Language Apps for Middle/High School Students {Love It and List It Linky Party}

It’s time for another Linky Party!  Jenna at Speech Room News chose the theme “Language Apps” for this month’s link up.   I have three of my favorite language apps to share with you and they are all geared toward your big kids since that’s the primary population that I work with.   We all know how much kids love technology and interactive learning–educational apps bring the best of both worlds together.  When using apps in therapy, I stand by my mottos—“All things in moderation.” and “The app is only as good as the therapist using it.”  I utilize them as a supplement to a skill I am teaching, as a reward to fill the last few minutes of a session and for my kiddos who need a hands-on interactive activity to get them motivated and focused.  So here are three language apps that I enjoy using with my big kiddos!

 

 

 

1–Language Adventures Quiz Game Show By Lakeshore Learning Materials

I LOVE this app!  And at $1.99 in the iTunes store, you can’t beat it!    This app targets the 4-6 grade population, however, depending on the skill/ability level of your students, it could definitely be used with 7th,8th and 9th grade students as well!

 

Choose four categories from the following areas: punctuation, story elements, vocabulary, sentence structure, word analysis, study and research, parts of speech, grammar and usage, reading comprehension, spelling, forms of writing.  There are so many great language goals that can be addressed–I love the variety!   Additionally, you can play with a 1,2,3,or 4 teams—definitely a lot of flexibility depending on your group size.   But what makes this interactive learning tool really exciting is the fun game show host and catchy background music.  Reminds me of the game shows I use to watch as a kid in the 70’s and 80’s.    Teams must respond before the timer runs out and will get points for correct responses.  For incorrect responses, the next team gets an opportunity to respond.   Hope you enjoy this motivating language app as much as my students do!

 

 

 

2–Vocab Rootology By PrepInteractive

If you are teaching prefixes, suffixes and root words related to Greek and Latin origin to your older kiddos, this is the app for you–especially with a price tag of $0.99 in the iTunes store—this is yet another app worth it’s weight in gold.  No bells and whistles here, but a great way to drill  some important vocabulary-building  concepts.   The interactive features of this app will keep your older students interested and engaged–a nice substitute or supplement to flashcards or worksheets that you may be using to teach the same skill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choose the category you would like to target and let the drilling begin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tap on the index card and it will reveal the meaning of the prefix, suffix or root.

 

Then choose a quiz tab to take the timed test and see how much you have retained.  A progress report will keep track of your progress throughout the game.

 

This app is great for use with middle and high school students.  Teaching prefixes, suffices and root words is a great strategy for helping students find clues that will help determine word meanings.  Hope you find it  useful in your therapy sessions!

 

3–Word Wit By Ballpoint Inc.

I like this app for upper middle and high school students (grades 7-12) needing to strengthen tier 2 vocabulary.    It’s not cartoonish or juvenile so the older kids will be receptive to using it without feeling like you’re playing a “babyish”  game.    Word Wit targets commonly confused word pairs–ones that sound the same (sight/cite) or are closely related (adopt/adapt)—by providing an explanation for each word in the pair, using the words in a quote or sentence example and then providing a quiz to reinforce the newly learned vocabulary.   Word Wit is $0.99 in the iTunes store.

 

 

 

The player spins the wheel on the ipad (by making a circular motion on the pad with their finger).  Several words pairs will appear as you continue to “spin the wheel.”  Tap on one of the pairs to learn more about the words.

 

I love how the app calls the other word pair word it’s “evil twin.”    It explains the meaning of both words and then presents the word in a sentence or situation example.

 

 

So that’s my list of language apps.  I have a bunch more stored on my ipad that I use (from some of the big name companies) but I thought it would be a nice change of pace to mention some of the lesser known apps that are fun, helpful and reasonably priced.   What are your favorites?  I’d love to know if you have any of the ones I listed.  Check out the linky party for more app favorites from other SLP’s.