I was so excited when Hamaguchi Apps contacted me about reviewing the newest app, Listening Power for grades K-3!
Did you check out my reviews of the PRESCHOOL version? So excited to share this version for you:
All of the Hamaguchi apps follows the same format for adding groups and students. It takes some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easy. It is important to add your students so you can track their progress. Once you add a student to the group, you can hit “play.”
Here is a view of the settings:
Listening for descriptions: students are presented with an auditory description and images to select from. They must listen to the descriptions, recall them, and make a selection. I love that they can click “hear again” since it mimics them asking for repetition! There are 50 questions in each level; 150 description questions total.
Listen for meaning: Listen to a sentence that includes a key word. Answer a question about it to help associate the word and its meaning. There are 50 vocabulary words for each level; 150 vocabulary words total.
Listening for grammar: Listen to the sentences and find the one that “doesn't sound right.” When selected, hear how it SHOULD sound.There are 50 questions in each level; 150 grammar questions total.
Listening for word memory: Listen to a series of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 words. Touch them in the correct order. First level shows pictures while you hear the word–next level the screen is blank and you must remember them until the pictures are shown. There are hundreds of tasks on this activity due to the many possible combinations. There are always 9 pictures to choose from. There are 51 pictures that are in the activity.
Listening for stories: A story is read to the child and then there are 5 questions. There is a background noise button option to help practice “tuning out” distractions. There are 25 stories for each level. The Easy level is spoken slowly and includes pictures–similar to our preschool story app format. The Intermediate level includes a picture at the beginning and at the end of the story. The narrator speaks closer to a normal rate. The advanced level features non-fiction and science-fiction stories and the narrator speaks at a normal speaking rate. There are some photos to accompany biographies or other non-fiction content. The photos change throughout the story. I love that you can always pause the story which is great when checking for understanding and using compensatory strategies like note taking. I love that you can hear the story again. Once the entire story is heard, students are presented with a question based on the story. The question is presented orally but they can visually select the answer.
You can switch from one activity to the next by clicking “next activity” at the stop of the screen. After several activities, students can be rewarded with a game!
At any point, you can click “end session” to end the session DO NOT CLICK the home button, your data will not be saved! You can view the session results, print them, save as a pdf, email them, delete it, or EVEN play the missed items (LOVE THAT FEATURE!)
I love how comprehensive the data is. It shows which type of activity students struggled with so you can plan future interventions and activities. You can also just focus on that activity the next session with this app for further practice!
This is a great app if you want to work with a group of students, collect data, and also target other skills as well (grammar, describing, building vocabulary, memory, story comprehension).