Wonderful Word Wednesday Apps

For word study this week, we are going to continue to have fun with words by using our iPods.  I am going to introduce the class to two new apps although some of the students already learned how to use them this past weekend.

Bookworm was an app that I purchased for my students to create words.  The students’ link letters from left, right, up and down to build new words.  Once the words are made some of them are hidden in the Bookworm’s library and the goal is to find all the words within a book. The longer the word the more points the student earns; however if the students don’t build words quickly enough then the burning letters could spell disaster! This has been one of my favorite apps because it will help students to think about words differently especially using blends, plurals etc. After Monday's conversation, it was voted the most fun app!

Another app that I purchased was Word Fu.  I saw a great video on this app this summer and it looked amazing. First the students get to flick dice to choose any letters they want, and they only have 15 seconds to choose their letters.  This alone teaches students about how important blends, a wide variety of vowels and the letter “s” can really help with building new words.  Once the students have their letters they spell as many words as they can before the clock runs out. Occasionally the letters catch on fire (which is not good) or turn colors (which is good for bonus points). Once the students have learned how to play Word Fu they will be able to play their friends because our school is wireless and will work towards earning Word Fu Belts and become a true Word Fu Grand Master.

Once they have practiced with these apps I am sure the competitions will start in my room to see who can open the most books or win the most Word Fu belts.