App review by Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Education | Updated August 2015
Dino Tales
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Dino Tales

Dino world rich with fun and learning somewhat tricky to navigate

Get it now
  • Download on Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download on Amazon
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
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Grades
K–3 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Subjects & Skills
English Language Arts, Science, Critical Thinking, Communication & Collaboration
Price:  $3.99
Platforms:  Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Kindle Fire
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Take a look inside

5 images
Collect new dinosaurs after discovering them as eggs.
Learn about dinosaurs by asking questions.
Navigate the island to find eggs and fossils.
Kids can customize stories with the words that fit best.
Play with the dinosaurs, just to have some fun.

Pros: Dinosaur interactions are fun, and reading activities engage kids.

Cons: Navigating the island can be tricky with very few hints.

Bottom Line: Dino-writing activities offer appealing opportunity for cross-curricular learning; gameplay could be challenging for some.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Teachers can set up an account with the student's name, which will then be used in the games. Only one student account can be active at a time, but it can be deleted to add a new one. Teachers can also customize a student's reading level and set a time limit for play -- 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 45 minutes. Teachers can find myriad uses for the app in class. If working with an individual student, use the game to practice personal narrative writing; let the student play for a few minutes before reading the narrative of the dinosaur's day together as a model text. From there, have the student write their own personal narratives without the app's scaffolding. With your whole class, you can use the question spinner to help kids develop open-ended questions. For independent play, have kids choose one dinosaur or fossil to research and present to the class.
 

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Standards:

Dino Tales is an educational game teaching kids about dinosaurs while also helping them develop some descriptive writing skills. Using their dino avatar, kids will roam around the island, discovering and hatching eggs and keeping their dinosaurs fed. They'll learn facts about each dinosaur by generating their own questions, playing around with the dinosaurs, and reading books about their adventures. Kids can feed and play with the dinosaurs, moving them with finger controls or painting them in different colors; throughout the game, kids collect different awards for their discoveries. The dinosaur guide, Darwin, answers questions, too, that kids customize from a scrolling list of words. Once they've hatched a dinosaur and explored with it, they can read the story of its journey, choosing the best words to customize their tale.

Despite a robotic-sounding dinosaur narrator and awkward controls, kids will enjoy learning about dinosaurs and playing with language in this rich, layered world. To navigate their dinosaur around the world, kids will have to use some directional arrows rather than just guiding them with their fingers on the screen. The latter seems like it might be more intuitive; as it stands, navigation can be a bit tricky and may frustrate some kids. Some better hints around navigation -- without becoming too prescriptive -- might also help. Also, the Darwin character's voice is very obviously computer-generated. Nevertheless, the varied activities -- creating questions, discovering treasures, painting dinosaurs, reading stories, and investigating the island -- can keep kids entertained, engaged, and learning.

Overall Rating
Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Kids' names are used frequently to keep them engaged, and the variety of activities keep kids in the action.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

The questions roller not only teaches kids about dinosaurs, it teaches them to ask open-ended questions. Kids can learn about dinosaurs and pick up some writing skills.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

There are extension coloring activities on the developer's website. Teachers can customize kids' reading levels and set time limits on play in the settings.

Common Sense reviewer
Amanda Bindel Classroom teacher
See how we rate and review

Key Standards Supported

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.K.10

    Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

  • RI.1.10

    With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.

  • RI.2.10

    By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Writing

  • W.1.7

    Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).

  • W.1.8

    With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

  • W.2.3

    Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

  • W.2.7

    Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

  • W.2.8

    Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

  • W.3.3

    Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

  • W.3.3a

    Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

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