13 TOOLS

Spelling Apps for Students

From iPhone to iPad and Android tablets, and from preschool to middle school and high school, these spelling apps and games are great for students. Being skilled at spelling may help improve vocabulary and reading comprehension; for English language learners, knowing how to spell helps teach the parts that make up words and makes it easier to learn grammar. Check out these apps to help students learn how to spell new words by playing games, experimenting with word construction, and taking quizzes using premade or custom lists.

Montessorium: Intro to Words

Well-crafted app helps emerging readers and writers build words

Bottom Line: This app will work best for students who already know their letters and can then work on word building, word play, and letter-sound recognition.

Grades: Pre-K–1
Price: Free 
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Word Wagon - by Duck Duck Moose

Charming objects and animals turn spelling into play

Bottom Line: Word Wagon is fun to use with students at various spelling skill levels.

Grades: Pre-K–1
Price: Free 
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Avokiddo ABC Ride

Inventive letter-learning activities take kids on a near-perfect ride

Bottom Line: A fun way for kids to play thoughtful games and explore letters and words. A few small changes could really beef up letter learning.

Grades: Pre-K–2
Price: Paid 
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Sight Words - An early reading & spelling adventure!

Repeatedly identify, spell sight words in fun, semi-customizable games

Bottom Line: A variety of kid-friendly activities gives students lots of exposure to and practice with commonly used sight words.

Grades: Pre-K–3
Price: Paid 
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Word Wizard for Kids

Super-structured spelling support and word-building free play, too

Bottom Line: Helps kids improve spelling through pre-made or custom lists and word building.

Grades: K–3
Price: Paid 
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Tiggly Doctor: Spell Verbs and Perform Actions Like a Real Doctor

Practice spelling while practicing medicine

Bottom Line: G-R-O-S-S spelling fun brings shock value to spelling and vocab.

Grades: K–4
Price: Paid 
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Spelling Shed

Drill-based practice caters well to teachers, less so to kids

Bottom Line: When teachers use the whole program, including the offline materials like printables, there's potential here for a comprehensive if traditional approach to spelling drills.

Grades: K–5
Price: Free to try 
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Mystery Word Town Spelling

Old West crime-fighting takes kids on a spelling adventure

Bottom Line: A challenging and really fun way for kids to practice spelling.

Grades: 1–4
Price: Paid 
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SpellBoard

Well-designed, kid-empowering spelling list creator

Bottom Line: It's a quality app but needs some oversight; it would be nice if you could track multiple students' scores at once.

Grades: 1–5
Price: Paid 
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Osmo Words

Versatile word game challenges across content areas and abilities

Bottom Line: Fun game-like way to review spelling or content vocabulary.

Grades: 1–8
Price: Free, Paid 
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Scribblenauts Remix

Vocab-building word puzzles inspire creative problem-solving

Bottom Line: Wide-open problem solving builds creativity, vocabulary, and spelling skills, but controls can be tricky.

Grades: 5–8
Price: Paid 
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