Joe Rice

LITR 630/Mary Morgan

Apps for Reading & Writing Instruction
July 6, 2015

App 1: ABC MAGIC 5 Letter Sound Matching

This app (and several of the related apps by the same creators) provides students with
games to play that helps develop reading skills connecting sounds, letters, and pictures. ABC
MAGIC 5 will help strengthen the association of each letter with its most commonly occurring
sound. Students choose the correct pictures to match the letter or choose the correct letter to
match their picture. Children from pre-school through first grade (and higher for intervention
uses) could use this app. In my classroom, children would play on this app during literacy
centers or during a small group focus lesson on letter sounds. This app meets the CCSS
standards RF.K.1d Recognize and name all upper-and lowercase letter of the alphabet and
RF.K.3a demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to one letter-sound correspondences by producing
the primary or any of the most frequent sounds for each consonant because the app provides
games in which students match letters with the most common letter sounds.
App
ABC MAGIC 5
Interactive matching
game that helps
students learn letter
sounds.

IRA
5.1 Candidates
design the physical
environment to
optimize students use
of traditional print,
digital, and online
resources in reading

NETS*S
1a Apply existing
knowledge to
generate new ideas,
products, or
processes.
This app helps

KTS6
6.2 Uses available
technology to
implement
instruction that
facilitates student
learning.

and writing
instruction.
This app provides
students the
opportunity for using
technology to
develop letter sound
recognition.

students associate
and apply letter ID
and letter sounds.

Students use the

iPads during
instruction and
literacy centers to
play this app to help
them with phonemic
awareness and
phonics.

App 2: Toontastic
Toontastic is an app for writing and storytelling. Toontastic is appropriate for preschool
through intermediate grades given the use of the app. This is a creative storytelling app that
enables kids to draw, animate, and share their own cartoons with friends and family around the
world. For students, making cartoons with Toontastic is as easy as putting on a puppet show.
They simply press the record button, move the characters onscreen, and tell their story.
Toontastic records their animation and voice as a cartoon video. In my kindergarten classroom, I
would have students use this app as a publishing activity. I would provide students with time to
play with the app and get an idea of the characters, settings, and objects that the app provides. I
would then guide students through the writing process of generating ideas, drafting, revising, and
editing. As the publishing piece, students can use the app to record the story they wrote using the
characters, settings, and objects they chose to write about. This app and the lesson I would use
with this app meet CCSS W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to
compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and
supply some information about the topic. Also, W.K.3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating,
and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the
order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. Depending on the

writing piece that students would be working on, they can use this app to generate ideas as well
as to publish their final piece as they read their writing and use the characters and setting to
illustrate.
App
Toontastic
Creative storytelling
app that enables kids
to draw, animate, and
share their own
cartoons.

IRA
1.2 Candidates
understand the
historically shared
knowledge of the
profession and
changes over time in
the perceptions of
reading and writing
development,
processes and
components.
This app provides
students with a
current technology
that enhances their
storytelling. Students
are able to use this
tool to develop ideas
for writing as well as
produce a published
piece.

NETS*S
1a Apply existing
knowledge to
generate new ideas,
products, or
processes.
This app gives
students help
generating ideas for
characters, setting,
and events for their
writing. It also
provides a product
they can publish at
the end of their
writing cycle.

KTS6
6.2 Uses available
technology to
implement
instruction that
facilitates student
learning.
Students use the
iPads during
instruction and
literacy centers to
create informational
and narrative writing
pieces.

App 3: StoryBuddy2
StoryBuddy2 is an app for writing. This app can be used in kindergarten through the
intermediate grades. Students can create, read and share multi-page stories. They draw directly
on the iPad's screen with their finger as they create their very own picture book. Students can
add customizable text with the built-in keyboard, import images from your photo album, and add
beautifully crafted paper styles to each page. They compile their story and experience the

excitement of interacting with its pages like a real book. Lastly, they can listen to their very own
audio narration for each page. I would use this app to serve CCSS W.K.3 Use a combination of
drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell
about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened
and W.K.6 With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce
and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. At different points in the year, I
would have students use the app to publish a narrative writing piece that they work on together.
App
StoryBuddy 2
Writing app where
students create, read
and share multi-page
stories

IRA
2.2 Candidates
understand the
historically shared
knowledge of the
profession and
changes over time in
the perceptions of
reading and writing
development,
processes, and
components.
This app gives
students the
opportunity to
produce a book using
their own writing and
illustrating using the
digital tools as
opposed to the
tradition pencil and
paper.

App 4: TeachMe: Kindergarten

NETS*S
1.b Create original
works as a means of
personal or group
expression.
Students will use this
app individually and
collaboratively to
produce and publish
an original piece of
narrative writing into
a digital book.

KTS6
6.1 Uses available
technology to design
and plan instruction.
I will use the
components of this
app and create lesson
plans to provide
students with support
and opportunity to
use technology to
create and publish an
original writing
piece.

