I've got a new and very unique app to share with you today! Let's check out Junganew's A Herd of Sounds app for /s/. Disclaimer: Though this app was provided to me, the thoughts and opinions are my own.
This game is different from other articulation apps in that it has a story format. You follow the adventures of Theo the tree frog and help him work on his /s/ sound. It's great for auditory bombardment and discrimination as well as practice for all positions of words. Below you'll find the home screen.
The Play button starts the story from the beginning. Starting there sets the stage for the story and gives you some great auditory bombardment.
Mirror models are a great feature for students to learn to critique themselves and see what they can do. Follow along with Ms. Snake and she'll help you practice. It allows students to see themselves like a mirror and even records them saying the sound.
The Map allows you to go immediately to any of the 5 places that Theo travels to in the story.
The For Adults tab gives you information about the app and directions for each section of the game.
Now for the game. The story takes you to different places that allow you to practice /s/ in different positions.
Sand Central Station: You start by doing some auditory discrimination/isolation tasks. It actually can be a little tricky distinguishing between /th/ and /s/.
There are 4 icons in the corners. The leaves let you go to the next and previous pages. The house brings you back home and the compass brings you to the map.
Here you also work on initial /s/ with a hide-and-seek game. Sal A Mander gives you clues to where he is hiding - all places that begin with /s/.
For medial /s/, you play an associations game with the butterfly. Find the item that goes with her outfit.
The other medial /s/ game is fun and hands-on. Trace the different shapes with both hands at the same time! The shape reveals a medial /s/ word.
Next, you travel to the fun house where you work on final /s/. The final /s/ games are cute carnival ones. The first is Balloon Pops. Find the balloon that rhymes with the word given. Great for practicing rhyming skills as well!
The other is Guess the Goose. You have to pick the correct goose based on Theo's clues.
There's also a voicing game where you practice turning your /s/ into /z/. Tap on the characters to hear them say their /z/ sounds.
Moving on to the last adventure: s-blends. Just add consonants to the blender and make some s-blend cookies for Theo.
Practice s-blends/plurals at the ends of words by putting toppings on the cupcakes.
At the end of the game, the characters have a little party to celebrate Theo learning to say his /s/ for show and tell.
Grab this app from iTunes for only $4.99!
What I love about this app:
- It's very unique and story-based, making it engaging for young students.
- There are a variety of activities to provide lots of opportunity for practice.
- The characters and graphics are super cute!
- The mirror model activity is prompted after each game, allowing for lots of self-check.
- The price is very reasonable at only $4.99.
What could make it better:
- The game is not super straightforward. It took me a little while to figure it all out.
- You can't take data in the app. Some activities are drill-oriented but not all. You just have to tell your students when they need to repeat words.
- Young students would not be able to use this on their own. They would need specific instructions from you on when they need to speak at the different activities.
- It provides targets at the word level. However, you could easily adapt some activities for sentences.
I'd love to see more stories for the different sounds, since this one only targets /s/, /z/, and s-blends. Overall, I think it's super cute and motivating for lots of the kids on my caseload! What do you think?
