Linguistic Skills Apps
Note: This apps listing is only a sampling of apps used developing linguistic skills. Most of these apps are intended for mainstream audiences for oral or written storytelling. For more info about each app, see:
Icon /Price / Name / HyperLink / Summary
/ Book Creator / This flexible app includes text, pictures, and audio. Special features include:
• Very easy changes (e.g., fonts, sizes, colors, styles)
• Multiple audio buttons on a page
• Invisible buttons when exported to iBooks
Also has an older students ‘feel’
$2.99 / Click ‘n Talk / • Great cheap, easy story-maker
• Can add stories with speech & text
• IMPORTANT! Don’t lose password! It’s required to edit your stories.
• Super easy to import, add speech, AND text
$ .99 / Cookie Doodle / • Create cookies from recipes or just rolling out dough
• Choices of colors, shapes, letters, frosting, sprinkles, etc.
• Can save, share, or eat completed cookies
See review:
-vocabulary
-sequencing
-motor skills
$2.99 / Explain Everything / Very much like using PPT on the SmartBoard
Upload PDFs and PPTs
Use markers to add notes on the screen
Add recordings to slides and export to YouTube
$1.99 / Faces I Make Lite / Highly creative app for combining shapes, tools, foods, etc. to make faces
• Great for sequencing
• Supports direction-giving or direction-following
$3.99
LITE FREE / My Play Home / • Super interactive
• Great for building language re: vocabulary in the home
• Think about writing notes about what to do
• Barrier game: 2 iPads. # 1 sets up room, then calls over other student, who has to set up theirs just the same
FREE / Photo Notes Free / • Easy to add photo bubbles, speech bubbles, etc.
• Very flexible
FREE / PhotoBook Lite / Creates photo books for:
• Reading
• Sharing life stories
• Social scripts
• Social stories
FREE / Pictures with Words / • Add text, captions, emoticons etc to pictures
• Simple to use
$24.99 / Sound Literacy / This app supports phonetic reading
$1.99 / Toca Hair Salon / Cut, color, and style hair
• Very funky characters
• Amusing options to cut and re-grow hair
• Fun sound effects
• Christmas version free (fix Santa’s hair)!
• Really motivating for building language
FREE / Toontastic / Highly motivating for supporting oral language and writing. Many character sets are available, including the history set shown. I use a writing plan so that students must become screenwriters.
Free / VoiceThread / Social Networking app
Requires Wifi
Links to VoiceThreads created on your laptop
Upload PPTs and videos on laptop version
Upload pictures and record comments on iPad
Send link to others for comments
Musselwhite, Wagner, Buell, & Wilcoxon, 2012