Sight Word App Reviews

** means it is one of our favorite apps and we are using it with our students.

• **? Sight Words - the Future of Flashcards - $1.99 by Sprite LabsYear Published:  There are verbal directions at the beginning. It has a cute monkey that you talk to. When you get 5 words in a row you get to put together a puzzle.  It says the word and then puts the word on the screen. You then read it while the monkey listens. If you say it correctly the monkey claps and says, “ooh ooh, aah ahh” for you. If you get it wrong Mikko (the monkey) scratches his head and the speaker says try again. You must be connected to a network to use the app. The words are listed in capital letters. I think you can change it to lowercase. After you get 5 write and complete the puzzle you get to read the words without them being said for you first. You can skip the puzzle if you want. Once you complete the words without them being read, it lists the correct words and incorrect words. It then gives you a fraction of the words you got correct or incorrect. You can then click on “continue reading” or “practice incorrect”. You can click on the “movie” button to hear the directions again. Under settings you can turn off the voice hint, teaching mode, and practice mode. You can also reset the flags that tell whether you have completed a level or not. There are 6 levels: preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, and nouns. It uses the dolce word list for the different levels. Just found out that I have to have the iboss filter on for this to work. I have contacted  tech and they are looking at a way for the filter to automatically recognize the app so we won’t have to turn iboss on. If they can do that, then we will purchase this app.

• **Sight Words - Free ($1.99 for full version) by Hetal ShahYear Published:  I loved this app. It was perfect until it broke and we realized the developer was not going to update it. His last update was in 2011.  I would have recommended previously when we first got this app.  I definitely would not recommend this app now!

• **Sight Words Games & Flash Cards - $1.99 by Terasoft, a.s. - 22learnYear Published:  This app has aliens and gears. Push the start button, choose you player or play as a guest. You can be a boy, girl, or monster. You also get to design your avatar and enter your name. There are up to 3 players. It uses the dolch word lists and levels. You can also do all the words at one time. There are 6 ways to play. Word machine - Choose from the words given from the cute animated machine. It starts with just 3 words to choose from, but moves to 5 words to choose from in the next level. It has a quick positive response when you choose the correct word. The words you choose correctly are listed on the right side of the screen. Once you get 6 words correct it moves you onto the next level. Spelling-It gives you a word and then you have to drag the letters into the correct order to complete a pipe. The robot dog gets a can of food each time you spell a word correctly. It shows the cans of food at the top of the screen and how many more you need to complete the game. It has fun background music. Bingo- It list 16 words on a grid. It says the word and you have to click on the correct word and get 4 words in a row. Memory games- 5 circles are shown at the top. When you click on the circle it says a word. You then have to click on the oval below that has the written word. The words are shown at the beginning for a few seconds and then little doors close on them. You have to remember where the word was located. When you get each match it puts a green check mark in both locations. Gears- You have to make pairs. Blue buttons are all over the screen. Gears with words on them are listed at the bottom of the screen. Click on a blue circle and it says a word. You then drag the correct gear to the button. The gear will spin if you get it correct. Once you get all the gears I the correct spot, the gears turn. Flash cards- flashcards with the letters in a giant font appear. Click on the word to hear it. The lettering is all in capitals, which I don’t like. If you click on the trophy at the beginning of the app it will show you the scores for each level. Under settings it will list all the words under their set. You can click words on or off. You can change the speed of the games, turn the music and effect on or off and change from capitals, to lowercase. I love this app!

• **Smiley Sight Words - $1.99 by 24X7 digital, LLCYear Published:  You can have up to 40 players. There are levels 1 - 40, dolch word sets by grade,  dolch words by frequency, fry words, UK words, AU color coded words, category  words, and all the words, customizable words, and share customizable words. Wow!  There are parental controls, and different flashcard options such as sound effects,  speak words, fonts, colors, … There are also 3 different option on whether to mark  a card or hide it once it is learned. To learn a word a child must say the word correctly  3 times, which means they smiley face has been selected 3 times. We will use this  app with parent volunteers. Students can practice it by themselves, but for formal  assessment we will want a parent to do it for accuracy. At the end of the set a report  is given that can be shared to your photos and then airdropped or emailed. This is a  great app for a one iPad classroom or 1:1.

