Saturday, July 28, 2012

All Kinds of Kids’ Vocabulary Apps

A larger and more extensive vocabulary can benefit children in so many ways. It can help them to express themselves more clearly and effectively. A good vocabulary can significantly benefit their performance on all types of achievement or academic tests. In addition, a student’s writing skills can be greatly enhanced with an excellent vocabulary---throughout all of life. So you can see that there are only advantages to improving and enriching a child’s vocabulary.

In the past, vocabulary lists of new words were studied, memorized, incorporated into daily lessons at school and other such tedium. However, today, we have apps---wonderful, enjoyable apps that encourage vocabulary building with immediate feedback for the learner. Bye-bye tedium!

This week’s blog article provides you with a group of vocabulary apps that might be just the thing to get your child(ren) or students “reacquainted” with vocabulary learning just as we approach the beginning of a new school year. Hope you like our newest apps list!

What’s the Word on Vocabulary Apps for Kids? by Melanie Ruda (for iPhone, iPod touch, & iPad for Gr. K-6)
This article contains a good list of inexpensive apps that can help kids in grades K-6 develop their oral and reading vocabularies. (Criteria included apps that are age appropriate, that focus on vocabulary development and help kids learn the meanings of new words.)
http://blog.sewardinc.com/2012/02/13/whats-the-word-on-vocabulary-apps-for-kids/

Vocab-a-splat by Seward, Inc.(for iPad for Ages 4-6)
A vocabulary-building game that teaches children the meanings of high-frequency words they encounter while reading.
App explanation link: http://www.vocabasplat.com/
App download link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vocab-a-splat/id517271626?ls=1&mt=8

List of Vocabulary Apps (For Various Age Levels) (mostly iPad & iPod apps with 1 Android app)
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/mobile-app-lists/vocab-apps

Kids Vocabulary (FREE Android app for Ages 3-7)
Give your child a head start with this interactive vocabulary learning app. Look, listen, say, read, spell---Your child will learn new vocabulary using a 4-step method based on modern teaching methodology.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=equizonline.com.kidspicturevocab&hl=en


Montessori Approach to Vocabulary (a brief review, demo video with link to app for younger children---for iPad with a price of $1.99)
In the Montessori Classroom, several activities exist to assist children to increase their vocabulary. This application will help children to identify and learn the names of the animals. (Price at time of review--$2.99)
App review link: http://a4cwsn.com/?p=1927
App download link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/montessori-approach-to vocabulary/id400726281?mt=8

SuperKids Vocabulary Builders (Online and app options both available here---Apps for iPad/iPhone from upper elementary grades through grade 12 vocabulary levels + even PSAT & SAT prep)
Looking for an easy way to improve your students' (or your own) vocabulary? SuperKids has compiled a set of word-of-the-day lists that should help. Make this your browser's home page and get a new word every day!
http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/wod.shtml/

Enchanted Dictionary
(for iPad---2 versions: for Gr. 4-6 & Gr. 7-12) Designed by Marg Griffin, a speech and language pathologist who works with older students, these apps help students focus on the language of definitions for core content vocabulary. Website for Golden Communications, LLC is http://goldencommunicationsllc.com/ from where one can access the apps.

For more information:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Clip art courtesy of: Lakeshore Learning Materials @ http://tiny.cc/gvd6hw

4 comments:

  1. Hi Joan- Thanks for the great list of vocabulary apps! I hope you will also look at my apps Enchanted Dictionary 4th-6th Grade and 7-12th Grade. I'm an SLP who works with older students and designed these apps to help students focus on the language of definitions for core content vocabulary. Our website is http://GoldenCommunicationsLLC.com/
    Best regards-
    Marg Griffin
    GoldenComLLC@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Marg,

    I certainly appreciate your comment here. Thank you for taking the time to write and tell us about your Enchanted Dictionary apps. They looked like they could be very helpful to students in many grade levels. As a middle school teacher, it is often very difficult to find apps such as yours for our older students. You obviously have addressed this need.

    You might notice that we updated our blog article to include your apps and link in our list of vocabulary apps. I know you will be able to help many more students with reading challenges because of your good efforts.

    All the best of continued success, Marg!

    Joan Brennan
    www.FocusandRead.com
    St. Louis, MO

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Joan. Thanks for giving my blog a mention. Having noticed a need for vocabulary-building apps, the team here at Seward Incorporated recently developed an iPad app called Vocab-a-splat. Intended for kids aged 4-6, the app teaches the meanings of 400 words frequently found in print. Your readers can find out more at www.vocabasplat.com.

    Best regards,
    Melanie Ruda
    Senior Instructional Designer,
    Seward Incorporated

    ReplyDelete
  4. Melanie,

    You are most welcome. So you have also noticed a need for vocabulary apps---good! There is certainly room for your new Vocab-a-splat app, and I have taken the liberty of updating my blog article to include the link & other info you provided about it.

    Appreciate this information! Continued success with all of your educational apps, especially with Vocab-a-splat!

    Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete