MiniMod Reading for Details is useful App to support reading comprehension. This is a bingo like game, students read a short passage about an inventor and her or his invention and then practice their understanding. The game is available at 3 levels of reading difficulty.

Pros

• The content of the reading passages is interesting and engaging. Students can choose the level of difficulty and are offered multiple chances to find the correct response to questions.

Cons

• It can take quite a while to play through the whole “bingo” card.  Students will need orientation to the game. It is most useful  for students at higher learning levels.  This is the “lite” version. The full version is available from the App Store for USD $11.99

Cost

$5.49

A simple yet challenging math game focusing on operations and times tables. The game offers 4 modes – Children Mode ( the easiest), Hardcore Mode ( most challenging), Operations, users choose the operations they want to practice, Times Tables, for multiplication practice.  There is also a Multiplayer option which allows  a two player game on the same iPad.

Pros

• Simple interface, with several game options.

Cons

• Students will need  to have worked on basic Operations and will need orientation to play the games.

Cost

$0.99

A practical App for learning about and practicing Fractions.   

Activities include, 

• Exploring proper and improper fractions
• Learning to match a fraction to a quantity 
• Simplifying fractions
• Comparing fractions
• Ordering fractions
• Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing Fractions

Pros

• Easy to use,  appropriate for adult students.

Cons

• Straightforward, workbook-like layout, design and activities.

Cost

$4.99

An engaging spelling game. Press the buzzer to start the game and make as many words as you can, in one minute,  from 6 letters displayed on the screen.

Pros

• Engaging, easy to play. Could be played in pairs. Appropriate for adult students.

Cons

• The fast pace may not be helpful for all students.
• In-App Purchases. Have to pay ($0.99) to change letters or the duration of the game.

Cost

$0.00

Bluster is an engaging word-matching game. This word matching game  can be played in single-player and multi-player modes, users match  rhyming words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms, homophones, adjectives, and more.

Pros

• Entertaining and easy to use.  The App contains 800 words. Can be played in single or multi-player mode and can be played collaboratively.  In single player mode users can turn on Speak Words to hear the word lists and users in both modes can turn on Show Hints to highlight mismatched words.

Cons

• Users cannot add words to the built in dictionary.

Cost

$0.00

Habit Hub is a simple app that helps you to get organized and perform your daily routine. You enter each habit or task during a time range when it should be performed. As you go through your tasks, you check them as done. Chronological order and colour coding of the task helps to visualize what remains to be done.  

Pros

• Teachers and administrators can use this app to stay on top of daily or weekly tasks.
• Learners may appreciate this app to remind them of tasks related to their classwork or to help them establish a personal routine.
• You can decide if, when and how often the app will give you a reminder, letting you being in charge of performing your tasks and working on your memory.

Cons

• Only three tasks are included with the free version.

Cost

$3.99

Canva is a graphic design tool that allows you to choose from amazing templates or create your own designs. You can quickly create social media posts and covers (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and more), logos, posters, invitations, flyers, cards, infographics, resumes, presentations, business cards, brochures, CD covers, YouTube graphics. It includes a wide range of FREE graphics to use and provides and option to add your own images or purchase them via the App. Canva is also available as a website at canva.com  

Pros

• A wide collection of beautiful designs and templates to choose from (properly sized for different needs)
• Easy to use drag and drop options
• Many FREE images plus an option to add your own photos or purchase more graphics from Canva
• Option to save and share the designs with others or add directly to social media
• 50+ languages to choose from
• Great for instructors and administrations to create social media graphics and promotional materials, signs, posters and much more.
• Students can use it to create resumes (templates provided) and design various graphics as projects (cards, posters, inspirational quotes) while practicing their digital literacy skills and getting comfortable with mobile environment.
• Syncs with the website account
• Option to create a team and share designs via the App
• Family sharing allows up to 6 members to share if Family Sharing is enabled on the device.

Cons

• You need to create canva account to use this App
• Switching between accounts/teams is not available in the App (multiple accounts/teams are available on the website)
• It takes a bit of time to get used to for tapping and moving the elements (instead of using a mouse or touchpad)
• Not available for Android users
• In App purchases

Cost

$0

iWordQ CA is an easy-to-use writing and reading application to assist struggling writers and readers. In Writing mode, a simple text editor is used for writing with the support of word prediction, abbreviation-expansion and speech feedback features. Spell-check and dictionary access is included. You can also use the microphone to dictate your text. Documents are automatically saved in text format (.txt). You can share documents with the iPad’s mail app or with other applications that will accept .txt files. In Reading mode, text is shown in a more visually pleasing manner to improve readability. This is used for reading your text back, for proofreading or reading aloud. A text chunking method can be selected to enhance comprehension and readability of text to allow you to focus on one text chunk at a time.  

Pros

• This app is simple to use and enables the user to write with confidence.
• Documents located in iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive can be opened in iWordQ.
• The speech recognition function, that will let you speak your text, offers support to users who have difficulties with the keyboard or who are uncomfortable at writing in general.
• In reading mode, the text chunking method enables the user to easily follow the text read. This offers an excellent support to struggling readers.

Cons

• In writing mode, although this app enables the spell-check of your text, it is not a grammar checker; grammatical mistakes can go unnoticed.
• The reading mode only allows to read text written in iWordQ or documents that have been downloaded form Cloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive. This app will not, for example, read a web page opened in Safari. In order to read this kind of text, it must be copied and pasted in iWordQ (or read through the Speak function of the iPad).

Cost

$28.99