App review by Dana Villamagna, Common Sense Education | Updated May 2013
X Is For X-Ray (iPad)
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X is for X-Ray (iPad)

Cool alphabet-based visuals, plus a bit of science, history, and vocabulary fun

Get it now
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
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Grades
K–5
Subjects & Skills
English Language Arts, Science, Critical Thinking
Price:  $1.99
Platforms:  iPad
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Take a look inside

5 images
All 26 letters of the English alphabet have an object to explore.
Lots of science, history, and trivia info for each object.
Kids get to see inner workings of objects in various stages of X-ray imaging.
Listen to witty poems related to each object.
Learn about the app's photographer, including his insides!

Pros: Learn about everyday objects wth creative visuals, funny poetry, and written text.

Cons: Some of the X-ray interactivity isn't intuitive and may frustrate younger kids.

Bottom Line: X is for X-Ray is a beautiful way to bring kids to the intersection of reading with science, engineering, and history.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

X is for X-Ray can be a good teacher-led whole class introduction to a lesson about inventing, engineering, or the physics of X-rays. Teachers will need to read (and perhaps synopsize) text-heavy portions of the app for younger students, but pre-readers can also simply listen to the poems and view the images. X is for X-Ray may also be an interesting way for kids just learning to use an iPad to practice swiping, tapping, and pinching on their own -- with rewarding visual results. After students have explored the app fully, teachers may want to choose a suggested activity, such as performing a science experiment, to extend learning.

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Standards:

X is for X-Ray (iPad) is a beautiful alphabet book containing detailed descriptions, funny audio poems, and amazing, progressive X-ray images of 26 everyday objects that kids can interact with. The app covers a variety of information about each object -- its history, scientific information, fun facts, and some extension ideas for further exploration (some objects don’t have extensions). From viewing the internal engineering of a toaster to seeing the way bones shape a hand, X is for X-Ray gets kids investigating the parts that create whole objects. Kids swipe, tap, and pinch to view each photo as an X-ray, zoom it larger, spin it around, and view it in 3-D (with purchased glasses). It may take a few tries for kids to get the hang of using the tools, and some images are easier to manipulate than others, but overall navigation is fairly easy.

The amazing X-ray images combined with catchy audio poems and fascinating informational text make the learning experience on X is for X-Ray highly engaging and effective. Multimedia information about each object helps with retention by reinforcing learning in different ways. Interacting with objects to expose their insides will leave a lasting impression on students.

Overall Rating
Engagement

X-ray images, witty poems, and information-packed text engage kids' sense of wonder, sense of humor, and curiosity about everyday things. Prereaders and readers both will find ways to engage.

Pedagogy

One page per object explains all about each image, helping kids expand vocabulary and science and history knowledge -- although not deeply. X-ray-enhanced photos allow kids to see the inner workings of objects they're familiar with.

Support

Lots of text makes this well-suited for readers; images and audio poems make it accessible for prereaders. You'll get great ideas for extension activities, but kids will need to use trial and error to learn how to expose the x-ray images.

Common Sense reviewer
Dana Villamagna Classroom teacher
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Key Standards Supported

Language

  • L.1.6

    Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal simple relationships (e.g., because).

  • L.2.6

    Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other kids are happy that makes me happy).

  • L.3.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).

  • L.4.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).

  • L.5.6

    Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).

  • L.K.6

    Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

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Community Rating

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Featured review by
Connie J. , Media specialist/librarian
Media specialist/librarian
Concordia College
Moorhead, United States
Not all items are worth x-raying
While some students may enjoy this app, it mixes juvenile poems with quite detailed information about the item being x-rayed. Advanced students may wish to skip the poems entirely and just read the text. Some of the items selected for x-raying are curious - there's not much to see on the inside of a piggy bank or an umbrella.
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