Winning Writing Apps

For quite some time, I have been looking for an app to help my students practice their handwriting skills to help them when writing independently. While I have come across many apps, Writing Wizard is one of my favorites. 

This app is for the iPads and tablets, and helps guides students to write using the correct uppercase and lowercase letters, relating to the Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1.A- print many uppercase and lowercase letters.

There are arrows to show students where exactly to write, and when the students stray from the letter, the line will not proceed and the students have to start over. The different color rainbow lines are very appealing to my Kindergarten students. Also, this app offers sight words, CVC words, and allows individual word lists that the student or teacher can create! Therefore, when using this app, I can differentiate for each student. We have a few students who need extra assistance with their fine motor skills, and the students are more apt to use the iPad, compared to a simple pencil and paper.

Hutchinson and Colwell comment on the aid of digital tools to assist students, specifically as a tool for students who may have motor or cognitive development delays. The authors note that when the students are able to see the word actually written by their own hand, the students will be able to comprehend that word more in written form.

Although, Hutchinson and Colwell comment that before students are even able to write, students should be able to understand oral words can become written words. Typically, students retell students orally as a narrative. With apps such as Dragon Dictation, students can now watch their oral words transform into written words. Then, students are able to create stories independently.

The standard that relates to this is:

CCSS.ELA.W.2

2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Students will be able to create pictures through other websites and apps, such as Story Creator, and then add text through Dragon Dictation.

Reference:

Hutchinson A. & Colwell J. (2015). Bridging technology and literacy.