App review by Vicki Windman , Common Sense Education | Updated January 2014
Rainbow Sentences
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Rainbow Sentences

Customizable, creative practice in writing and recording sentences

Get it now
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
Community rating
Based on 2 reviews
Privacy rating
Not yet rated Expert evaluation by Common Sense
Grades
1–4 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, Communication & Collaboration, Critical Thinking
Price:  $7.99
Platforms:  iPad
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Take a look inside

4 images
Kids arrange words into a sentence.
A lesson shows how to write a correct sentence.
Settings page allows customizing for individual students.
Statistics track learning.

Pros: Impressive accommodations support kids with learning difficulties.

Cons: Somewhat childish graphics are less appealing for older students.

Bottom Line: Versatile language app meets the needs of a variety of learning styles.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Rainbow Sentences would be a great way to introduce students to the key components of a sentence. Project the app onto a white board and have students take turns identifying how to correct them. For a more individualized approach, have students use the app independently. You can adjust settings for specific student needs and provide one-on-one support, using the app stats to inform your interventions. Extend the learning offline by having students write in a "sentence of the day" journal.

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Standards:

Rainbow Sentences is an individualized sentence-building app to help kids with their grammar, expressive language, reading, and comprehension. First, teachers need to set up a user account, choosing levels and the ability to record audio and to color-code sentences, among other things. Each level provides a pictograph to give a visual hint, and kids organize the given words into a grammatically correct sentence. For kids who have difficulty with their expressive and receptive language skills, they can record their sentence upon completion of the task. Sentences can be saved or emailed to track progress. As kids master simple sentences, they can proceed to more complex sentences with or without color coding. Adults can manage kids' accounts and track their progress.

Kids can learn how to construct a proper grammatical sentence, and they can increase their receptive and expressive language skills by using the record capability after completing each sentence. They'll learn that a capital letter begins a sentence and punctuation completes a sentence. In addition, kids will learn to recognize the parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Rainbow Sentences has many accommodations for kids with learning difficulties. It offers kids a multisensory approach with room to grow as they achieve mastery. Using pictographs helps kids who need visual cues when trying to put together a group of words. Using color coding is especially helpful for kids who have difficulty with determining word order. Kids who are new to the app will need some guidance to get started. Rainbow Sentences is a useful language app that offers enough versatility to engage a variety of learning styles.

The graphics could be more appealing, as they appear too simple and childish when used with older kids who still need assistance making sentences. As the levels become more difficult, it would be nice to see sentences that relate to the real world to help kids with their social skills.

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?

Cute pictographs help kids decipher how to make a sentence. Kids will enjoy being able to record themselves upon completing each sentence they create.

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 app uses a multi-modality approach with audio, color coding, and audio playback to help kids understand how to construct a sentence.

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?

An extensive tutorial guides users. Parents and teachers get stats on kids' progress and will appreciate the flexible settings.

Common Sense reviewer
Vicki Windman Special education instructor
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Key Standards Supported

Language

  • L.1.1j

    Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

  • L.1.2a

    Capitalize dates and names of people.

  • L.1.2b

    Use end punctuation for sentences.

  • L.2.2

    Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • L.3.1i

    Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

  • L.4.2

    Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

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Community Rating

(See all 2 reviews) (2 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Bekah H. , Technology coordinator
Technology coordinator
This App Is Great for ELL Students
This is a wonderful app that is not that expensive. I love that you can create multiple users on iPad and it will track each users progress. Rainbow sentences is great for students who are learning the English language. The pictures provide great context clues that can help students with their sentence structure. There are also many great features that allow the teacher to set the app to more advanced features like turning off the color matching feature. I absolutely love that once the student has put t ...
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