Writing Wizard app
Writing Wizard app for iPhone and iPad (2.99) developed by L’ Escapadou.com (developer of Word Wizard app), is another letter formation app (how many can you have??) that provides great options to support practice of specific curriculum fonts:
- Zaner Bloser
- DeNealian
- Handwriting Without Tears
This app provides many of the best practice features of letter formation (Koenke, 1986) and many customizable features to support the needs of a wide variety of students and curriculums.
Writing Wizard also provides modes of writing for students that is fun with:
- 26 different animated stickers and sound effects
- After completing tracing, 4 games that animate letters is offered
- Tracing their name with customization within the app
- Collect stars for completion of letter completion.
Along with upper and lower case letter formation, numbers and words, Writing Wizard also provides more than 40 different pre-writing patterns for users:
- Diagonal lines horizontal lines
- Cross
- Diagonal and horizontal lines
- Shapes: square, triangle, circle, pentagon, star, oval, crescent
- Maze lines
- Line patterns
- Simple pictures to draw (house, cat, smiley face, etc.)
All of the numbers, letters and shape practices provide a demonstration of stroke direction. Arrows, stopping points and dotted lines are provided for the user in a step by step manner. Customization within in each task provides the following options:
Administrative options of this app provide entering multiple users, viewing tracing histories and exporting tracings page and using a free mode of participation or 5 star mode requiring multiple trials with reducing supports. Additional settings are also offered within the app including applying sounds at different points of production/tracing, choices of the 5 star parameters during practice of each letter, locks on administrative setting and six different language choices (Espanol, Deutsch, English, French, Italian, Swedish).
This app provides great options for supporting the acquisition of letter formation for students, data collect as well as customization for students. Well worth the 2.99.
Positioning your iPad with a stand or using a stylus to emulate use of a writing tool may also be considered. Check out possible stands or styluses at : OT’s with Apps Amazon Store.
More for your OT mTool Kit.
References:
Koenke, Karl, (1986), Handwriting Instruction, What Do We Know?, retrieved on 1/19/2014 from : http://ericae.net/edo/ed272923.htm .
Carol
OT's with Apps & Technology 