TeachMe: Kindergarten is an app for addition, subtraction, sight words, spelling, and
letter & number formation. This particular app is geared directly to kindergarten. It keeps
children engaged with a reward system where children earn coins for correct answers. Coins can
then be used to purchase stickers to place in fun sticker scenes and to purchase items for a virtual
aquarium. An animated teacher (Mimi Mouse) gives verbal instructions and feedback to the
child. I would use this app in respect to literacy for CCSS RF.K.3 Read common high-frequency
words by sight to help students read sight words fluently. Also, L.K.1a Print many upper-and
lowercase letters will be addressed when they are playing the letter and number formation
games. Students have to trace and write letters and numbers for practice on the app.
Additionally, L.K.1d Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter
relationships. Some of the questions and games on the app provide students with grade level
appropriate spelling activities.
App
TeachMe:
Kindergarten
This is a gaming app
for addition,
subtraction, spelling,
sight words, and
letter/number
formation.

IRA
2.2 Candidates use
appropriate and
varied instructional
approaches,
including those that
develop word
recognition,
language
comprehension,
strategic knowledge,
and reading-writing
connections.
This app provides an
appropriate
instructional
approach using
technology that gives
students games to

NETS*S
1.a Apply existing
knowledge to
generate new ideas,
products, or
processes.
This app guides
students through
building upon what
they already know in
spelling, sight words,
and letter formation
by presenting
questions and games
with directions and
feedback from a
computer generated
teacher.

KTS6
6.2 Uses available
technology to
implement
instruction that
facilitates student
learning.
Students will be
using iPads that I
have available in my
classroom and in the
school library to
access this app to
help supplement and
reinforce lessons in
the classroom on
sight words, spelling,
and letter formation.

play that help them

grown and learn
about spelling, sight
words, and letter
formation.

App 5: ABC Magnetic Alphabet HD for Kids Learn to write!

ABC Magnetic Alphabet HD for Kids is an app for learning letter ID, reading, writing,
and word work. It is appropriate for preschool through second grade. It is an electronic version
of a magnetic board with magnetic letters. It comes with a multitude of colored pieces that can
be placed freely on the board including letters, numbers, symbols, funny figures and themed
sets. Additional themed sets are available as in-app purchases. I plan to use this app during letter
ID lessons, guided reading group lessons, and word work lessons in place of magnetic letters and
boards. During a lesson on manipulating onsets and rimes, I would have students manipulate the
letters on this iPad app instead of taking time to pull out all of the boards and magnetic letters.
Through the lessons mentioned previously, this app supports CCSS standards RF.K.1d
Recognize and name all upper-and lowercase letters of the alphabet, RF.K.2c Blend and
segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words., and RF.K.2e Add or substitute
individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

App
ABC Magnetic
Alphabet HD for
Kids Learn to
write!
This app is an
electronic version of
a magnetic board
with magnetic letters.
Students can
manipulate letters
and other symbols on
the screen freely.

IRA
1.2 Candidates
understand the
historically shared
knowledge of the
profession and
changes over time in
the perceptions of
reading and writing
development,
processes, and
components.
This app is an
updated and more
efficient tool that
students can
manipulate in order
to learn and develop
literacy skills such as
adding and
subtracting phonemes
and graphemes to
create new words.

NETS*S
1.c Use models and
simulations to
explore complex
systems and issues.
Students are able to
use the app as a tool
and model with the
teacher to explore
relationships between
sounds (phonemes),
letters (graphemes),
onsets, rimes, and
other processes and
parts of making
words.

KTS6
6.2 Uses available
technology to
implement
instruction that
facilitates student
learning.
I would use this app
on iPads with
students during
guided reading and
small group lessons
to teach them how to
manipulate phonemes
and graphemes to
create new words.

TPACK and Research

My experiences using iPads in my classroom has been very beneficial with helping
students learn new literacies and to help me teach content in new ways that are meaningful to the
students. Northrop & Killeen (2013) explained that using technology in the classroom
is important for promoting understanding of 21st century literacies. Using
technology to help students connect with the entire world that they live in is
important for every elementary classroom (p. 532-533). I have used iPads in my
classroom in several of the ways that are mentioned in the article by Northrop &
Killeen. One example is using the framework for integrating iPads through gradual

release. I teach the content or skill without the technology first. Then I model the
skill with the app followed by guided practice for the students on the app. Lastly, I
give students independent practice with the app. This method is very beneficial for
guiding students through the process of learning a skill and applying it on an app.
All of these apps connect the T, P, and C together in TPACK. The iPads are
the technology (T) that is used to teach new skills or content and to further expand
on students prior knowledge. How I integrate the iPads into my lessons (P) is by
teaching students how to use the apps through modeling, guided practice, and then
individual practice. I also use the apps as tools during guided reading lessons to
help them manipulate graphemes on the virtual magnetic board to create new
words. The content (C) has to be considered first and I decide on content based on
the curriculum maps and standards provided by the state and district. As an
example, once Ive decided on the content, such as writing a narrative piece (W.K.3)
and use digital tools to publish (W.K.6) I look for apps that can help me provide
students with 21st century literacy experiences. I choose an app (technology) such
as StoryBuddy2 and I follow the framework of gradual release (pedagogy) to teach
students how to use the app to publish a book they write. It takes a lot of planning
to coordinate all of the pieces together to have a successful lesson with TPACK but
in the end it is always so beneficial for the students.

References
Northrop, L., & Killeen, E. (2013). A framework for using iPads to build early literacy
skills. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 531-537.