App Review –Fun with Verbs & Sentences HD
by Hamaguchi Apps for Speech,
Language & Auditory Development
I am
thrilled to provide a review for this ingenious app. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
Fun With
Verbs and Sentences HD was developed for
the young child to address basic agent+action+object/preposition sentence
patterns and to formulate syntax structures.
Features:
1. Includes 39 verbs and
266 adorable animations/sds (lite version has 10 verbs)
2.
Teach verb concepts in 1-word phrase
3.Play
“Build a sentence” or “Watch & Say”– Child taps on a picture of a Subject (girl, boy ,bear.) Then tap an Action, “
What do you want the boy to do”, then pick object, e.g. something for the boy to eat. – up to a 6 word phrase. Sentences can be expanded further using the
prepositional phrase, e.g. “ Where will the boy jump?” and “ What is happening?” Always have access to settings to change at a
minutes notice. You can end the session
at any time.
4. Tap the recorded sentence,
record the child, then play it back instantly. Quality of voice is excellent.
The modeled voice is precise and has inflection.
5. Text and recording
button
6. Settings are simple and
easy to navigate and offer a graded progression of difficulty
with 6 categories:
·
Activities (Build
a Sentence or Watch & Say)
·
Sentence Type
(varied phrase lengths, pronouns He and She)
·
Verb List and
Tenses ( ing, past & irregular past)
·
Progress Tracker(Collect
Data)
·
Bubble Game(
provides reinforcement after a number of questions)
The preschool children easily engaged with the adorable
graphics and animations/sd of this app and wanted more! At first I worked in an
isolated setting with 1 child (IEP goal of MLU 4 words) who had a huge smile on
his face each time he heard his voice. He was quite engaged with this activity and
maintained attention for at least 15 minutes. By the second session he was able
to independently choose the agent, action and object/preposition and used 5 to
7 word phrases! In settings, I chose the cueing models with simple verbal and
visual prompts. The child tapped on the
3 color coded circles at the bottom of the screen at his pace to hear the sentence
pattern. The animated activity is occurring as the child taps the circles.
There is no rush to complete the sentence. This
was perfect for my student whose response time can be delayed at times. We then
brought this app into the classroom where the teacher was happy to have the
group participate. They were just as engaged as my student and patiently waited
their turn. I was
surprised at the interest level of my preschoolers. We did not need the Bubble Game to reinforce
performance. The app itself was reinforcement. It took no time for me to learn
to navigate and play with the Settings. I did watch the demo video just to see
if I missed something, but I didn’t. I
love the auditory component of this app
- I was able to record the student’s voice with clarity and Hamaguchi
did a top notch job in selecting voices which are appealing and have
inflection. This is especially helpful
when working with a child who displays a monotone voice. I could use this app as a screening tool to
establish baselines. This app can also
be used for sentence recall, emerging readers and literacy development. I do
have a one wish list for future updates: Is
there is any way to decrease the MB Usage of 715? I had to put some apps in the Cloud. $15.99
is a little pricey but worth it. There is a lite version available for .99 (10
verbs.)
Rubrics
|
Description
|
Rating
|
Curriculum
|
Material is accurate &
evidence based, addresses task, offers large selection target. Addresses
speech goals:
1.
Basic verb patterns
2.
MLU
3.
Verb tenses
4.
Pronouns
|
5
|
Flexibility
|
Flexibility to adjust
settings , add/delete tasks, audio
recordings, back button
|
5
|
Ease of use
|
Can use app quickly, video
demo instructions from developer, no glitches
|
5
|
Interest
|
Captures attention of user,
simple graphics, interactive, animatioms
|
5
|
Value-Outcome
|
Accountability- time needed
to complete task, # trials, results in improved student performance- record
data – progress monitoring. Price $15.99 (lite .99)
|
5
|