But I found that Jack was much more interested in the little movies and animations than he was in doing actual reading. Then you press the arrow-which turns into the ‘short a’ and says the sound again-and move onto the next page. If you tap on the little musical ear icon, the voice reads the whole sentence, and then animates the illustration. If you tap on the word, a pop-up zooms in on it and highlights the letters while a voice audibly sounds them out, and then blends the sounds to make the word. There was a brief animation with a dancing ‘A’ and a song, and then it opened up the book. It was called ‘Zac the Rat’ and dealt with the ‘short A’ sound. I sat down with one of my senior kindergarten students (let’s call him ‘Jack’) and worked through the first lesson. There is a small bottom panel with some movies and animations which most of my students found quite catchy I am training my Grade 3/4 class to use this app in a ‘reading buddies’ function with some of the younger students, and even they were humming the songs when we were done. The bulk of the real estate is the series of phonics-based books and lessons. But it’s a nightmare to use in a classroom setting, so I appreciated I could just download the app, direct the student to where I wanted them to go, and then be underway. I understand that such features allow a teacher or parent to personalize the app and get more directed feedback. One thing I appreciated about this app was that I did not need to create accounts and log students in. So I downloaded Starfall Learn to Read and gave it a go. I wanted to do some extra phonics work with them to shore up these basic skills, and I thought an app would be more fun for them. I had a few who were borderline at Level 2-they were able to complete those books by heavily relying on the picture cues, but they were still weak on phonics and could not actually decode new words. Our school is heavily invested in the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) program, where students are assessed using a series of progressive readers. I have written already about some of my whole-class teaching. As I also teach Technology, I have had a few interesting opportunities to merge my two roles and use e-book apps to help improve my student’s reading. This app is excellent for emerging readers and English language learners.One of my hats this year has been as coordinator of my school’s reading program. Players learn essential vocabulary while making choices about everyday objects, body parts, pets, and household environments. Your child will love creating and interacting with his or her Me Character. I would also love to see options to save a child’s work- currently you must clear a current character to allow a new child to work on one, which created some squabbling among my two temporarily. Also, I see you can choose glasses as an accessory when creating a character I would like to go one step further and include options for a hearing aid, cochlear implant, wheelchair, a communication device, a feeding tube- these are an important part of a child’s identity as well. As a parent and educator, there a few items on my wish list for “All About Me”- I would love to see the “my age” option go past nine so older children with developmental delays can customize the app. There are also visual scenes where the child must drag words to the correct boxes- I like how the boxes are shaped to the words fitting them, to help the child match then up properly.
He laughed at the app acting out the silly sentence he created- “Sometimes I swim with my video game.” “That’s not safe! ” he added. The app actually encouraged a lot of commenting, as well as giggling- my youngest thought it was funny to create a blanket for his bed with bananas on it and to feed his “pet” kangaroo. He is familiar with Starfall as it is used at his school in fact he said “Hey I think this is on the computer at school! ” The app allows children to read independently and there is also an option to have each sentence read aloud. My five-year-old son really enjoyed playing with the All About Me app. (Reviewed by Amy T from Special Apps, Special Kids) Starfall All About Me Review & Giveaway Developer: Starfall Education Review:
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