Smarty Ears Apps has been at it again. This time, they have answered teachers and parent pleas for an app designed to help in the general ed classroom as well as in the speech-therapy room. It’s a great app at a great price and SLPs will find it helpful as well… 

NOTE I was not involved in the production of this app; but I was happy to review it when Smarty Ears asked for volunteers. Although I was given a copy of the app, I was not paid to review the app and the review is completely mine.

It’s a fairly straightforward app with all the bells and whistles that Smarty Ears is known for.

It is easy to add students – simply select an avatar and put in names or initials…Or import them from the Therapy Report Center (which is what I did).

The app is designed to be used with anywhere from 1 – 5 students at a time.

Then it’s simply a matter of selecting a level. The app has already made lists for grades K-6 as well as themes such as “animals” “numbers”, etc. You can even custom make your own lists!

Each student can work on his or her own level – even in groups!

I love that I can combine my vocab from other curriculum and incorporate it here too.

To spell a word, simply drag the letter tiles up to the correct space.

Customization is available to allow for “extra” letters to be added or not. As you can see here, I have one extra letter to help confuse things learning.

Data…data…data. One of the biggest things Smarty Ears apps are known for is the invaluable data they provide. Smarty Spell is NO exception! Not only does it give percent accuracy overall and by session…it provides a percent accuracy by list!

and if that’s not enough it provides a detail listing of each word practiced – the number of times practiced – and whether or not it was correct!

Combining customizable lists with incredible data compilation makes this every Title I, SPED, and RTI implementer’s dream. Using this app with individualized instruction in spelling is a win-win combination.

Things I love:

• Customizable lists
• Data
• Clean interface
• Easy to use
• Video Tutorial

Things I’d like:

• My teachers all like to do spelling by “families” I’d love if the word lists had the option to go by phonics families in addition to grades and themes

Overall, this is easily a great app to recommend. It’s currently $3.99 and absolutely worth that price.

I have reviewed it over at yappguru.com as well.