Free Early Literacy Apps for iPad

Sentence Magic
What I love about this app is that it has simple CVC words my Kindergartners can decode at this time of the school year. Sentence Magic has the option of using the picture hint or just focusing on the letters only, so I can easily incorporate it into a lesson about using context clues or phonemic awareness and decoding. Word hints and word blending helpers can be turned on or off. There are sentence building activities as well as sentence reading activities in which you can elect to have two or three words per sentence depending on the student's level of readiness. I additionally appreciate how the consonants and vowels are different colors. All in all, Sentence Magic is very customizable and highly user friendly.  

KinderSpell
This app features a variety of pictures with which younger students will be familiar. The goal is for students to be able to drag the blue letters onto the matching grey square in order to make the word. As students get better at letter matching, the "hint" button can be turned off so that the grey tiles no longer have letter hints. Thus, the app moves from letter recognition to the important phonemic awareness skill of hearing sounds in words. Since it is free, there are not that many words in the app, so be sure not to leave it on your students' menus for long or the benefits and excitement will soon fade. 

Letter Quiz
This app features four different activities for students. In the picture above, students are given a letter to find and the student has to then tap the correct, matching letter. There are also letter tracing activities, upper and lower case matching activities, and upper/lowercase flashcards that feature real life pictures for added letter association reinforcement. The free version only works with letters A-H, but the full version can be bought for just $1.99.

Magic Reading: Reading Skill 1
I love this app! It reinforces many of the phonemic awareness concepts young readers need to master by the end of Kindergarten. It is also a helpful app for older students in need of remediation. The picture above is from the Blending activity. Tap the separate sound boxes along the bottom of the screen to hear a word in parts (example, /c/ /u/ /p/). The student then blends the sounds to make a word. Students can check if they put together the correct word by tapping the large box at top which flips over to reveal the picture while a voice says the word for the picture they were blending. There are also reading and segmenting activities on this app as well. Each of the 3 skill builders center around CVC words, but the user can choose if she wants to focus on short a, e, i, o, or u words. There is also a "shuffle" option which will use all five consonants in random order. I use this app to make my reading groups more interactive, but also like how the self-checking features make this a great fit for students' independent use as well. 

PhonicsRead: Phonics and Reading with McGuffey lite
This app is meant to be used independently by students for remediation and reinforcement of reading concepts. There are slots for up to 10 different usernames. Lessons start with basic letter/sound recognition and first sound fluency. The screenshot above asked the student to touch the /n/ as in "nest." Each time a student taps a correct answer, a small animation pops up in celebration. There are many different animations to keep the students motivated to see what will happen next. The "teacher" voice on the program is very calm and clear, so my students easily understand what each activity is asking them to do. There are customizable options for individual student use. Each lesson has several different parts and covers fluency and comprehension topics as well as word attack skills. 

Word Wizard
This app is set up as a game which allows for 1 or 2 players. Students are to get their rocket ship from space back to Earth by selecting the picture that matches the correct CVC word. When a match is made, the rocket ship moves ahead one star closer to Earth. My students find this app to be especially fun. 

FirstWords Sampler
Tap the picture to hear the word then drag the sounds in the correct order to the letter boxes. I think my kiddos could play this game all day long!

FirstWords Valentine
Put out by the same company as the previous app, this game works much the same way as FirstWords Sampler, but this time features Valentine themed words. Perfect for this time of the year!

I love using technology within the learning environment and so do my students! Today, I hope I was able to introduce you to some new apps to try with your students. And the best part is, they are all free!

Happy Sunday!