Wonster Words
helping children learn phonics and grow their vocabulary
APP DETAILS
Developer – 77Sparx Studio Inc
Age – 4 to 8 year olds
Subject – Literacy, Spelling & Vocabulary
Score – 78/100
Price – Free (with IAPs - All Access Pack £10.99 / $14.99)
App Store Link - http://geni.us/3V9M
Play Store Link – http://geni.us/Cis
Amazon Store Link - http://geni.us/2Umq
Windows Store Link – Not available
App Review
Wonster Words is designed to help children practice sounding out and spelling new words. Users have the opportunity to form the words by dragging the letters into the correct position. As they do so the letters come to life and make the appropriate sounds. The letter names are also reinforced after they are in position. Once a word has been completed, the child then gets enjoy a fun animation that illustrates its meaning. These feature the wonsters, cute and loveable monsters who get themselves into all sorts of crazy situations. The animations are very well made and will do much to reinforce the meaning of the words. Each one is then followed up with a clear and succinct definition of the word in question.
Choice of Words
The homepage allows users to choose a set of words that they would like to focus on. Some of these group words together according to a particular sound. For example, the AP pack contains words such as “slap” and “trap”. Other packs group the words according to a particular theme. For example, Outdoor Adventure contains words like “climb” “hike” and “waterfall”.
Wonster Words also includes a game that will appeal to most children. It involves Frank, one of the Wonsters free falling through the air. The aim is to help him catch flies on his descent while at the same time avoiding the other obstacles. Children earn the right to play this game after spelling five words in a row.
Great Features
A nice feature of the Wonster Words is that letter pairs are linked together. For example, the “oo” in the word “flood” are joined together. This helps to reinforce their close connection. Wonster Words also does a good job of dealing with long and short vowel sounds. If the word selected has a long ‘i’ sound, then the narrator sounds it out as a long ‘i’ sound, e.g. ‘hike’. In contrast, where a word has a short ‘i’ sound as is the case in the word ‘insects’ it is sounded out this way.
Another nice feature of the app is that it teaches words that students may not come into contact with in their everyday lives and yet are ones that ultimately they should know if they are to develop a broad vocabulary. Words like “triumph” “outwit” “strut” and “drench” fall into this category.
Cost
Wonster Words is free to download and three word packs are included. This initial download also entitles users to the free daily “words of the day.” Further packs can be accessed via In App purchases at a cost of £0.79/$0.99 each. Alternatively, the entire collection can be downloaded for 1 year for a cost of £5.99/$7.99 or the All Access Pass can be bought for £10.99/$14.99. This entitles users to unlimited access to all the packs including new ones that are produced.
Conclusion
Wonster Words is an app that students can definitely have fun with while they are learning. In fact, it is the sort of app that kids will be so busy being entertained by that they won't even realize they are actually learning at the same time. Wonster Words is available on iOS, Google Play and the Amazon Store. I would highly recommend giving it a try. Not only will it help to reinforce phonics and spelling skills, it will also develop and extend children’s vocabularies.
Peter
Educational App Advice
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