Webinars on Apps for Reluctant Readers and Writers

As part of her course, viewing Barb Welsford's webinars on apps for reluctant readers and writers was a real bonus! I became acquainted with new apps and feel better equipped to make an informed decision about their appropriateness for my students. Not only are the apps demonstrated, but I feel that they come with a seal of approval!  Another important feature of the webinars is the fact that I can review them as often as I need to. For example, I will be revisiting the instructions on how to use the free computer program "Stanza" (free) to create Epub files which can then be viewed or listened to on the IPod.




In Barb's Webinar for Reluctant Readers, there are a great variety of apps presented for different challenges, ages, and affinities which means that there is something for all the students on my caseload.
For example, for the kids who need decoding skills, there is  "ABC Pocket Phonics" (2.99)  and Montessori Crosswords" (2.99).


For students who need  compensatory strategies to access  text, some suggestions were "Speak it ( (1.99),  "Image to Text" (.99) and   "Voice Readier" (1.99)



For selections of ebooks, there is "VBookZ" (3.99), with 30,000 free books in which text is highlighted and read for the students and some extraordinary interactive stories, such as "Nancy Drew" (1.99),  "The Unwanted Guest" (4.99) and "Its Bitsy Spider" (3.99).



The apps Barb presented in the Webinar for Reluctant Writers support the  writing process from planning and organizing to editing and revising. Most apps can be used for for more that one step in the process and provide support for different levels of ability and skills.  For example,"Writing Toolkit" (3.99) sparks ideas, and provides cues and support for mechanics at higher levels while "Story Builder" (3.99) gives question prompts and then the answers are melded together into a story for the younger or students who benefit from added structure and prompts.


 My favourite is "Story Cubes" which rolls virtual dice with topics that inspire a story, but as the following ad shows, it can do so much more. It'll be a fun way to engage my ESL student as well as stimulating ideas for the kids that can't think of anything.The webinars are well worth investing your time in!



For spelling help and strategies to that make keyboard easier, some apps recommended were "Dragon Naturally Speaking" (free) for voice to text,  "Typenology", "Zentap" for word prediction, "Sideways"(1.99)  for a horizontal key board, and "Tiki Notes' (free) in which the students chooses from a group of letters, it enlarges and as the letters are chosen, words are predicted.


Sometimes, for the reluctant writer, getting away from print and allowing the student to create and show what he or she knows through video and pictures is appropriate. As we discovered in an earlier class, "Reel Director" makes movie making easier, "Pictelloe" (14.99) enables the student to use pictures and record easily and "Strip Designer" (2.99) which is like "Comic Life" on an IPod to create photostories.


There are so many apps to help our reluctant readers and writers that we find out about on Barb's webinars,  I think that seeing a webinar provides hope to students and their families that the students can be successful and let their talents and abilities shine despite their reluctance!

Fidgets R Us:A Fun Look at Low Tech Assistive Technology for Self-Regulation

Pictello adventure

Thursday, October 20, 2011

During our class on Tuesday,  it was exciting hearing about others' favourite Apps. As they talked, I was thinking about the students that I know that would benefit from the various Apps suggested. "Model Me Going Places" would be great for my students who need that explicit teaching for behaviour and support for anxiety when going into new situations. "Dictionary . com" would make looking a word up a lot more doable for my reluctant readers and writers to build their vocabulary.  "Speech Tutor" would help my kids with severe phonological deficits  Such possibilities!

