App Ed Review
Review Overview
A. Instruction - 6.8
B. Design - 9.3
C. Engagement - 7.7
7.9
Reading Bear: A Resource for Early Literacy
Summary : A Website Devoted to Early Literacy!!!
Reading Bear provides dozens of tutorials that develop users’ early literacy skills. From the website’s main page, users can browse topics, which are organized by letter sound. Each topic includes tutorial videos and a quiz. The videos present the sound, and users are able to practice making the sound viewing and saying words that use the sound, and reading sentences that use words containing the sound. Depending on the video selected, it will contain a variety of content (e.g., audio, images, and text) that exemplifies the sound and how it is used. Users are able to fast forward, rewind, repeat, and pause the videos. When ready, users can choose the quiz option, and the website will ask them multiple-choice questions about the sound and words that contain the sound. Users respond by selecting the best response, and the website immediately shows if they are or are not correct. Once complete, the website shows users their overall score. Finally, if users register with the website and login, the website will track their overall performance.
Instructional Ideas
- Teachers can have their students all log into this website and view the same video independently. When they are finished, teachers can review their students by asking: (1) What letter/sound did you learn about?, (2) What were some of the words you saw,? (3) What were the definitions of those words?, and (4) Can you use those words in a sentence? After the discussion, teachers can have students view the next video or engage them in another activity that builds on the video they viewed.
- Teachers can differentiate instruction by allowing students to work through the different topics in this website independently. Teachers can keep track of student progress using a chart, and students can earn rewards as they progress through the videos. In addition, teachers can share this website with teachers at Parents Night, and they can encourage students to use this website with their parents at home to reinforce learning. Students will need to login at school or from home to help teachers monitor student progress.
- As students learn new letter sounds and words, teachers can require students to keep a list of new words they learned. For each word on the list, teachers can require students to write the word, define the word, use the word in a sentence, and draw a picture that exemplifies the word. Students can write the example and create their drawings using an Artwork Production app or on paper. If done in the app, students can email their work to their teacher. Teachers can then hang up the artwork in the classroom to showcase student learning.
- For each week, teachers can assign students tutorials to complete. Teachers can hold students accountable by requiring them to complete the quiz that accompanies each tutorial.
| A1. Rigor | |
| A2. 21st Century Skills | |
| A3. Conn. to Future Learning | |
| A4. Value of Errors | |
| A5. Feedback to Teacher | |
| A6. Level of Material | |
| A7. Cooperative Learning | |
| A8. Accom. of Individual Diff. |
| B1. Ability to Save Progress | |
| B2. Platform Integration | |
| B3. Screen Design | |
| B4. Ease of Use | |
| B5. Navigation | |
| B6. Goal Orientation | |
| B7. Information Presentation | |
| B8. Media Integration | |
| B9. Cultural Sensitivity |
| C1. Learner Control | |
| C2. Interactivity | |
| C3. Pace | |
| C4. Flexibility | |
| C5. Interest | |
| C6. Aesthetics | |
| C7. Utility |
Screenshots
