The fifth lesson focused on using reading skills to create a sentence that makes sense. Jumbled Sentence 3 was the app the student used to help practice this skill. This app is a free app that is both fun and engaging for students.
When you open the app you see three rocket ships that have different aliens in them. Each rocket ship has a different level on it. The app does not require the student to successfully complete the previous level before being able to try the harder level. However, as a teacher I would recommend the student starting from level 1 and them moving up. This way the sentences would progressively get more challenging instead of starting with the hardest sentence.
After you click on the level you want you are taken to another page that has a circle with a picture in the center. The picture goes with the sentence you have to create. On the outside of the circle there are different alien space crafts that have words on them. In the glass dome on the space ship there is a microphone icon. When you click on the microphone icon the app reads aloud the word on the spaceship. The spaceships with the words on them are continually rotating in a circle around the image.
At the bottom of the screen there is a blue box that has more boxes in it. These boxes are where the student has to drag the words from the spaceships into. As a student drags a word the app reads it aloud. Once all of the words are dragged from the spaceships into the boxes and a sentence is formed you click "OK". If the sentence is correct the app will read the sentence aloud to the student. If some of the words are wrong, the app will make a silly noise and the words that aren't correct will go back to their spaceship. Students have three minutes to work on creating a sentence that makes sense and uses all of the words on the spaceships. On the right side of the screen is the students score, the time, and the number of coins they have earned. Students can use the coins to "buy" digital stickers through the app.
When you open the app you see three rocket ships that have different aliens in them. Each rocket ship has a different level on it. The app does not require the student to successfully complete the previous level before being able to try the harder level. However, as a teacher I would recommend the student starting from level 1 and them moving up. This way the sentences would progressively get more challenging instead of starting with the hardest sentence.
After you click on the level you want you are taken to another page that has a circle with a picture in the center. The picture goes with the sentence you have to create. On the outside of the circle there are different alien space crafts that have words on them. In the glass dome on the space ship there is a microphone icon. When you click on the microphone icon the app reads aloud the word on the spaceship. The spaceships with the words on them are continually rotating in a circle around the image.
At the bottom of the screen there is a blue box that has more boxes in it. These boxes are where the student has to drag the words from the spaceships into. As a student drags a word the app reads it aloud. Once all of the words are dragged from the spaceships into the boxes and a sentence is formed you click "OK". If the sentence is correct the app will read the sentence aloud to the student. If some of the words are wrong, the app will make a silly noise and the words that aren't correct will go back to their spaceship. Students have three minutes to work on creating a sentence that makes sense and uses all of the words on the spaceships. On the right side of the screen is the students score, the time, and the number of coins they have earned. Students can use the coins to "buy" digital stickers through the app.
When I used with app with the student I work with we first began by talking about the importance of
knowing different words. We discussed that when you know words it is helpful because sentences are made up of different words. The end goal of being able to read the words in a sentence is that you can then make sense of what you read. If you are only focusing on the figuring out the words then you won't be able to also think about the meaning. Before she played I also went over hints that would help her create the sentences more successfully. I asked her what we already know about a sentence. We then talked about how sentences start with capital letters. By knowing this we are able to find out the first word of the sentence. We then worked through the first sentence together while I modeled on the iPad how to move the words from the spaceships into the boxes at the bottom of the screen.
What was challenging for the student was that there was a timer. For students who are still in the beginning learning phases of developing sentences this timer puts a restriction on their learning because they may need more time that what is provided. Another part of the app that the student found difficult was identifying which word had the capital letter. This lets me know that she needs additional practice with capital letters and distinguishing them from lower case letters. Despite the game being challenging the student wanted to keep playing it to improve her score. By the end of the third time playing, I came to the conclusion that this app was too challenging for the student right now. She needs to practice more basic reading and writing skills before she would be ready to successfully play this game on her own.
What was challenging for the student was that there was a timer. For students who are still in the beginning learning phases of developing sentences this timer puts a restriction on their learning because they may need more time that what is provided. Another part of the app that the student found difficult was identifying which word had the capital letter. This lets me know that she needs additional practice with capital letters and distinguishing them from lower case letters. Despite the game being challenging the student wanted to keep playing it to improve her score. By the end of the third time playing, I came to the conclusion that this app was too challenging for the student right now. She needs to practice more basic reading and writing skills before she would be ready to successfully play this game on her own.
Even though this game proved to be too hard or my student, I would still suggest it for other teachers to use. I would suggest it because it requires the student to really think about the conventions of a sentence. Along with sentence conventions the app forces the student to think about meaning. If they don't focus on meaning, they will not earn points by building correct sentences. It is also helpful that there is a picture for students to reference as they work on making meaning from the words provided.
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