• Ace Writer - Dolch Sight Words HD - Free ($2.99 for full version & ad free) by Hien TonYear Published:  Choose a dolch level. A list of words is given on the left side. You can pick a word to  practice. The letters are displayed in blocks at the top of the screen. Click on each  letter and it says the letter name. Dotted letters are displayed at the bottom of the  screen for you to trace with either a blue, red, or green crayon. It makes a squeaky  sounds as you trace the letters. There is no correction if traced incorrectly. Click on  the “spelling” button and it says each letter. You can upgrade to the full version.   I wasn't really impressed with this app.

• Early Start Sight Words Flash Cards - Free ($.99 for full version) by Cherrytree Consultants Pty LtdYear Published:  This app was a bit confusing at first. Click on the start button, then create or choose  your player. You can play game, take test, review, add words, change the settings, see  result, or list results. When you play the game it just displays word flashcards with no  audio feedback. When you take the test you can mark it correct or incorrect, but you  would need someone monitoring it because there is not audio feedback. Review seems  to be just like the game, but maybe it includes all the words from levels you have past,  not just the level you are on. You can add your own words. In the settings you can turn  off the letter only mode so that you don’t have to do the alphabet letters. You can also  change the font color, but I couldn’t get that function to work. On the results page it  list the date of your test and the percentage you got correct. It does not list which level  you were on though when you took the test. On the list result you can choose a level  and it will show you all the words and the ones marked correct will have a green  checkmark next to them. There is no way to email results. The display and character  is really nice, but the functionality of this app is poor. I would like to see more features  before I would use this app and it definitely needs some audio so children can get  immediate feedback without an adult.

• Gopher Finding: Sight Words - Free ($2.99 for full version) by PlaySmart-KidsYear Published:  This app has 5 levels. 1= Kindergarten. 2=1st grade, 3= 2nd grade, 4= 3rd grade, 5= high  frequency words. 4 words are given on gopher mounds. Click on the gopher mound  of the words spoken and you move on to the next word. After so many guess it changes  to 6 gopher mounds. For every couple of correct answers you get a piece of clothing.  When you click on a wrong answer, it tells you where the correct answer is located.  When you finish the entire set, the gopher gets dressed and it gives you a percentage  correct. It also puts the clothing items into a treasure box. Click on the treasure box  and you can dress your gopher however you want. You can put that gopher into your  collection. It is a cute app with nice feedback.

• Kids Learn Sight Words 1 -25 - Free ($1.99 - $4.99 for more words) by Teacher Created Materials Year Published:  A sight word is given on handwriting lines. You then write the word on the handwriting lines below. You can also record yourself saying the word. If you click on the word, it will say it for you. If I record my own word, I can’t get it to play my recording or the original recording by clicking on the word. After you have finished 5 words a puzzle appear. When you click on a puzzle piece, it says a word. You have to move the puzzle piece to the matching word and puzzle shape below. A cute photograph is shown when you get all the pieces put together. I don’t find this valuable for my first graders.

• Princesses Learn Sight Words by earlylanguages.comYear Published:  You get one princess story free (Snow White and all the rest cost $1.99. The graphics are a bit lame.  The story is read allowed. At the top of the page is a sight word in a colored box. That word is also colored in the text. When you hear the chimes you turn the page of the story. There are only 1 – 2  sight words on each page and they don’t repeat. There are random pictures of things on the side of the page. When you click on them it says “Let’s spell ____” Then it spells the sight word. I don’t like this app. I am sure my 4 year old would just like listening to the story, but I don’t think she would learn her sight words from it as easily as she would from another app. It also has a place to color, which has nothing to do with the sight words. It has a memory game, bingo and sticker (matching)  with the sight words that were in the story. It also has a song that in this one went over 3 of the sight words, but you had to keep hitting music notes to make the next line of the song play.

