AT Apps for Reluctant Readers and Writers Using iPods & iPads

'There's an app for that...'

For Reluctant Writers: For lower level content skills

* Strip Design - $1.99; create comic strips, storyboards, range of abilities, takes photos, add text, similar to Comic Life, upper elem to grade 12, motivational and engaging, use photos or web images, add text balloons, etc, possibilities included creating narratives, personal journals, across the curriculum

iThoughts - $1.99; offers pre-writing supports such as mapping, brainstorming, etc. provides templates to aid idea generation, can be saved and exported

ReelDirector - $1.99; provides students with movie editing possibilites (i.e. cutting, editing, sequencing, script writing, etc) to creat etheir own narratives, reports, etc, across the curriculum, includes voice narration

Intro to Letters - trace letters

Sentence Builder

Story builder - $3.99; create your own story with cartoon cues/prompts, record your voice and read aloud, three levels,

Sentence Builder for Teens

WritePad - converts cursive writing to typed text

WordFoto - similar to a Wordle collage but with a photo

Sign language - American sign language

ReelDirector tutorial

WordFoto

Apps for Autism: Sentence Builder, Story Builder

Strip Designer app

For Reluctant Readers: Good for weak comprehension and decoding skills

Question Builder - $3.99; answer questions based on visual cues; practice Q & A strategies, text to speech

Voice Reader - $1.99; text to speech app, multilingual, copy and paste text to read, quality voices

Image to Text - $0.99; take a picture of a text and it will read it aloud, need iPod Touch with camera; good for small amounts of text

Stanza - free; scan and convert test files into readable format, ePub required

* Shakespeare in Bits - $, reads text aloud, animation, abridged & full version texts, dictionary included.

*Pictello - $18.99; create social stories and video modeling (functional social skill stories for students ex. how to pay for groceries at a grocery store, how to sign out a library book, etc.);  features include: voice recognition, Wizard with directions, use across the curriculum for science reports, projects, book reviews, etc. 

Shmoop - $; Coles notes for books; supports comprehension

Cliff Notes - 'CramCast'; text only, need to copy & paste to a voice app to read aloud

Moving Tales - read aloud, animated books for older students

Prizmo - $10,  takes photos of text and reads it aloud

* FW animals - spell basic words, word scramble, tactile, phonological practice

*I like books - 3 read aloud options, for young readers

Comprehension Therapy - word recognition, picture, sound, word recognition, free options, nouns, verbs, adjectives

vBooksZ - $4.99, text to speech, reads text aloud, 30 000 books, includes older books, classics, etc.

* Pocket Phonics - decodes, identify letters and phonic sounds, trace letters, word & letter phonological games

The Unwanted Guest - $4.99; by Moving Tales, animated novel, text to speech novel; other titles also; for older readers

Apps for Autism: Question Builder
                      

Voice Reader

Moving Tales: The Unwanted Guest

Math

iCoin - counts money

Algebra - $10, video demos

Counting Bear - counts objects aloud, tactile

iCoin Canadian

General/ Functional Skills:

MapMeCanada -

Colourful Aquarium - create a digital aquarium and add fish, feed fish, etc

Cookie Doodle - iPads only, bake/cook online cookies

Communicating Basic Needs -

Emotions - by Kindergarten.com, kids' facial expressions, socialization skills, for Aspergers

Grooming - life skills, video modeling, $.99

SocialSkills

Pre-School university

Communicating Basic Needs app - Autism