Busy Book - Underwater Bead Maze Page

I'm very pleased with this one. First I made a background underwater scene. Then I made three interactive tracks.

The first track is for the plane. The plane moves from right to left getting higher in the sky at it goes. When it hits the cloud it has a little trouble and someone (either Michael or Ava) needs to help the pilot get through the cloud (by threading the bead through the loop).

The second track is for the boat. The boat begins by moving from left to right along the top of the water. Each time it hits a wave it needs help. After it hits the third wave it sinks down to the ocean floor.

The third track is for a fish. He starts at the bottom in his home by the coral before going on a treasure hunt. He works his way up to the top of the underwater mountain where he finds a treasure chest.

Here are the beads in their beginning positions:

And here they are in their final positions:

Sunny Articulation Test App - One Day Sale

I have been keeping an eye on an articulation test for the iPhone/iPad called the Sunny Articulation Test. I wasn't willing to buy it at the usual price of $49.99, but today (10/9/2011) it is on sale for $21.99.

It is a qualitative test, not a normative test, so it will not tell you how your child/student/client compares to other children his/her age. However, it will test all phonemes in multiple positions of words. It allows you to easily record productions of each test item so that you can go back later and listen again. It has a screening mode and a full test mode. The screening mode has fewer words and you simply indicate right or wrong for each target phoneme. The full test mode has more words and you enter the type of error for each incorrect phoneme. The test automatically calculates errors and does some simple analyses (how many voiced sounds were incorrect, how many voiceless sounds were incorrect, how many plosives, etc.). You can also automatically generate and email a simple report.

I will do a more complete review once I have had an opportunity to actually use the program, but I wanted to let you know about the sale in case you've been looking for an articulation test for the iPhone/iPad.

Busy Book - Phonics Pockets Page

I have finished a third page for the busy book. This page has six beads on strings. There is a boat, cat, fish, lion, plane, and zebra. There are six pockets. Each pocket is labeled with the first letter of one of the beads. Michael will be able to match each bead with the corresponding pocket. Ava will probably just hide the beads at random and use the page as more of a peek-a-boo page than as a phonics page.