• Say It Sight Words - $.99 by Scot WoodyardYear Published:  We were going to purchase this app, but on our final review it was saying the words were correct with the speech recognition when they were not. It did not do this a few weeks ago, so maybe they need to do an update. It is worth testing again in the future. This is a great app! It has tons of list… (alphabet, dolch, favorites, fry, custom lists,  AUS: Oxford, & UK). You can turn one set or multiple sets on. There are 3 playing  modes. (flashcards, reverse flashcards, & typing) Flashcards-You are inside a spaceship  and a word pops up on the screen. Click on the microphone and say the word before  the time is up. It uses voice recognition to see if you way the word correctly. If you  don’t say the word in time, it says it for you and moves on to the next word.   If you  get the word correct and alien voice says, “correct.” You can pause the game if say,  your teacher ask for your attention and you are in the middle of the game. : ) You can  also star words to add them to your favorites. There is an eyeball icon in the corner  that when clicked on will explain al the different parts of the screen. It even recognized  a word when I stumbled over it and repeated it. If you say the word wrong, it will say  the word and move on. At the top of the screen it shows your score and which card  you are on out of the total. It then gives you your rank and score at the end. I was a  Splerf Herder. Reverse flash cards- It gives you 4 cards and each card contains a word.  A word is spoken and you have to click on the correct word. IF you don’t get the word  in time, the screen flashes red and it shows you the correct word. Typing- It says a  word and you have to type it correctly on a qwerty keyboard that is on the screen.  There are empty boxes shown for each letter. If you get a letter wrong, it will fix it for  you.

• Sight Words by Photo Touch - Free by GrasshopperApps.comYear Published:  In this app it gives a word and you click on it from the words given. This has a very clean interface. You choose how many words you want it to display at first and then what number you want it to increase to. It may start with 3 words on the page and move to 10 words on the page by the time you get to the end. Although I never did make it to the end, so I don’t know if it just keeps going. I think there being no ending may bore the kids. It is fast paced, without a lost of useless celebration following each correct answer. It just gives a quick verbal praise. If you get an answer wrong, it makes a noise and you try until you get it right.  You can also change the settings for what level of words you want displayed. I like this app, but I don’t think we are going to use it for our kids. I don’t want to overload their iPads with sight word apps.

• Sight Words Flash Cards - Free ($1.99 for ad free version) by eFlashAppsYear Published:  Sight Words 2 by eflashapps (grades 1 & 2) There are 6 ways to practice words in this app. 1. Word Tour It says the word before the child has a chance to say it. It then spells the word. It shut down while I was trying it out. You can add a word to your practice list by clicking on a button at the top of a screen. 2. Find n shoot It says the word and you have to choose from 3 words and click on the one said out loud. “click on _______”  is also written on the page, so  a kid could just find the matching word. If you get it write a girl with a laser gun shoots the cloud with the correct word.  Incorrect words get a boing sound. It has an easy and hard level. The hard level does not show the word in writing, but give you a speaker button at the bottom that when you click on it is says the word again. It also has 5 words instead of 3 to choose from. 3. Scramble You unscramble the letters to make the word they say,. 4. Memory Game Match the words that are hidden behind clouds. It says the word when you click on a cloud. 5. Bingo It says the word and you click on it. It is timed and you have to get bingo to win. You have to get 4 in a row in any direction. 6.Practice Words It gives you the words you said you needed to practice. You click on the word and it says it for you.

• Sight Words List - Free by Innovative Mobile AppsYear Published:  There are 6 sets of sight words. When you click on what looks like a refresh button, it says the word for you. You can then star the word and it will put it in the favorites folder. I would use this to group words that a student still needs to work on. It also has a shuffle button that mixes the words up. One thing I do not like about this app is that on the main page are 4 additional apps. It brings up a parent control to open them by holding down three fingers. I think students would be able to figure this out fairly easily. Maybe not, I just tried to go into the settings and needed to use the 3 finger tap and I can’t get it to work. Hmmmm….. I am finally in. Under setting you can turn the sound on or off, change the timing, create looping, customize flashcards, change the letters to lowercase or capitals. You can also change the font, font size, font color, and the order the words are displayed (random, a-z, 1,2,3). This app is ok, but not my favorite.