Can you imagine the excitement of an entire school awaiting the arrival of boxes of iPad2s? Ten-year-old Kaitlyn, a student at Legacy Academy in Elizabeth, Colorado enthusiastically remembers, “The first day we could bring them home, I was up all night. I learned so many things, it really shocked me.” Providing an iPad2 for every student was part of the decision nearly a year ago to go all Apple and become the state’s only iSchool. The decision has resulted in a higher level of student engagement, and enrollment, for Legacy Academy. Students use the devices to read novels, do math drills, shoot videos, conduct research, and improve their writing skills. Teachers are exploring the various apps available and experimenting with ideas for incorporating the devices into instruction in every area. Legacy has loaded between 80 and 130 apps onto the iPad2s as they experiment with trying to find the most effective use of this amazing new tool. The school subscribes to Core Knowledge principles and has added computer science into the core curriculum, anticipating students learning to write basic code by middle school. Many benefits are seen to come out of use of the new technology: differentiating instruction, allowing students to learn at their own pace, motivating students to learn in new and fun ways, and adding creative incentives to practice and drill on key skills and concepts. Students find doing math drills more fun when they are challenged to speed against a race car. Other applications help students with disabilities find their voice with voice-to-text apps that allow them to take the first step of getting their ideas into written form.
Of course, some problems have to be resolved, such as the issue of monitoring student’s access to the internet and avoiding distractions of non-academic content. Yet, the pros at this point, seem to outweigh the cons as the teachers and administration at Legacy Academy, and other schools who are bringing more technology into the classroom, experiment and find new ways to use the devices and resolve problems.
Below are a few apps that are fun for getting started. There are many free phonics apps in the app store so start exploring to find ones that meet your needs.
Kindergarten
Rock ‘n Learn Phonics Easy Reader 1- Three phonics stories are featured in this comprehensive app, which is meant to teach your child to read from the basics. ($4.99)
Bugbrained Phonics Awareness – Reading Level 1 has three sections on Segmenting, Blending and Vowels for children to practice. (Free)
abcPocketPhonics – This is an amazing free app that works with both iPhone and iPad that teaches the basics of reading and writing to young kids. One reviewer commented, “This app feels like you have a teacher or a tutor working with your child one on one.”
First Grade
Super Why! - This app features 4 interactive games, featuring characters from the PBS Kids show, "Super Why!" Games include letter hunts, letter-tracing practice, finding rhyming words from a group, and selecting the correct word missing from a sentence. ($2.99)
Second Grade
Sight Words Second Grade - Help your child practice sight words with this reading and spelling app. Four separate lists of sight words help bring the repetition your child needs to recognize these common words while reading. ($0.99)
Third Grade
K12 Timed Reading Practice - Practice reading skills and improve fluency with this fun phonics app. The app includes 250 stories, both fiction and nonfiction. The child reads the words on the screen, as if he/she is reading a book. The app times the reading and tracks the words per minute. The results can also list the percentile that your child is reading above or below his grade level. ($1.99)
Below are a few websites that offer interactive phonics games for children. These games can be used on classroom computers if you don’t have access to iPads.
http://www.starfall.com/ - This site has books to read, games to play, and activities for the holidays. Check out Make a Snowman, Groundhog, and Make a Valentine, for some timely fun for your students.
http://www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html - This site has a number of links to the best free online phonics games to help children develop phonics skills necessary for reading.
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/lettersounds.htm - This site has a number of games at different levels for letter sounds, blends, and short and long vowels, as well as “Bridge to Reading” for learning sight words in context.
http://www.funfonix.com/games/ - I particularly liked “Collect the Stars” from the mid-vowel and three letter word games as it helps familiarize children with the standard keyboard.
