Sky Fish Phonics iPad app

The Sky Fish Phonics iPad app promotes early phonetic understanding and application.

The Sky Fish Phonics app supports readers, spellers, and writers in the early and emerging stages of development with adaptive technology that scaffolds success.

Sky Fish includes 20 levels and aligns to the Kindergarten Common Core Literacy Standards.

a first grader develops phonetic understanding and application
-using the Sky Fish Phonics app

building sentences- with the Sight Words Sentence Builder iPad app

The Sight Words Sentence Builder iPad app (by Sierra Vista) actively engages readers in manipulating words into complete sentences.

Sight Words Sentence Builder includes multiple levels of difficulty and a variety of options (for example- narration, audio hints, automatic spacing, and...) that promote independence and scaffolding for student learning.

The Sight Words Sentence Builder iPad app encourages recognition of high-frequency words, attention to capitalization and punctuation, and rereading for accuracy of meaning and structure.

a first grader manipulates words
-using the Sight Words Sentence Builder iPad app 

a first grader uses the Sight Words Sentence Builder iPad app

word study- with the Reading Eggs Spelling app

Using the "Beat The Bomb" game option in the Reading Eggs Spelling 1 (Grade 1) iPad app, the first grade Butterflies cooperatively attempt to identify an unknown word.

Similar to the game of Hangman, the students choose letters from the app "keyboard" in an attempt to identify the unknown word before the "bomb" counts down to zero.  (The "bomb" counts down by one with each letter chosen that is not in the unknown word.)

The first grade partners alternate choosing letters and attempt to utilize known information about how words "work" (for example- recognizing that each word has a vowel and applying blends and digraphs) as they cooperatively discuss their thinking, reasoning, and recognition of features of the unknown word.

The five "game" options within the "Beat The Bomb" game are focused on specific spelling patterns and/or word types and provide opportunities to encourage thinking and application based on students' development as spellers.

Butterfly word work partners cooperatively attempting to "Beat The Bomb"

encouraging phonetic understanding and application- with iPad apps

Supporting students' spelling development, the First Grade Butterflies cooperatively engage in iPad apps that promote their phonetic understanding and application.

Cooperatively, the Butterflies attempt to identify the sounds in the word of focus and apply the corresponding letters in sequential order to accurately spell the word.
With each word of focus, the Butterfly iPad word work partners coopertively identify the sounds in the word and alternate moving the corresponding letter (or letters- for identified "word parts"... for example: moving the "s" and "t" letters for the "st" sound or moving the "a", "n", and "d" letters for the "and" word part in the sord "stand") and explaining his/her thinking and understanding.

The first graders cooperatively utilize the Rocket Speller iPad app and the Cimo Spelling Sound Out iPad app on the student iPads for skill development.

first grade iPad Word Work partners cooperatively apply their phonetic understanding
while using the Rocket Speller app on the iPad

iPad Word Work partners cooperatively hear, identify, and apply sounds
to spell unknown words in the Cimo Spelling iPad app



first grade Butterfly iPad Word Work partners explain their phonetic understanding and thinking
while using the Rocket Speller iPad app

Making Words on the iPad

Cunningham's Making Words activities provide an instructional approach and application experience for students to develop an understanding of and recognition of words and word features.

Making Words lessons are guided discovery lessons that provide structures and opportunities for students to develop their phonetic understanding and application of strategies to read and write words.  In a Making Words lesson, students are guided in recognizing, identifying, and applying strategies to read and write words through the manipulation of a set of letters.  Understanding is further encouraged through word sorts and application is promoted through post lesson transfer activities.

The First Grade Butterflies engage in Making Words lessons during Word Study in the classroom.

preparing for a Making Words lesson
For each Making Words lesson, a SMARTboard notebook is created with each word in the lesson on a separate page (as a "word card").
A page containing the relevant "letter cards" is created for the final "mystery-secret word" of the lesson.
For each word sort, a page is created that includes all of the "word cards" from the lesson for student manipulation of the "word cards" on the SMARTboard.

a Making Words lesson
The Butterflies engage in the Making Words lesson on the iPad with their Word Work Partner.

Utilizing the "movable alphabet" on the Word Wizard iPad app, the Butterfly Word Work Partners cooperatively use the letter tiles to create the words in the lesson.  The individual letter sound capability is turned "off" and the word sound capability is turned "on" for Partners to monitor the accuracy of the word attempted and revise or confirm the word attempted.

Interactive Modeling is used to support the Butterfly Word Work Partners in manipulating letters and making words "cooperatively" with a partner for the active engagement, participation, and optimal learning for each Butterfly.

For the final "mystery-secret word" of the lesson, the Butterfly Partners organize the relevant letters across the top line of the app page.  The letters are manipulated to create the "mystery-secret word" in  one of the middle rows.

For the word sorts, the SMARTboard is used inclusively.


Butterfly Word Work Partners cooperatively
manipulating letters on the Word Wizard iPad app
during a "Making Words" activity