Literacy

A great way to brainstorm or collate ideas by writing on virtual sticky notes and placing them on an ideas wall. Notes can be moved, resized, edited and coloured. Walls can be saved to the photo gallery or emailed. Up to 4 people with iPhones/iPods can connect and flick ideas to a collaborative wall - this would be extremely valuable in classrooms if extended to multiple iPads. A great App for free.Collaborating using iBrainstorm - YouTube video || A moveable speaking alphabet for building words and sentences. Pronounces each letter and blend as the word develops. Will read back a sentence with punctuation. Use in free form or spell a nominated word. Contains 180 word lists and can be customised with your own words. The features of this app are covered in this YouTube video. ||
 * Recommended **
 * [[image:iBrainstorm.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ibrainstorm/id382252825?mt=8"]] || ** iBrainstorm - Free (M-C) **
 * [[image:Word-Wizard.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/word-wizard-talking-movable/id447312716?mt=8"]] || ** Word Wizard - $2.99 (I-M) **

Similar to the old felt boards, remember them? The basic kit come with capital and lower case letters, punctuation, numbers and some fairly basic shapes. Add on theme packs (good quality) can be purchased for $0.99 each. Letters and images can be rotated and minimally resized. It is a colourful and engaging medium for young learners. YouTube video. || A game created for the iPod screen size but scales up nicely. Letters are arranged in 7 columns and words can be created across columns as long as the subsequent letters touch. Used tiles are then replaced once the word is formed. To make things extra interesting flaming tiles appear that work their way to the bottom, if they reach the bottom it is game over. Overall a very engaging game that tests spelling and vocab. The dictionary is extensive but not able to be customised - annoying when it sometimes does not recognise a word that you know is right. YouTube video. || A spelling and vocab game that is just a little bit quirky with its chicken theme and sound effects. Each game puzzle consists of a set of letters from which you create words of varying lengths from the seven given letters. Once a word is submitted new letters replace those used. There are 100 free puzzles with the free version and additional 100 puzzle packs can be purchased for $0.99. Several reviews mention that the program can crash and quit and this was experienced. Maybe stay with the free version until this is rectified. YouTube video. || Build a very creative car from a large variety of parts. Once the car has been constructed it goes into your garage where the user is able to write about the car. To help the description, the various features added and listed. The car can then be emailed. To another another level to this, students could then try to really construct their car from Lego or Lego robotics. YouTube video. || A classic board game that challenges students to use their spelling and vocabulary knowledge. The iPad version is very true to the original and allows single user play vs the computer or download the free Scrabble tile rack app for iPhone/iPod to connect up to 4 players who can flick tiles to the iPad board. YouTube video. || A great app for digital storytelling. Although created for the iPhone/iPod it scales up fairly well on the iPad. Simply cue up a series of photos, press the record button and advance through the photos while adding the narration. There is no option to reorder selected photos before recording and photos have to be individually added which can be tedious. However, the simplicity of use of the app outweighs these minor issues. Completed story videos are stored in the app for later viewing. They can also be uploaded to YouTube or emailed. An iPad version would be most welcomed. YouTube video. || Good for spelling and vocabulary, the appeal of this app may depends on which side of the politically correct fence you sit on. This is classic hangman, with very clever animation as the game progresses. The free version has 11 categories and plenty of words and supports a 2 player mode. For $0.99 you get 4 additional themes which are less violent than the traditional theme. It also includes 73 word categories, music and sound effects. YouTube video. || Prices are in $AUS and were correct at time of publication but are subject to change.
 * Worth Considering **
 * [[image:ABC_Magnetic-Alphabet.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/abc-magnetic-alphabet-hd-learn/id379404787?mt=8"]] || ** ABC Magnetic Alphabet - $1.99 (C) **
 * [[image:Bookworm.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/bookworm/id307176281?mt=8"]] || ** Bookworm - $2.99 (I-M) **
 * [[image:Chicktionary.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/chicktionary-for-ipad/id365374807?mt=8"]] || ** Chicktionary - Free (I-M) **
 * [[image:Create-a-Car.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/create-a-car/id388173036?mt=8"]] || ** Create a Car - $0.99 (I-M) **
 * [[image:Scrabble.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scrabble-for-ipad/id363306776?mt=8"]] || ** Scrabble - $7.49 (I-M) **
 * [[image:storyrobe.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/storyrobe/id337670615?mt=8"]] || ** Storyrobe - $0.99 (M-C) **
 * [[image:Hangman.jpg link="@http://itunes.apple.com/app/id355166919?mt=8"]] || ** Ultimate Hangman - Free (M) **