App Review: Artic Academy

Sometimes I fell like I really am running an Artic Academy, so I was very excited to see the title of this new app by Pocket SLP (available for $9.99 in the app store).

I was also happy to see, as the name implies, that it is appropriate for a slightly older crowd, since I have a number of elementary kiddos that don’t appreciate “baby” looking apps and are very vocal about it!

Target phonemes:  s, z, s blends, l, l blends, sh, ch, j, th, k, g, f, v, r, air, ar, ear, er, ire, or, r blends

 

Your first task is to enter the student’s name and select the target phonemes.  Save, then begin.  It’s time to get started!

Across the bottom of the screen you will see target position options:  initial, medial, final, “X” represents “all.”  Now, click on “Activity” and you’ll be given a choice of five assignments.  (There is an option to have multiple clients working within one session as well.)

 

1.  Discrimination:  The child will be given a word and asked to find a word with the matching sound from an array of three.  ex. “Which word has the same final sound as ‘mouth?’  Ribs, teeth, fingernails.”

 

2.  Guess the Word:  I think this peculiar looking activity will be a hit (and I’m thrilled to see a developer come up with a game that I couldn’t play without the iPad.  Sorry, but “memory” on the iPad when I can deal it out myself?  I’d like to see more creativity).  The pictures of target words are warped so that they are nearly unrecognizable.  Kiddos make their guess, then click to have the picture come into focus and check if they are correct.  In the above photos, you see the initial array with all the pics “warped.”  In the second shot you see that the child has refocused a few of them.

3.  3x Drill Burst:  This is a nice variation of a simple drill.  The screen shows three pics to be said in a series.  Utilitarian, but useful for carry-over.

 

4.  Sentence Scramble:  Great for older kids who can read.  A sentence appears out of order and the kiddo drags the word to the appropriate blank.  Green shows correct, red incorrect.

 

5.  Paragraph Level (combines all positions):  Drag the correct picture to underlined words in the story to create a rebus.

Each phoneme also has a diagram that you can open at anytime for a positioning visual and there is the option to record/play back.

 

The app will generate a report, giving you options to add comments and email data.

There were just a couple of drawbacks.  I wish the auditory discrimination task didn’t show the written word beneath the pictures.  I want to be sure kiddos are making determination based on sound, not spelling.  Also, the spacing of the scrambled sentence words was sometimes a bit funky, with words partially lying on others.  It’s not a big deal to separate them, it’s just a bit odd.

I had several kiddos this spring that were tired of the same old artic apps.  While I’m still keen to enjoy the long, lazy (?) days of summer, I think Artic Academy will help cushion the blow when we return in September!

I received a copy of this app from the developer, but all views expressed are strictly my own.

I have two contests going right now.  Click here to enter my SlowTunes app giveaway (must enter by midnight EST tonight!) and click here to enter my new blogger contest.  Good luck!

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This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Gayle Pike

    I am having difficulty with a “1” in a red circle on the icon for the app. I do NOT have any messages so can’t figure out why the “1” is staying there. Any suggestions to get it to go away? No reports, no current sessions?

    1. admin

      Gayle, sounds like there is an update. It will continue to work the way it has even if you don’t, but go to your “updates” page (click on app store and updates tab is an option) and click on this specific app and it will give you the latest version without deleting your saved info. Let me know if it works. Kim

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The views expressed in this blog are my own and are intended to inspire other speech-language pathologists in their own practice. If you are a parent, teacher or other educator, these ideas are not intended to take the place of treatment by a certified clinician. Read full disclaimer here.