Osmo

I've been seeing ads on Facebook recently for something called Osmo that is supposedly going to be available at the end of the summer. It is a stand for your iPad (or iPad mini) with a clip that goes over the top where the camera is so the camera can see down onto the table in front of it. The camera input is then integrated into an app, so that objects that you manipulate in the real world cause things to happen in the app. There are no batteries required (other than the one in the iPad) and it doesn't need an internet connection.

Initially it will come with three activities, but I can see there is potential for many more.  As an ELL teacher, the activity that interests me most is the one where student have to find the letters that spell out a word that goes with a picture on the screen. I like the fact that kids can play this alone, against a partner, or collaboratively as a group. I'm disappointed that, as far as I can see from the information available online, they have chosen to go with using upper case letters rather than lower case. I would love it if there was an option to customize the game with my own pictures and words. I can see this concept working well for a simple addition or subtraction game too.
UPDATE: I was very happy to hear from Karen at Osmo less than 24 hours after writing the above that the Words game IS customizable. She wrote:

you can create your own book of vocab and photos. This feature will still be in beta version when we ship, but it exists ;-)

It's nice to see that a) Osmo replies promptly to customers and b) is really thinking through how teachers might want to use their apps. Now my next request is for the ability to create separate books for different topics or at least a way to easily pick the vocabulary items that will be in play :-)

The 'Newton' game involves drawing or placing real objects in order to mark a path on the screen that will cause virtual balls that fall down the screen to hit a target. It looks like fun, but I can't think of a way to work it into my curriculum - maybe it would be a good game for indoor recess!

The Tangrams game puts an image on the screen that the student has to match with physical manipulatives - the app checks the placement of their pieces and will give them feedback when they have them placed correctly. There are three different levels of difficulty.

It's a very interesting concept, but I'm not sure how many teachers will buy into it at US$100 per set! If you are prepared to help crowdsource the product, you can pre-order it for $50 if you sign up by June 22nd. Check it out here. (Disclosure - if you order through this link, I get a $5 discount on my order.)

Here's a video review of it I found on YouTube:

World's Worst Pet - vocabulary app

World's Worst Pet is a free iPad-only app for students in 3rd grade through 8th grade to practice Tier 2 vocabulary items. Tier 2 vocabulary means frequently occurring words that appear in a variety of topics and across disciplines.  English language learners pick up Tier 1 vocabulary from their peers and every day life. Tier 3 vocabulary is the kind of academic language, often subject-specific, that even native-speakers of a language have to be taught in school. English language learners get Tier 3 language from direct instruction, just like their native-speaker peers, but tier 2 vocabulary is often their weakness.

This app has 6 different levels, C to H, for grades 3 through 8. Level C has 10 different sets of vocabulary, each with 10 words, and Levels D through H have 20 sets of vocabulary each with 10 related words for a total of 1100 words! At the beginning of each vocabulary set, students have the chance to read clear explanations with examples of how each word is used. Spanish cognates are included in the definitions for many of the words. Each of the ten words is clearly pronounced (by a real person, not a computerized voice) as part of the definition. If they make mistakes as they play the games (rescuing the "world's worst pet" Snargg from a variety of predicaments), the app will show students the definitions again, and they can return to the definitions at any point. One weakness as far as I'm concerned is that graphics could have been included in some of the definitions, which would have made it even more language-learner friendly.

There are a variety of activities at each level that ensure that the students see each word multiple times in each series. 

Although they are essentially all multiple-choice activities, once a student gets to the end of each set there is a composition assignment that encourages the student to use the words from the set. The writing assignment provides some accountability for the students beyond simply guessing their way through the game. Levels C, D and E vocabulary sets finish with one of the following types of writing: 

• writing an opinion
• writing an informational essay
• writing a narrative

Levels F, G and H finish with 

• writing an argument
• writing an informational essay
• writing a narrative

Just like any other teaching material, this app will be most effective when it is part of a carefully thought-out lesson plan.  I can see this app working well with small groups or on-on-one. Students should be discouraged from guessing as this defeats the purpose of the activity. Having students work in pairs and encouraging constructive conversations about the answers might be helpful. (Another reason for using the app in a focused way is that I can see students eventually getting bored with the games as they remain the same from level to level.

