We all know how much technology can engage and excited our students. I mean do you all know how much people love Pokemon Go?! Did you know that Pokemon Go is an augmented reality technology? Imagine if you could bring that augmented reality technology into your classroom with a research based technology tool? Well, you can!
Two years ago I was introduced to an amazing company called Alive Studios. This amazing company created augmented reality called Letters Alive and Math Alive to help students build their reading and math skills. After seeing the technology at a conference I had to have it. So basically augmented reality is 3D without the glasses. Letters Alive brings letters and sounds to live in amazing 3D using animals. For each letter an animal comes to life and you learn uppercase and lowercase letters, sounds, letter formation and you can use the animal to build interactive sentences!
Last year I was fortunate enough to bring Letters Alive into my classroom. I knew my students would love the technology because it blew my mind…so I could only imagine a 5 year old reaction to the software. But the response from my kids was even more than I dreamed of!
We started using Letters Alive in conjunction with our research based ABC BOOTCAMP curriculum and the results were astounding. We compared the data from ABC BOOTCAMP without Letters Alive and the data after using Letters Alive and we found a 48% increase in letter recognition and a 112% increase in sound fluency. BAM! Alive Studios also has independent research results showing the effectiveness of the software and the software is research based and backed by teachers, literacy experts and more! And it’s Mr. Greg approved!!
So we use Letters Alive whole group to learn our letters and sounds and learn to build and read sentences, but we also use it during our center/workstation/hippopotamus time. Yes, I let my students use the technology on their own. After all, it is THEIR technology! In these videos you see the students using CVC word picture cards (from my What Does The Fox Say CVC word creation) and building the words using Letters Alive Plus! As they place the cards the software says the sound, then the students push the letters together and the software BUILDS the word on the screen (in 3D) and reads them the word! So they’re practicing blending CVC words. And then they write the words. They can also do word families and blends and digraphs.
But wait, there’s more augmented reality awesomeness!
Storybooks Alive
Now you bring storybooks to life with Storybooks Alive from Alive Studios! The first book in the set is Amos Alligator Goes To The Airport. Last year, my class had the honor of being the VERY FIRST people to see the books and use the FREE app to bring the stories alive in 3D. Yep. You purchase a book or set of books and the app is free! That’s a very cost effective way to bring augmented reality into your classroom! My kids love the Amos book! It gets read daily using the iPad app from Alive Studios!
So that’s how we use Letters Alive PLUS and Storybooks Alive in our classroom to increase achievement and engagement while working on literacy skills! After using this program for 3 years I can vouch for the effectiveness of the software and I can vouch for the fun and engagement it brings! This is a Mr. Greg approved classroom MUST HAVE!!!!!
Next make sure you check out this video from Alive Studios demonstrating Letters Alive PLUS!
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