 After having an opportunity to play with Pictello  in creating a social story, I was really enthused to share it with my students. A quick trip to Walmart, and within an hour, it and a  dozen other Apps were loaded.  Soon my son was making a photo story of my husband making authentic tortillas with our international students. Today, my adult student, a volunteer firefighter, created a virtual tour of the Lunenburg Firehall where he hangs out with his buddies. Tomorrow it will be in the hands of struggling readers and writer who I know will be thrilled to create stories with it. This little tool will open avenues of learning and communication. How wonderful to have the opportunity to facilitate that!
Here is a list of possible uses for "Pictello"  that we brainstormed.
1. Social Stories
2. Visual Schedules
3. Mini-lessons
4. Story board to draft a story.
5.  Reading Responses
6. Science Lab Report
7. ABC book finding objects that begin with the letter
8. Assignment/assessment to show what students know e.g. levers, right angles ec.
9. Portable writer's notebook
10. Memory aid
11. Organization tool
12 Time lines

Ten Great Apps to Develop Literacy

Reading research has identified various areas needed for the development of literacy skills including print awareness, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing. These ten Apps, which support development in these areas, have received favourable reviews and are reported to be loved by kids and parents. Each is accessible through audio format for those with reading difficulties.

Super Why

Ages 3-8, 2.99

This is an award winning, engaging APP from PBS for emergent readers or struggling young readers that focuses on four early literacy skills including identifying letters, rhyming words, letter sounds, writing and completing sentences.. It features popular characters from the show, Super Why, vivid visuals and interactive activities that provide strong motivational interest..

Fish School

Ages 4+, 1.99

Young children and those in need of development of fine motor control and cause/effect will be absorbed in the eight activities including watching the fish swim, recognizing and producing letters, numbers, shapes etc., matching, finding differences and more. It is highly interactive and would be especially appealing to children who enjoy fish.

Dr. Seuss ABC

Ages 3 to 8

There are many Apps available of Dr. Seuss stories but this one is especially captivating and useful for developing print awarness, phonics, vocabulary, etc. It can be read three ways for different levels of skills and practice: Read to Me (text to speech that highlights each word, Read to Myself or Audio Play.

Word Wagon

Ages 1 to 3, 4 to 7

Move over Word Maker! This delightfully animated program is for students who would benefit from letter, sound  and word recognition and segmenting and blending tasks. It features four levels of play that develop phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling skills and word recognition of the 44 Dolch List words. Audio modelling and feedback make this a good independent activity.

Story Builder

Age 4+,  3.99 

For development of language skills, especially vocabulary, narration, and imagination. It improves sentence and paragraph structure, integrating ideas and making inferences.. Students are prompted with questions about pictures and given a sentence stem to finish orally which answers the question. These sentences are joined to together  to form paragraph.

Dictionary.com

Age 4+ Free.

This is a must have for anyone form 3 to 93 for building vocabulary and spelling. It requires no internet connection to obtain meanings and synonyms, but does need it for audio pronunciation and voice to text. It offers spelling support and reads an example sentence using the word.

Flashcards Deluxe Lite

Ages 4+, Free

An excellent study tool for all students but especially those with memory and reading difficulties that respond well to repetition. There is text to speech  for auditory support. You can create your flashcards or use the  library. There are games to build in motivation.



Popplet
Elemenatry, middle and high school students, 4.99
This amazing App for IPad only is a great tool for visual learners for brain storming, mindmapping, note taking, breaking down tasks and decision making. It enables students to create "popplets" and add print or visuals easily..



Reading for Details
Grade 2 to 6, Free
This App would be appropriate for students who would benefit from practice in picking out information and making inferences. Interesting passages about inventors and their inventions are used in a practice mode or game format to develop comprehension and critical reading skills.




IScroll
All ages, Free
This app provides a huge library of books of all kinds  that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It woul;d be appropriate for students who are reluctant readers or struggling readers because the text is highlighted as it is read. The site claims that retention improves by 38% and comprehension by 78% when text is read aloud. Fluency and reading levels improve with this feature as well.
The following App is useful for parents and teachers and helps determine what a student's strengths and needs are and may be helpful in determining the Apps a student would benefit from.

Reading Remedies

Ages 4 to 7, 8 to 10 and 11 to 14 , Free

This App is useful for parents and teachers to assess students for rhyming, segmenting and blending, sight words, fluency and word attack. It includes follow up suggestions of activities to develop areas of weakness that the student may have.

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