Instructional Software: 

"Little Writer" app

 

Description: This free app is available on iTunes. Using a touch screen stylus pen, ELL students can practice printing upper and/or lower case letters, numbers, shapes, and words. It is more beneficial to use a touch screen stylus pen as opposed using a finger because it practices real pencil-to-paper printing. The app scaffolds the user by using a step-by-step process to form letters/numbers/shapes. For example, when printing the letter ‘A’, the app would have you start at top vertex and go straight down the left slant. Then the user would have to pick up the stylus pen and place it back on the top vertex and trace straight down the right slant. The last step would have the user connect the two slants from left to right. Before and after printing/tracing, the app’s voiceover states aloud the letter/number/shape to the user. 

 

Rationale: This app would be ideal for preliterate and non-alphabetic ELL students. Preliterate ELL students are learners whose first language has no written form. These ELL students need to be exposed to the letters in the English alphabet and the numbers we use. Non-alphabetic students are literate in their native language, however their native language does not use an alphabetic writing system. Instead, these students are used to logographic systems such as Chinese, and syllabic systems such as Japanese. Exposing preliterate and non-alphabetic students to this app will be beneficial in their journey to obtaining an understanding of English’s alphabetic system. The app’s interface is easy-to-use and is appealing. Additionally, after successful completion, the app shows the student's actual penmanship alongside the photo rather than the word repeated in the app’s font. To the left is an exaggerated example I completed to demonstrate this as well as a proper example. Though the user has to stay within the lines, there is enough room to demonstrate personal penmanship which the user can reflect on and improve. The app’s background also has the horizontal lines similar to a piece of lined paper . This is beneficial because the ELL student can see which letters are “tall” and which are “hanging” etc. (pictured in the letter 'g' example to the left)

 

Implementation & Adaptability: This app provides good practice for ELL students who are learning the English alphabet in addition to numbers and shapes. The use of this app can be implemented easily as it is free of cost and only needs one iPhone or iPad for use which, depending on the school, is typically available through sign-out. Stylus pens for touchscreens are easily accessible in today’s technological world and are available at a cheap cost. While the other students are writing in their Language Arts journals, the ELL student could be using this app. This way, all students are successfully on task completing a Language Arts activity. The app is adaptable, too, because the teacher can add additional words with corresponding photos and an audio recording. For example, the teacher could add all the names of the students in the class and attach their photo. The teacher could also add an audio recording of the pronunciation of the name. Alternatively, the teacher could plug in vocabulary terms for an upcoming unit.

 

Credibility of Source: The app has been added to the “Education” category of iTunes and, in the description, it says it is endorsed by tens of thousands of satisfied parents and teachers around the globe. Overall, the app has a 4.5 star rating from users. 

 

Reference:

 

Little Writer – The Tracing App for Kids. (2012). Innovative Mobile Apps (Version

1.2). Available from: iTunes.