Are you looking for word attack apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.
Word Boom – Like Scrabble, Word Boom is a word creation game with a twist. Players are given seven letters and asked to create as many words as possible before the bomb goes off, signaling the end of the play. Power-ups and boomers are also in play, giving two or three times the normal amount of points or speeding up the bomb timer, respectively. This app can be used to support creative thinking, vocabulary study, or as a fun indoor recess activity.
Word Hippo – Word Hippo is a one-stop website for all your word needs. It includes a dictionary, thesaurus, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, example sentences, translations into over 80 languages, the ability to find words of different lengths based on specific letters or blends, the ability to find words in different forms (plural, past tense, present tense, etc.), and the ability to hear pronunciations. Word Hippo is particularly useful for ELL students, during writing or literacy classes, or while playing a Scrabble-type game.
Vocabulary.com – A combination dictionary and adaptive learning game, Vocabulary.com, will help students master new words. The website doesn’t use flashcards or rote memorization. Instead, it exposes students to a variety of questions and activities to help them understand the meaning of the word. Vocabulary.com has over 500 ready-to-learn vocabulary lists for things like the SAT or TOEFL, or a user can enter their own list of words to master. Teachers can also automatically create a learning activity based on the text they will be teaching in class by simply pasting the text onto the Vocabulary.com website.
Word Joust K-5 & Word Joust 6-8 – A fun medieval game to improve vocabulary development, Word Joust comes in two levels: grades K-5 and grades 6-8. The basics of the game remain the same, regardless of whether the parents or teacher purchase the K-5 or 6-8 app. The difference is in the words that students will study. The words selected for study in each app represent a summary of words encountered by students in the selected grades in American schools. Words are taken from textbooks, popular fiction and nonfiction, and works of literature. Each app includes five vocabulary games to unscramble words, match words to definitions, search for words, and more: Scramble, Troll Trickery, Labyrinth of Letters, Cohorts of Soldiers, and Hangman.
Word Sort by Grammaropolis – Using the popular Grammaropolis characters, Word Sort by Grammaropolis helps students understand and categorize the various parts of speech. There is a section for each part of speech explaining the definition and usage. Students play through three levels: level one includes nouns, adjectives, and linking verbs; level two covers pronouns, prepositions, and interjections, and level three contains adverbs, conjectures, and action verbs. A high score page is also included so students can track their progress
Mr. Word– Mr. Word is a fun and challenging word game with lots of possibilities. If you choose the one-player mode, you can choose a difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard) and compete against the computer (Mr. Word himself). You will choose words that you would use in real life and try to trip up Mr. Word. The longer he takes, the better you are doing. If you are feeling extra competitive, you can choose the two-player mode and play with friends. This is a great way to get your brain moving and learn new vocabulary.
Word Wizard for Kids – For children aged 4-10, Word Wizard for Kids includes a talking moveable alphabet and three spelling activities. The moveable alphabet allows children to experiment with phonics and word building. It includes four font sizes, uppercase and lowercase letters, natural-sounding pronunciation (three American voices, one British voice, and one Australian voice are included), and spell-check. Word Practice, Scrambled Letters, and Spelling Quizzes are the three included spelling activities. Word Practice says and displays the word to spell and asks the child to use the moveable alphabet to spell it. Scrambled Letters says the word and displays the letters needed to build it, then asks the child to unscramble the letters. Spelling Quizzes is a standard spelling test. The app comes with 184-word lists and allows teachers and parents to create their own.
Wordful – With 580 levels to test students’ vocabulary and spelling, Wordful offers tons of challenging and fun word puzzles. The main gameplay involves hunting for words in random combinations of letters to find as many as possible. Wifi is not needed to access the game and play. There are also daily exercises to keep students’ brains alert.
SAT Word Slam– SAT Word Slam educates teenagers on vocabulary by taking advantage of teenage humor and pop culture references. It uses “teach me” and “test me” tabs to allow students to master definitions, examine their knowledge, and monitor their progress.
Word Wagon – Based on Common Core State Standards, Word Wagon teaches letters, phonics, and spelling. With over 100 words and 4 levels of learning, children cover letter names, letter sounds, and spelling of 4-6 letter words. Children collect fun animated stickers for each word learned, which can be kept in a virtual sticker book. There are also interactive surprises for children to discover, such as playing hide and seek or drawing pictures with the characters. Word Wagon has won the Parent’s Gold Choice Award and the Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice Award.
Visual Thesaurus – The Visual Thesaurus is a dictionary and thesaurus that creates color-coded interactive word maps. It lets users find the precise word they are looking for, develop a better vocabulary through exposure to new but related words, master word usage by accessing definitions and example sentences, and learn to pronounce words correctly through listening to correct pronunciation recordings. The Visual Thesaurus also includes 39,000 proper nouns such as historical figures, phrases, and trademarks.
Mystery Word Town– Children try to catch the outlaws of Mystery Word Town and retrieve the stolen gold using their spelling abilities. This app uses intelligent gameplay to engage the user. The Huevos Rancheros Gang made away with gold and is hiding among the charming inhabitants of Word Town.; your job is to help the good sheriff who is a friendly, curious little ghost, capture the bandits and recover the stolen gold. The app blends fun and humor to help students master otherwise tedious academic lessons.
Endless Reader Sight Words– This app from the Originator group is designed to teach your child to read from an early age. The app introduces children to sight words (i.e., words that are commonly used in English literature and texts). Recognizing sight words is important for developing consistent flow while reading because some of these words have unusual spellings that could easily confuse young readers.
