This post was written by Carolyn Kendall, a graduate student in the College of Education in Dr. Rachel Potter’s ED 631 class.
I am always on the lookout for great apps and websites to help my kindergarteners develop phonemic awareness and build reading fluency. Listed below are a few of the free and well-loved apps and websites I have found useful. My students can navigate and switch between the activities with ease after a few simple instructions. As our four class iPads are in such high demand, I must be creative to provide all students opportunities to use them. Each week, I rotate the centers that will use the iPads for specific skills. After my students have time learning a new app, they can check out the iPads during afternoon centers or if they finish an assignment early.
STORYTELLING
I use one of our class favorites, “Storyline Online,” to begin our “Modeled Self-selected Silent Reading.” This website features distinguished readers from the Screen Actors Guild who provide excellent examples of reading fluency and prosody. The books they read are current and well-loved by students of all ages, and they are a great way to remind students how they can read with expression. As we listen to these storytellers over time, my Kindergarteners begin developing prosody as they “read” their self-selected books. When I introduce Mo Willems during the first marking period, they even begin reading/retelling stories form the “Elephant and Piggy” series with expression. This leads us into Readers Theater in the second marking period.
PHONEMIC AWARENESS
ABC Spelling Magic 1 | Short Vowel Words by Preschool University
This app is one of my personal favorites. It teaches CVC words in a very simple and engaging way. I start the year using “Spelling Magic 1” and continue through levels 2, 3, and 4 during the year as my students learn long vowels, blends, and digraphs. I particularly love using this app as part of my reading group work since it is leveled so well. The way the app works is this, students click on a medial vowel, and then the app shows a series of pictures, says a picture’s name, and then provides squares for each letter in the word for students to spell the word. I have found children really like having the alphabet on the screen to drag the letters to spell the word. What I really love is each letter and each square, when tapped, makes the letter sound so students can hear those tricky vowels!
Wonster Words | by 77SPARX Studio
This app is a lot of fun and gives my students choice in what they play. I use it more for my technology center when it is a student choice day. The app has many interactive spelling puzzles, letter hide-and-seek, and other mini-games which help my students learn to spell and sound out new words. The games cover consonant blends, word families, diphthongs, and digraphs, so I can differentiate activities based on my students’ needs.
FLUENCY
Between the Lions | by PBS Kids
ABCya | by ABCya.com
These two sites are fantastic, and I especially love using them in our computer lab with headphones! “Between the Lions,” which is based on the PBS Show, keeps my young students giggling as they interact with the reading games. It is one of their favorites until I introduce “ABCya” which gives them many more choices for reading games. When my students are interacting with these websites, they are highly engaged and developing reading skills while getting acquainted with our school’s computer lab. I highly recommend checking out both websites!