Apps, Apps, Apps Oh My!

I have recently started using my I PAD in my speech language therapy sessions with some of my elementary school students. They LOVE LOVE LOVE the animated and interactive activities!  One of the first questions that I got last week was "Ms. Anderson, are we going to use the I PAD today?" to which I replied "Sure!" I do my best to vary my activities so that my students will be excited to practice their IEP goals.

My current favorite apps are the Common Core Vocabulary and Wh questions apps by Super Duper Publications. I love that I am able to have a group of students practicing their semantic skills, that the program tracks progress, and that I can view/email/print a graph with their percentages of accuracy.  I review language arts terms with my students with the app. However, there are also science, social studies, and math practice available as well. I think this application is a great way to take baseline and progress check data.

For grammar practice, I recommend the Grammar Wonderland app by McGraw Hill to address practice with types of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The students really like that they have the chance to maneuver the I PAD as if it is their favorite Wii game while they practice their language skills related to common core curriculum standards. I also like the irregular plurals and irregular verbs by AbiTalk although the graphics and cloze exercise layout is a bit basic. There are no data tracking available with these, but I would definitely add them to your speech language therapy toolkit.

I also like the Buddy Bear series of applications for younger students especially the Associations & Comparatives interactive books. When I worked with toddlers and preschoolers, they really liked the original hand held books so I am sure that these would be a hit. I used the Comparatives app with a 3rd grader to review the concept before instructing him with more advanced comparative adjectives and he was engaged as well as excited about completing the tasks.

There are so many I PAD apps that I believe SLPs, teachers, and parents can use in small group or individually with a student or child. Visit the blog another day to learn about other apps that I recommend.