Application: Iceberg Kids
What it is: IceBerg Kids is an eReader designed especially for kids. Iceberg Kids brings children’s books to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The free eReader comes with excerpts from Princess Hyacinth; Mr. Funny; Fred and Ted Like to Fly; Merry Christmas, Curious George; The I Love You Book, The Polar Express, and The Night Before Christmas. Iceberg kids is more than just an eReader, students can record their own audio book, image exploration, a visual table of contents, and auto read to hear the story read aloud or recorded in your own voice.
How Iceberg Kids can enrich learning: Iceberg kids is a great eReader for beginning and emergent readers. The titles available are popular with kids and range from Sesame Street, Curious George, Mr. Men, Veggie Tales, Todd Parr, Candlewick, and kindermusik. The additional titles can be purchased directly from iTunes. My favorite feature of the Iceberg app is the ability to record. In a classroom setting, students can record themselves reading and listen back for voice, fluency, pronunciation, and annunciation. Fluency is hard to teach without the ability to voice record. We can ask students to read a passage again and again telling them to listen to us pronounce words. The student may be convinced that they are repeating the word exactly and yet we tell them it still isn’t right. The ability to record themselves reading means that students can listen to themselves and compare it to the teacher. When they can hear their fluency or pronunciation, suddenly they understand what changes need to be made. The record feature would also make reading records infinitely easier to complete. Teachers could listen to the recorded reading again and again and thoroughly compile a reading record.
Devices: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Price: Free!** (iTunes Link)
