Shake-a-Phrase: Fun with Words and Sentences Educator Review

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Common Sense Review

Updated November 2013

Silly sentences build grammar skills and inspire writing

Common Sense Rating 3

Teacher Rating (1 Teacher Review) 4

Price

$1.99

This grade range is a recommendation by the Common Sense Education editorial team, not the developer/publisher.

Grades

2-8

Platforms

Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

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Subjects

English Language Arts

letter or word recognition
vocabulary
writing

English Language Learning

writing
vocabulary

Skills

Creativity

brainstorming
imagination

Communication & Collaboration

storytelling

Purpose

Targeted Practice

Standards

Common Core State Standards

Choose among three different modes of play.
Look up the definitions of unfamiliar words.
Choose from different themes.
Save favorite sentences and story starters.
Focus on specific parts of speech.
Find creative story starters.

Pros

Three modes of play, multiple themes, and custom quiz settings meet a variety of students' needs.

Cons

Some randomly generated sentences don't make sense, possibly frustrating students.

Bottom Line

Silly sentences and the ability to physically shake the app add a little bit of excitement to grammar, vocabulary, and creative writing instruction.

Stacy Zeiger
Common Sense Reviewer
Homeschooling parent/instructor

Common Sense Rating 3

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return? 4

Fun sound effects, bright backgrounds, and the invitation to shake their devices attract kids' attention. The ability to choose themes that interest them, silly sentences, and three ways to interact with the app help keep it.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer? 3

Three modes of play help kids build grammar, vocabulary, and creative writing skills. Each mode offers multiple dimensions, and the quiz mode can be customized based on kids' skill levels.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students? 3

There are no in-app tutorials for students, but the app is intuitive to use. Multiple themes and options make the app accessible to a wide range of students.

About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

How Can Teachers Use It?

Teachers can use Shake-a-Phrase in multiple ways. Story starters may provide inspiration for individual students during creative writing time or to start off stories written by the whole the class. Quiz Me mode may serve as an entertaining bell-ringer activity or a way to fill both individual and whole-class downtime. The Shake-a-Phrase website also shares how other teachers use the app in the classroom and includes silly stories written and illustrated by students in response to the silly story starters.

What's It Like?

Shake-a-Phrase: Fun with Words and Sentences is a fun grammar and writing app with bright backgrounds, silly sound effects, and three modes of play. Select Shake It! mode and receive a randomly generated silly sentence such as "A surprised donkey crashed into, then ate, a misunderstood knight." Sentences vary by theme, so kids who choose the fairytale theme will see sentences about knights, dragons, and princesses locked in towers. Other themes include sports, monsters, animals, and a general "shake starter set." In Story Starter mode, these sentences become creative writing prompts, and in Quiz Me mode, students must identify specific parts of speech as they appear in the sentences. As they play, kids can "fave" the sentences they like or simply shake the device to see a new sentence, which adds an additional element of fun.

Is It Good For Learning?

While the sentences found in the three modes of Shake-a-Phrase don't always make sense, they're full of descriptive adjectives and action verbs. This helps expose students to more complex sentences and encourages them to move beyond simple sentences in their own writing. After using the app, students may be more inclined to abandon simple sentences, such as "The zookeeper drew a picture of a pig," in favor of more descriptive sentences like "An enthusiastic and careless zookeeper sketched the juvenile pig." Students can also learn about the words that make up sentences; by clicking on words within a sentence, kids can see definitions and learn where the individual parts of speech typically appear.

Teacher Reviews

Write Your Own Review

Shake-A-Phrase: Prompts, vocabulary, sentence structure, and fun!

Cynthia S.
Fremont Public Schools
Fremont, NE

4

June 18, 2014

Lesson Plans

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Language
L.1: Conventions of Standard English
L.1.1	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.1.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
L.2: Conventions of Standard English
L.2.1	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.2.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
L.3: Conventions of Standard English
L.3.1	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.3.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.4: Conventions of Standard English
L.4.1	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Knowledge of Language
L.4.3	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.4.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.5: Vocabulary acquisition and Use
L.5.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.6: Knowledge of Language
L.6.3	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.6.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.7: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
L.7.4	Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.8: Knowledge of Language
L.8.3	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
Writing
W.1: Text Types and Purposes
W.1.3	Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
W.2: Text Types and Purposes
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.3: Text Types and Purposes
W.3.3	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.4: Text Types and Purposes
W.4.3	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.5: Text Types and Purposes
W.5.3	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.6: Range of Writing
W.6.10	Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and
W.7: Range of Writing
W.7.10	Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
W.8: Range of Writing
W.8.10	Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Shake-a-Phrase: Fun with Words and Sentences

Pros

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Bottom Line

Key Standards Supported

Language

Writing

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