Joseph Ferderbar

Alpha Writer is a Montessori-style learning app that helps teach kids letter sounds and how to form words by combining different letter sounds. There's a tactile approach to the learning here, as kids can physically manipulate the letters onscreen. They'll hear the sound of each letter as they touch it, and can position them in any order they please to form words. The app has two sections. The first asks kids to spell words after seeing a picture of the word and hearing it spoken. The second section lets kids use letter and images to write their own story. Stories can be saved as photo files on your device.

Grade Level: K
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

ABC Spy-challenges children to create their own ABC experience by taking photos for each letter of the alphabet — take a photo, choose a frame, give it a name. Then make a movie of all your photos to share with friends and family

Grade Level: 3-5
Skill: Print Awareness
Device: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

Dr. Seuss's ABC has three levels, "Read to Me," "Read it Myself," and "Auto Play," which allows children to grow with this app. Words highlighted are read out loud when tapped, and when narrated, children can follow along with the highlighted text

Grade Level: PreK
Skill: Print Awareness
Device: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android

Grade Level: K-5
Skill: Print Awareness
Device: iPad

Interactive Alphabet offers alphabet matching for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Your child can hear words, letters and phonics sounds. This app also includes a "Baby Mode." It auto advances every 15 seconds. This interactive game also teaches upper and lower case letters.

Grade Level: Pre-K-2nd
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

iSpy Phonics Match phonic sounds with letters, through colorful illustrations, pictures and accurate pronunciation, while playing the age old game of I Spy. It provides a fun and highly interactive way to help children learn to recognize letters and their phonic sounds. iSpy Phonics allows children to match phonic sounds with letters, through illustrations, pictures, and accurate pronunciation while playing the game of I Spy

Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Montessori Crosswords, helps kids develop literacy skills by dragging and dropping letters into a crossword grid to form words that correspond to the given pictures. Young children can drag letters around in the moveable alphabet and practice linking phonetic sounds to letters, while older kids can expand their vocabularies in the higher of three difficulty levels. Crossword levels include simple words with one sound, words with consonant blends, and words of any complexity.

Bookworm

Bookworm is a spelling and vocabulary building word search game. Children link letters left, right, up, and down to build words to feed "Lex" the bookworm. The longer the word the higher the score. The game can be played with or without time limits

Grade Level: 2nd-4th

Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Comprehension Apps...

Aesop's Quest, based on Aesop's Fables, is a learning game where the student must remember elements of a story to complete a level. At the end of each story segment or level, the student is rewarded with puzzle pieces. After solving the puzzle, the story is complete and the child can continue to the next story. Developed in association with the Virginia Department of Education.

Grade Level: 2-6
Skill: Reading for detail
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Fact or Opinion is a bingo style game that helps students practice determining if a passage is factually accurate or the writer's opinion. A correct answer allows the student to place a marker on a bingo style card. Five markers in a row wins. Levels can be played in single player mode against the computer or multi-player against a friend.

Grade Level: 2-5
Skill: Fact & opinion
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Question Builder is designed to help children learn to answer abstract questions and create responses based on inference. Use of audio clips promotes improved auditory processing for special needs children with autism spectrum disorders or sensory processing disorders. Audio clip reinforcement can be turned on or off for non-special needs children.

Grade Level: K-5
Skill: Inferencing
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch