Blades - The Grassland Biome app for iPhone and iPad
Developer: Mobile Education Store LLC
First release : 18 Sep 2013
App size: 484.71 Mb
***** Educators Choice Award - SIIA Innovation Competition
***** Flawlessly Designed - Childrens Book Review
***** 2014 Kapi Award - Honorable Mention
***** Amazing! - Common Sense Media
***** Editors Choice Award - Childrens Technology Review
***** A Masterpiece - Teachers with Apps
***** Near Perfection - Mobile iEducator
Blades is a state of the art science book based on the grasslands biome. Developed in collaboration with the Department of Biology at Doane University and a team of educators, Blades includes both interactive enhancements and universal design accessibility features.
Blades is part of our Crack the Books series of interactive non-fiction books. Crack the Books are the first digital books that can be ADJUSTED FOR READING LEVEL without sacrificing content. Our digital books allow for reading level adjustment from 1st grade to 8th grade, making it possible for all kids to access the same content regardless of their reading ability.
Designed with the goal of improving reading comprehension, fostering a love of learning, and building reading confidence, Blades gives parents a powerful new teaching tool to help all kids, from children with special needs to those who are academically gifted.
Blades covers a variety of topics, including the structure of grass, plant and animal wildlife, adaptations, benefits of grasslands, and grassland threats. Kids will learn about all major grassland ecosystems including tropical savannas, steppes, prairies, pampas, and velds.
Blades feature hundreds of supportive audio and visual elements including beautiful high definition photographs, integrated video footage, fun facts, custom animations, custom images, and interactive charts, tables and globes. There are comprehension supports built into the text, with pop up definitions for associated new vocabulary. Kids may further interact with the content by creating bookmarks, highlights and study notes.
For kids with special needs, there are additional settings for common accommodations including text to speech, answer dictation, image reinforcement and text zooming.
Features:
Lexile certified reading levels from 1st to 8th grade
Visual supports for comprehension
Over 100 high-resolution images
Videos and custom animations
Interactive globes and maps
Built in vocabulary definitions
Interactive glossary with record feature
25 leveled chapter tests across 4 chapters
Built in test grading
Text to speech
Integrated voice over features
Text zoom
Bookmarks for multiple readers
Requires iOS11 and above