone, iTouch or iPad.  Much like the real bingo, each player is provided their own game board.  Users will be asked to read a sentence and choose from 3 or 4 multiple choice answers in order to appropriately fill in the blank.  The first user to get 5 chips in a row wins.  Players should not assume that each letter/number combination will be on their board as boards are randomly selected.  A thought for the developer – might it be possible to provide a reading option that a user could select before the pop up window indicates a right or wrong answer. This might be a nice added feature when a user is incorporating the practice mode.   By hearing the sentence read aloud, a user might rethink their selection.  In our opinion, it is an alternative way to differentiate a users experience as it challenges them to use their listening skills as well.   Academically each mode of play provides the user(s) a very worthwhile experience.

As a user(s) develops their understanding of various forms of verbs, such an app is also encouraging cognitive processing as they increase their word recognition skills.  In addition, it will provide the user(s) alternative ways to use verbs in their own writing outside of this application.  Through the integration of eSkills Learning Verbs, users will become more aware of how to make their writing pop with details.  Ones word choice will definitely increase with each mode of play.  Our experience and review of eSkills Learning Verb was via an iPad2.  With all the “twitter” about how to make your iPad device accessible with an interactive whiteboard. such a educational app would certainly fit nicely in any regular or special education setting.  To further expand on this idea, eSkills Learning has taken the time to provide a Teacher’s Guide for Verbs as a way to support the implementation of this language skills suite to any learning environment.

As a child, I can recall learning various forms of language with the support of textbooks, the teacher talking “at us” in a very monotoned voice and the creation of  these horrific “trees”.  Applicable2U is just amazed at where education has taken us over the course of several years.  It is through the work of such developers as eSkills Learning that language comprehension can change and connections can be made as your children or students are having fun!  If you would like to learn more about this educational app or any others that eSkills Learning as to offer, please visit their website here.  If you are a parent, educator or homeschooler that is in need of a new way to teach or reinforce verbs, then begin downloading eSkills Learning Verbs today from your iTunes library here.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com

Wallpaper Collection HD by Kathy Burdick

Name of App: Wallpaper Collection HD

Free or Fee: Free!

Rating: 5/5

Why I like it: Wallpaper Collection HD can be used for more than just selecting a backdrop for your iPad. Put this app the better use… in the classroom! Wallpaper Collection HD offers hundreds of wallpaper images in several different categories, from sports to architecture. These wallpaper images make great writing prompts. Let students choose a category and a picture within that category to base their story off of. A similar activity would be to select a picture and have students write their predictions about what is going to happen next and why they think that. There is also an image story section within the app providing information regarding select images and could be used for predicting. Show students an image from this section and ask them questions about it, such as where do you think this picture was taken or was it spring, summer, fall or winter. There is limited info given so some additional research may be necessary to create an abundance of questions. Once students have answered all questions give them the correct answers so they can compare them. There is also a Pro version offered with more images and no ads. This app is a safer way for students to browse images, but always be sure to preview content before allowing students to browse freely. Download Wallpaper Collections HD, check. Select an image for my iPad, check. Now you can put this app to it’s best use yet… in the classroom!

Visit Kathy's website for more ideas on using apps in the classroom!

Minimod Nouns by Applicable2U

    Minimod Nouns

As the summer comes to an end many educators are putting their “teacher caps” back on and beginning to plan for the coming months. If you are questioning how you might integrate your particular grade level curriculum as it relates to mobile learning, then think no further. eSkills Learning development group has a wide range of language arts, reading and math apps available.  The most recent addition to their collection is Minimod Nouns for any Apple device.  With a very user friendly design and a game like format, children won’t even realize that their language art skills are being put to work.  One of the many things that Applicable2U likes about the Minimod apps is that they are designed for both tutorial and competitive opportunities. In addition, no educator or parent needs to worry that while experiencing eSkills Learning apps that their child is playing a “mindless” game.  Activities are directly correlated to the Common Core Stands, state testing standards as well as the core curriculum which builds the foundation for understanding sequential skills.

If you are familiar with other eSkills Learning designs you know that interaction occurs as a bingo game.  With this particular app, users will be reinforcing their nouns through four levels of play. Level 1 – Person, place, thing or idea.  Level 2 – Common or Proper Nouns. Level 3 – Concrete or Abstract Nouns.  Level 4 – Collective or Compound Nouns.  Regardless of which level, play can occur in multiple ways.  Users can play on their own as a single player, with another user as each users are on their own device with Minimod Nouns app loaded or in practice mode.  The learning experience doesn’t end with one use of the application.  Within the multiple player option, users can either host or join a session of Minimod Nouns.  Within your Apple device settings, Bluetooth capability must be set to on in order for the game to begin.  There is no need for panic in this mode, it is completely safe as users can only interact with other local devices with this particular app.  Within each level, simple directions are provided along with a sentence and a missing word.  Through a visual representation and three choices to choose from users will be reinforced with both positive and negative feedback.  Answer choices are labeled with the bingo format (ie. 48A or 2B) and can be found on the game board.  If you happen to forget or not pay attention to that label there is a touch window/box for recall.  Similar to the real world version of Bingo, some numbers may not appear on the game board, thus extending the game for continuous reinforcement.

Overall, Applicable2U truly feels this educational app would be an excellent addition to your Apple device.  The only suggestion that we might provide to the developers for a future update is the ability for those in practice mode to have a definition window of some sort pop up.  If users are struggling it might indicate that they are unaware of other types of nouns besides those of: person, place, thing or idea and common and proper nouns.  As indicated earlier, eSkills Learning apps are designed for learning and reinforcing and a definition reminder might just do the trick.  If you would like to learn more about eSkills Learning, please visit their website here.  Already a fan of the Minimod apps, then begin download Minimod Nouns here to add to your iTunes library.

Reviewers website: www.applicable2u.wordpress.com

Review of FlipBook Lite by Kathy Burdick

Name of App: FlipBook Lite

Free or Fee: Free!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Developer: Josh Anon

Why I like it: FlipBook Lite tells a story by putting individual frames in motion. Frames are created with personal drawings or inserted photos and then played back to display an animated story. This app is takes the paper and pencil flip book animation and makes it digital. There are endless classroom uses for this entertaining app. It is especially useful in language arts. Here are a few ideas:

• Teachers can create a flipbook for a story that a student just finished reading, then scramble the frames (yes, that is an option!) and have the student put them in order. It could be a flipbook just for the beginning, climax or end.
• Students can create a flipbook to describe their favorite part of a book.
• Students can create a flipbook showing their prediction for the ending of a story.
• A flipbook can be made as an alternative to writing a story or as the illustrations for a short story.
• It can also be used to express pure creativity.

The user directions are a bit difficult since there are a lot of motions to remember, such as tap once with 2 finger to open toolbar, drag 2 fingers to zoom, slide 3 fingers to change brush and eraser size, etc. It is not extremely difficult once you get the hang of it, but it could be more challenging for elementary level students (however, I am constantly amazed at what student can do with technology). FlipBook Lite also has a website where flipbooks can be downloaded. It is a fun website with amazing flipbooks- a great tool to help give students ideas.

Visit Kathy's Website!