Apps Review: Taylor Bradford

Kindergarten Standard: 8. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of printed materials. 

a. Recognize and demonstrate that print conveys meaning. Examples: Share a favorite book with peers. Share a list of birthday gifts received. 

b. With prompting and support, explain the roles of the author and illustrator of a text. 

c. Track print, moving left to right and top to bottom on the printed page, returning to the beginning of the next line. 

d. Identify the beginning and end of a sentence by locating the capital letter and end punctuation. 

e. Point to words using one-to-one correspondence, noting that words are separated by spaces. 

f. Distinguish letters from words within sentences. 

g. Compare and contrast letters based upon similarities and differences, including name, shape, sound, and approach strokes for writing.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/starfall 

Starfall is an app that can be used by students to play different reading games. It has games that focus on certain parts of ELA. It has multiple sections that can be used to teach concepts of print to kindergarteners. Some of those sections include "learn to read," "It's fun to read," and "I'm reading." Starfall is free to use for students and teachers. It has three age group sections: Prek - Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2, 3, and Grades 4, 5. Starfall can be used on computers and also on tablets/phones. It has an app version that is accessible on most devices and it can also be accessed on its website. I chose this review because I trust the website it is posted on. This website is made specifically for educators who are looking to review different resources. I have used it for many different apps before. 

https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/abcya

ABCya is an app full of learning games. It has games for both ELA and math. It has many great games for teaching/learning concepts of print. It is organized by grade level which makes it easy to find leveled games that are appropriate for kindergarten. One of my favorite games for my enrichment group is "storymaker". This is a great game for those who need a bit more of a challenge and are reading to start writing on their own. ABCya is free but does have a premium version that you can pay for. It allows you to use it on multiple devices at once. It also removes ads. It can be used with all elementary age students. Like Starfall it can be used on most devices through the app and can also be accessed through its website. I used the same site for this review as I did for Starfall. I love this review site because it is geared towards educators. It relates all of the resources to education and their pros/cons. 

https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/reading-eggs

Reading Eggs is an app based on the science of reading. It has so many great resources throughout that are leveled which make it great for differentiation. It create detailed reports on the student to help inform the teacher. It brands itself as an app that teaches kids to read. I do think it does a great job in aiding the process of learning to read. The cost is $10/month for an account. This only includes access for 4 children so this is on the pricey side. The intended age group is 2 -13 years old. It can be downloaded on the app store and google play. It can also be accessed on the internet. This website lists pros and cons of the website. It also allows other educators to add comments about the resource and their own reviews based on their experiences. This website shows examples and can allow you to take a look inside the app before you decide to purchase. 

Out of the three apps I have chosen I think Reading Eggs would be the most beneficial. While it is on the more expensive side, it is built on the science of reading which makes it more trustworthy in my opinion. I also read several reviews from Kindergarten teachers that have personally used this app. It has many different leveled activities that are available to the students. Reading Eggs includes leveled readers which are a great way to teach concepts of print. This would be a great station for students to explore and work with independently to further their understanding of the concept.