Sunny Articulation Phonology Test {Guest App Review}

This post has been long overdue. For those of you who don't follow me on my Facebook page, I have recently relocated from New York to Pennsylvania with my new hubby. Actually, tomorrow will be my first day of work with the 3-5 population! After working with middle schoolers for the past 2 years, I welcome the change that preschoolers offer! Needless to say, my posts will be reflective of the new age group that I will be working with. I hope you all stay tuned as I write about my new adventure!

I'm excited to introduce you to a fantastic SLP that I was fortunate enough to work with during my time at my middle school. Jeanette will be reviewing the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test app. Take it away Jeanette! 

I am very excited to bring you all my very first product review from Smarty Ears! As a pseudo-techy Speech-Language Pathologist, I can appreciate the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test (SAPT) and its uses with the iPad ($49.99). At first glance it appeared to be just another artic app, but as I continued to use it I found that it had a plethora of features.  

First, the app features a video tutorial. It is a quick and easy to understand resource to get you started. Manual information for the SAPT can be found within the app. Like many other apps out there, the SAPT allows you to enter each individual student’s demographic information.  This app separates itself from the competition in that it lends itself to both articulation screenings and a full evaluation of the student’s articulatory repertoire.

Next, is a must-see feature, which includes the ability to change orientation depending upon where the clinician is seated in relation to the student’s seating placement. This allows you to document the student’s articulation while testing is going on.

The screening version contains 30 words and evaluates 65 different phoneme targets including both consonants and consonant blends. Whereas, the full evaluation consists of 46 words with 103 targeted phonemes!

During testing the clinician can readily view the target phoneme as it is written in green. Once the clinician indicates the student’s error, the target phoneme turns red. You also have the option of utilizing the single recording feature to record the student’s production of the picture stimulus. Clinicians are also able to take notes, note the level of intelligibility, and indicate the type of error observed (i.e. distortion, substitution, omission).

As an often-frazzled school-based SLP, I can appreciate the detail that goes into the test report. The report includes:

·      sound development norms

·      detailed descriptions of the student’s articulation errors

·      break down of accuracy across the initial, medial, and final position of the word

·      a review of the types of errors the student made

·      discussion of place, manner, and voicing of target phonemes

·      transcription of the student’s articulation errors

Once the clinician has completed the administration of the screening or test, the scores and reports are immediately available to print or email.

I absolutely LOVE the Sunny Articulation Phonology Test! This app is a valuable resource as it allows for you to screen, evaluate, and track progress over time. I found it very easy to use and extremely detailed in the report it generates. As a school-based SLP I can already see the advantage of using such a test for Response to Intervention (RTI) and elementary level speech screening purposes. The one caveat that I found while reviewing this product is that this is not a standardized assessment tool and therefore cannot be used to meet eligibility criteria. Other than that, this is a product that I would recommend to any speech-language pathologist, especially the techy ones!

I hope you all have enjoyed my very first product review almost as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Thank you,

Jeanette L. Clarke, M.A., CCC-SLP/TSSLD

Targeting Vocabulary with Bluster! {Review}

I think you all know by now that I love free anything, especially free apps! Bluster! is a fun way to target vocabulary in the form of prefixes, suffixes, adjectives, rhyming words, and more. Students can choose to play as a single player, against an opponent, or as a team. Users can also select level of difficulty, ranging in grades 2, 3, and 4. Yes, I know these are not middle school grades, but unfortunately my students do not possess many of the skills that their younger counterparts have. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat.

Users can select player type and level of difficulty.  

A brief description on how to play.

When in single player mode, users are timed as they sort words into three boxes based on the selected mode (prefixes, adjectives, etc). Words disappear from the wordlist as the correct answers are selected. To keep track of time the sun moves from the left hand of the screen to the right. The player is alerted at the halfway mark when the sun reaches midpoint.

Students have roughly 2 minutes to sort words when in single player mode.
The sun moves across the screen to keep time. 

In the versus mode, two students can play against each other. Each player is required to find the appropriate words from a word-list provided. They are required to drag the words into one of three boxes. Students can only move onto sorting the next set of words if they are correct in their response. Players are able to slow down their opponent in the form of a disruptor (i.e. tornado, blizzard, etc). For a few seconds the player who falls victim to the disruptor is unable to move forward in the game.

Versus mode allows two players to play against each other.

When playing in team mode, students can collaborate to sort the vocabulary without competition or the threat of being hit with a natural disaster.

Players are untimed when playing in team mode.

Bluster! offers positive reinforcement for correct answers in the form of a phrase that is presented onto the screen.

Players are provided with praise for correct responses.

As with most apps (if not all), I would use Bluster! as a review for my students. I’m sure they would find the sound effects and animation engaging. Bluster! is pretty straightforward and simple to get the hang of. Skills related to morphology (roots, prefixes, etc.), phonological awareness (rhyming), semantic skills (synonyms, antonyms, etc.) and pragmatics (i.e. collaboration) are all able to be targeted with this application that contains over 800 vocabulary words. This will definitely be a frequently used reinforcement tool in my arsenal of apps!

App Compatibility
This app appears to only be available on the iPad.