Because each set of words has a specific focus and the words all relate to that topic, rather than have students simply work their way through each topic, one after the other, I would be tempted to have the students work on topics that specifically related to other work going on in class. Having students simply work their way through the units with no connection to other work going on in the classroom is not going to get the best results. For example, the theme for Level C set 4 is "The People’s Government" and it would make sense to use this unit when working on related material in social studies. Unfortunately, the app itself does not contain a list for teachers of the topics and their word lists . . . so, for your convenience, I've started work on creating a resource for you. Follow the links below to see the vocabulary in each vocabulary set and the writing prompt at the end of each unit.

Level C topics and vocabulary
Level D topics and vocabulary (incomplete) 

 

Typedrawing - drawing with words

Typedrawing is an app that lets you draw with words or sentences. Typedrawing users have come up with some amazingly creative images, but I think it could also be an interesting way for students to review vocabulary. You can choose from the fonts available on your iOS device, pick a color and a font size to 'paint' with.You can also change the way the text behaves (getting larger or smaller depending on the speed you draw at.)

Click to see a larger version of this image

There are paid versions of Typedrawing for iPod/iPhone ($1.99) and iPad (2.99) as well as a free version. The iPad version allows for higher resolution images. After playing with it for just a short time, I decided it was worth the money to upgrade from the free app to the higher quality version for the iPad. I was glad I did, because when I encouraged a colleague to download the free version and she had a student use it, the student accidentally clicked on the ad at the bottom of the screen and became very confused as to where her picture had gone. When we explained about the advertising she looked at us in disgust and told us to make it go away because it was in her way!!

In addition to creating an entire drawing with words, you could use this app as a way to annotate a photograph as the latest version has the ability to stop it from repeating text. Choose a photo from your photo album on your device to use as a background and then write on the picture. When you're done, save it back to the photo album as a new picture. (You also have the option of sending the finished image as a PNG file or a PDF file to iTunes on your computer.) Here's an example I made with a drawing that I'd previously scanned:

Click to see a larger version of this image

It would be nice to have the ability to move text once you've drawn with it, but the app does have an undo button which can be helpful.

Unlike earlier versions, you can now save drawings in the app itself, so if you want to stop work and come back to an image later you can.

You can save a finished picture to your photo album, save to iTunes, email it, or share it to Twitter. You can lock the drawing to prevent it from being accidentally changed.

(Review originally written May 2012. Updated October 2013 to reflect upgrades since my first review.)

StoryLines

StoryLines is a free app that lets you play a game that's a cross between the old whispering game of telephone and the drawing game Pictionary. It could be an interesting way of reviewing vocabulary.

The game is played with 3, 5, 7 or 9 players. The first player picks a word or phrase. The second illustrates it. The third writes the phrase that they think is being illustrated. If you're playing with more than 3 players, the players then alternate between writing the phrase they think is being illustrated and drawing a new illustration. At the end of the game you see the whole chain of text and drawings played out.

StoryLines can be played against your friends online, with moves being shared on Facebook. StoryLines for Schools however, is specifically designed with no Internet element to the game (other than emailing the finished StoryLine to someone once you have finished) and can only be played in what the developers call  Pass-n-Play mode. It also includes some suggestions for vocabulary or phrases to use as a game starters. The suggested vocabulary is too hard (even at the 'elementary' level) for elementary-level students, or elementary-level English language learners. If I were using the game in class, I think I would take the first move myself and provide the phrase or vocabulary item, or I would require students to choose from a vocabulary list. I'd like to see a feature where the teacher could create a list of vocabulary in the app. I think this would be a fun game to play after teaching some idioms! I have a set of cards already to play a matchup game with idioms and pictures, so the cards with the words on them would be a good way to have the students choose the phrase to start the game.

I liked the fact that the drawing part of the game was originally deliberately kept very simple with no colors or different kind of artist's tools available. It's like doing a quick doodle with a pen. There is now an in-app purchase to add colors that I can see could be useful, but in-app purchases are a pain to deal with in school.

Here's a link to a short, 3 person, StoryLine that was created on an iPad and then shared via email. (You will need Safari or Chrome to see it - it's not compatible with Firefox.) The email you send to share your story contains a link to the page where the StoryLine has been uploaded. It would be nice if you could scroll back to the start of the StoryLine once it's finished 'playing'. I think that would be especially important if you have more than 3 people contributing to the StoryLine. In the school where I work, groups for 'center activities' almost always seem to have 4 kids in them, but you could play this game with 4 kids by choosing the 5 player version and having the teacher select the word or phrase that starts the game.

As a free app, this is certainly worth downloading, even if you only use it once a year!

(Updated 5 April 2013)