Smarty Britches: Nouns is an educational app by developer Sascyn Publishing, Inc. Featuring an interactive story focused on teaching the different kinds of nouns, this app could be the basis of a great ELA lesson.
Smarty Britches: Nouns is an interactive story focusing on teaching the five kinds of nouns: people, places, things, animals, and ideas. A young narrator walks us through his life identifying all of the things he loves. He tells about his family (people nouns), pets (animals nouns), his state (place noun), his pants (thing noun) and his love for them all (idea noun). After giving several examples of each type of noun, the reader has a chance to play with the nouns. Either tapping the correct types of nouns, identifying the specific type of noun, or thinking and answering questions about the reader's own experiences.
Additionally, each page has a few places for the reader to tap for a sound or comment. Each page is read aloud (though there is an option to turn this aspect off on the main menu). The words are highlighted as the story is read, making it easy for early readers to follow along. The app is also fluid with a home button on each page that takes you to the table of contents of the storybook pages and the activity pages.
What Fun Educational Apps Liked
This app is a good teaching app for kids just starting to learn parts of speech. The app's storybook feature provides a good lesson on how to identify the different types of nouns. For teachers in the United States, this app is also aligned to the Common Core Standards. Additionally, the developer has a nice website http://sascynpublishing.com/. The site has curriculum aligned activities to go along with a teaching unit using the app. From basic handouts to more creative activities like a dramatic retell (with rubric included), the site has some great ideas for extending the learning using the app as a base.
Overall, this app provides a nice start to a more extensive lesson on types of nouns. By giving kids specific examples beyond the basic person, place, or thing definition, the app is making the learning more concrete. Parents looking to reinforce ELA skills or teachers looking for a technology hook to teach nouns will appreciate this app.
Smarty Britches Nouns is available for download via the iTunes App Store!
This app was reviewed by Sarah Emerling, a mom, a special education teacher, and a technology coach. She is a self proclaimed nerd with a passion for incorporating technology into education and you read her findings at The iLesson Lady .
Have Fun With Apps!
If you want to discover more Fun Educational Apps make sure to subscribe to our RSS feed and our news letter to receive regular update on great Fun Educational Apps and for great offers visit our kids apps deals
Follows us on Friend Feed Twitter or Facebook … and if your are looking for the latest kids apps deals make sure to visit:
And if your are looking for more great apps for kids … Discover AppStar Picks, a kids apps catalogue with hundreds of apps reviewed!
Disclosure: This review was move up the waiting list priority-services. All opinions expressed are purely that of the author.