I just recently received an iPod Touch and have been searching for educational apps for it. I stumbled across a cool primary friendly app called Word Magic that focuses on letter sound recognition and spelling. The app shows a colorful, eyecatching picture and in a kid's voice says the word. The child playing then needs to select from a few choices listed at the bottom which sound is missing from the word.
This app allows for easy differentiation as you can select for the beginning, ending, or middle sound(s) to be missing from the word. Not only will it do one missing letter but chunks of letters as well if you change the settings to level 2. You can also change the length of the word to make the game fit the needs of the learner playing. You can change the settings in the middle of a game so you can adjust without having to start the game over.
When playing it keeps track of how many correct answers and incorrect answers the player has entered. The feedback given for an incorrect answer is a child's voice saying an encouraging phrase. If a player enters a correct answer a child's voice speaks words of praise. Another fun feature is you can set the game to go to the next word when they player shakes the iPod Touch/iPhone!
I think this is a great supplemental to word study in the primary grades and a wonderful way for kids to explore the world of literacy!
