Word Game Apps

One of the advantages, and disadvantages, of using the newest technology in the classroom is that I am only one step ahead of my student's knowledge--and sometimes a step behind. My students often enter class enthusiastically asking me to download a certain app onto our iPads, but oftentimes, the apps are not ones we could justifiably use during class time (Angry Birds and Temple Run come to mind as prime examples).  We teachers who are lucky enough to have iPads should not despair, however; plenty of free apps are both entertaining and educational, able to keep students engaged for an entire class period.


At first I was skeptical: Would the word game apps I downloaded really fulfill the objective--to help students focus on vocabulary and spelling? I was pleased to find that the games achieve both of those goals, especially if students write or type a list of words they encountered as they used the apps. 


All of these apps seem to be equally interesting for students, although everyone tends to gravitate toward one favorite game or another. Words HD Free was the first word game app I introduced to the class. First semester, the students had so loved playing Scrabble (the "real" board game, not the virtual version), that I was sure they would be at least a little interested in Words Free, which is a nearly identical game. It was immensely popular, much more than I expected. One of my students told me, "This is the first time I've ever had fun with words!" What more could a teacher want to hear?


Letris 2 also interests students in spelling. The player can choose a one-player game, two-player split-screen, or online games. If playing solo, the students can choose Letris, Acronyms, or WordMatrix settings; if playing against other students, they can choose either Duel or Endurance. While this game pushes students to choose letters quickly to spell words accurately, I've noticed two disadvantages: The game seems to accept abbreviations of words, something that doesn't help teachers who are battling the proliferation of texting lingo in students' writing; and because the two-player split-screen game is fast paced, students are encouraged to spell shorter, usually three-letter words.

Word Solitaire is one of the more challenging word game apps, and I warned my students they would not enjoy playing unless they completed the tutorial. This game encourages students to spell longer words. Because it is more difficult, fewer students choose to play this app more than ten minutes, but a few students who normally struggle with writing were surprisingly successful with this app.

Word Warp Xtreme is the most popular app among students in my classes. I like that this game introduces students to new words and challenges them to discover these new words by spelling them from a restricted list of letters. They especially love the Head-2-Head setting, which allows two teams or players to compete simultaneously on their iPads using Bluetooth technology. Whirly Word is a similar single-player game that challenges students to spell words with a limited list of letters that are arranged in a circle.

There is no shortage of crossword apps, but some are better than others, such as Ultimate Word Search and Word Search+, because their word lists offer more challenging words than games such as Word Search Party.


Although it's hard for students to interrupt their games, I have asked students to post a list of new words and definitions on lino before the end of the class period. When they "accidentally" spell a word without realizing it was a word, I ask them to pause, open the Lino app, and post their word (and they can highlight and define the word at the same time in Lino). I have to remind them to do this, of course, because once they are involved in their game, they are not very keen about taking their focus away from winning.

My quest to find the best iPad apps continues, so I will post my reviews as I see which ones are the most successful with my students.