Sight Words & Spelling with Pixopop
A great app for reinforcing sight words
App Details
Developer – Marcel Widarto
Age – 6 to 8 year olds
Subject – Literacy - Sight Vocabulary & Spelling
Score – 84/100
Price – £2.29 / £2.99
App Store Link - http://geni.us/LbP
Play Store Link – Not Available
Windows Store Link - Not Available
App Review
Sight Words and Spelling with Pixopop is a great little app for reinforcing sight vocabulary and practicing spelling skills with young children. Not only is it a beautifully presented app but the gameplay will keep kids engaged throughout.
Three Modes of Play
There are three modes of play within the app - Flashcards, Word Challenge and Spelling. In the Flashcards mode children are able to view all the words that come pre-loaded on the app. There are a total of 240 words (10 words in each level and 24 levels in all). Each of these words is presented in turn and children can tap on it to hear it professionally narrated.
Word Challenge is the second and perhaps main mode of the app. In it children are presented with four words and the narrator says one of them. It is the child's job to pick this word out from the four. If they get it right a piece is added to their on screen character whereas if they get it wrong they lose one of their three lives. The goal is to complete their character before they lose all their lives.
Eases Memory Pressures
One of the things young children often have difficulty with when learning to read is retaining high frequency words in their long term memory. This app eases the pressure on memory by having all the words visible on the page and having the target word pronounced. Getting a question correct then becomes the much simpler task of matching the auditory and visual stimuli rather than having to recall this information from memory. By approaching sight words in this way, Sight Words and Spelling with Pixopop helps children whose recall is poor to still achieve success with sight words. The process of viewing these words and hearing the correct pronunciation will also help to improving their retention and recall of the words.
The Spelling section gives children the opportunity to practice the spelling of these same words. Children hear the word pronounced and have to use the onscreen keyboard to type the word. Incorrect answers result in the loss of one of the three lives. As with Word Challenge the goal is to complete their character before they lose all their lives.
Easy to Customise
Parents and teachers can adjust the difficulty level of the Word Challenge game in settings. If the easy level is selected the incorrect words are chosen at random. This is fine to begin with but children will quickly learn that you can get away with not studying the words carefully because they usually begin with different letters. Instead, all they have to do is listen out for the beginning sound and pick the word that matches it. In the harder level the words all begin with the same letter and children therefore need to study them much more closely in order to be successful.
Pixopop Sight Words allows users to add their own word lists and pronunciations meaning that it can be used to practice words from a child's own word book.
Stars
I really like the format of the Word Challenge game. Children will be motivated to complete their character before their lives run out and they have the added incentive of progressing up through the levels.
Wishes
In the Spelling section it would be nice if the correct answer was shown beside the child's incorrect response. This would be a great opportunity for them to learn from their mistakes.
Conclusion
Pixopop is a fantastic app for learning sight words and is well worth the £2.29/$2.99 price tag. It does not contain any adverts or in app purchases.
Peter
Educational App Advice
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