TOP PICKS | 24 TOOLS
Great Vocabulary Games, Apps, and Sites
Top Picks
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Beck and Bo
Drag-and-drop adventure great for learning new words in context
Bottom line: Your wee one will enjoy animating Beck and Bo's world while developing creativity and logic.
Endless Wordplay: School Edition
Rhymes, phonetic approach, silly animations help kids construct words
Bottom line: Good, holistic approach to the nitty gritty of constructing words.
Montessorium: Intro to Words
Well-crafted app lets emerging readers and writers develop reading skills through word building
Bottom line: Basic reading skills are developed through word building, word play, and letter-sound recognition.
Flocabulary
Delightful hip-hop-based platform teaches vocab across content areas
Bottom line: Flocabulary has the goods: It's savvy enough to keep kids focused, and teachers will love the engaging, multi-modal platform.
ReadWorks
Differentiate reading instruction with high-quality texts and lessons
Bottom line: The quality and scope of texts, lesson plans, assessments, and supports on this platform can help facilitate targeted reading instruction in any classroom.
VocabularySpellingCity
Subscription-based, student-facing app fine for independent practice
Bottom line: A potentially more engaging -- although uneven -- option for your students, if you've got a Premium membership.
Osmo Words
Versatile word game challenges across content areas and abilities
Bottom line: Fun game-like way to review spelling or content vocabulary.
Spaceteam ESL
Chaotic game offers silly yet novel way to practice English vocab
Bottom line: An irresistibly fun way for ELLs to practice high-frequency English vocabulary, but as an app it's a bit rough around the edges.
Word Runners - Touch Press Games
Clever combo of vocab and puzzle solving is a tad limited
Bottom line: Stories cleverly integrate reading comprehension and problem-solving skills within the engaging context of an adventure-themed puzzle.
MasterSwords
Scrabble meets Choose Your Own Adventure in a dueling of (s)words
Bottom line: While it could use more gameplay variety, students will enjoy this game's Adventure Time-inspired take on vocabulary and spelling.
World's Worst Pet - Vocabulary
Hip games help kids learn words they'll actually use
Bottom line: Learn the meaning of vocabulary words through fun games, and put it to good use as part of everyday conversation.
Membean
Deep, data-driven vocabulary tool challenges learners
Bottom line: Membean has the potential to push students and grow their vocabulary while providing teachers with data they'll love.
W.E.L.D.E.R. Swap
Mashup of Boggle and Candy Crush gets kids forming new words
Bottom line: Students, especially word geeks, will dig this strategic game, but it's unclear how much it'll impact learning.
Ink Blott Underground
Strategic vocab game gets students digging into roots and affixes
Bottom line: This is a win for building vocabulary and word attack skills, but teachers need to provide context and additional instruction to make learning last.
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.
Puzzlejuice
Tetris + Boggle + wordsplosions = ultimate language fun
Bottom line: Puzzlejuice offers kids a fun challenge that incorporates logic and language.
Wordcraft
Level up with gamified vocabulary study for middle and high school
Bottom line: While it's got room to grow, this is a tool worth considering for practicing vocabulary based on Greek and Latin roots.
Wordflex Touch Dictionary
Amazing interactive visual dictionary makes exploring words exciting
Bottom line: Dynamic, highly visual presentation makes learning new words exciting.
Wordscapes
Beautiful, challenging vocab app is quite fun but riddled with ads
Bottom line: There's no doubt it's fun and features some nice vocab and spelling practice, but spring for the paid version and make sure students play thoughtfully.
Duolingo
Ever-growing, free courses cement learning in six languages
Bottom line: Sparkling, holistic learning for five traditional European languages plus English.
Vocabulary.com
Smart, stylish site helps students commit new words to memory
Bottom line: It's a great, goal-oriented learning resource with the potential to turn vocab lessons into a fun challenge.
SAT Vocab by MindSnacks
Variety is key in charmingly effective SAT vocab app
Bottom line: Upgrading to the full version gets you great games and a thorough word list for SAT vocab prep.
Visual Thesaurus
Watch words branch out into intriguing, layered language maps
Bottom line: With such a great visual take on the depth of language, more ways to personalize the experience would make it even better.
Vocabador
Kids wrestle challenging words in fun, fighting-themed SAT-prep game
Bottom line: Tournament-style play motivates kids to stick with vocab practice.