5 free apps that help make summer reading a breeze
While most teens and tweens have pretty active summer schedules, it’s crucial for them to also complete those pesky summer reading assignments. Here are five free mobile apps that aid in comprehension, speed and logging progress, and embrace non-traditional reading styles.
Audio Books by Audiobooks (iOS, Android, Free)
While the vast majority of titles require purchasing to read, Audio Books provides a side-scrollable editorial list of free books, which includes “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, “Call of the Wild” by Jack London and “Little Women” byLouisa May Alcott. This app is excellent for middle and high school students who are traveling this summer or need the audio reinforcement as they read. One downside to this app is it does not offer read-along text. This growing library of audiobooks includes over 2,500 free titles that you can stream over Wi-Fi or cellular data.
K12 Timed Reading & Comprehension Lite (iOS, Android, Free)
Is your child fall in the grade level range or kindergarten through fourth grade? Does she or he need to practice on their reading skills? Download K12 Time Reading & Comprehension Lite, a mobile app that uses the Flesch-Kincaid readability model to assess speed and comprehension. To start, the parent or teacher adds the student’s name and reading level. The app includes 25 free stories (five per grade level), and after each follows a comprehension quiz. Students are rewarded with stars – gold, silver, or bronze – based on time fluency and comprehension. For $3.99, adults can upgrade to the full version, which features 250-plus stories with corresponding quizzes and the ability to track multiple students.
Speakaboos Stories (iOS, Android, Free)
This storybook app launches with an eye-catching collection of free titles in a digital pop-up format. Right away, young readers will see specific titles like “Find It: A Trip to the City” or “Where the Wild Things Are,” in addition to general categories like dinosaurs, monsters, vehicles, and princesses. The animated books take a few seconds to load and include audio assistance. Speakaboos Stories is equipped with three reading options: Read to Me, Read It Myself and Read & Play. Some of the stories are musical, featuring catchy songs with lyrics. Kids will love turning their reading session into a karaoke sing-along.
Vocabulary Builder (iOS, Android, Free)
Right out of the gate, Magoosh’s Vocabulary Builder app tries to personalize your experience. Students can use this app to boost their vocabulary, as it presents new words and asks users to choose the best definition. Wordbanks are divided by difficulty (common words, basic words, advanced words). Each contains a certain number of levels and words, and you need to master the latter in order to progress. Incorrect answers are repeated during the session until students can competently define those troublesome words. Students can also select “I’m not sure.” Regardless of correctness, the app displays the words definition and its usage in an example sentence.
You-Log Reading (iOS, Free)
You-Log Reading is a straightforward mobile application for keeping track of your reading progress. After entering the student’s name and adding an optional password and profile photo, the app has users enter their reading goals. These manifest as minutes and pages per day, as well as books and genres per month. The free version limits users to only five book entries, but they app insists they upgrade for $1.99. However, this can be a non-issue for students if they are using You-Log Reading to track their progress for summer reading assignments.
Source: AppoLearning.com
