The Writing Process...There Are Many Apps for That!

The writing process involves more than prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing. There are many things to consider before even choosing an idea, primarily fine motor skills. Teachers need to ask: do all of my students have the ability to make precise coordinated movements using the muscles and joints of the wrist, hand and fingers (Cochrane, Knickle, Philps and Welsford, 2012) and do any of my students have cognitive disabilities that interfere with their productivity somewhere else in the writing process?

By the time a child is five or six, their muscles should have developed the ability to pick up, grasp , imitate movement, copy patterns and release a pencil, pen or crayon. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Fortunately for these students Occupational Therapists can help and so can writing apps.

Apps are also important pieces of assistive technology for those students with cognitive disabilities. They enable students get enable to focus on issues such as structure, organization, and clarity of writing, which would also assist them (and others) in reading their own products.

Writing apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod lead the way for creativity and productivity for those students with learning disabilities which impact the writing process.

Name of App	App Cost	Device	What it Offers	How it Helps
Dexteria	$4.99	iPad, iPhone and iPod	Therapeutic hand exercises to support and enhance fine motor skills, and writing readiness. Tracking and data collection for teachers.	Dexteria promotes dexterity, finger sequencing isolation and control. It supports the Handwriting Without Tears principles. A stylus may be used to reinforce pen tasks.
Bugs & Buttons, Pinch & Grab	$2.99	iPad, iPhone and iPod	Creative imaginative play is used to pinch tarantulas and drag them to a jar.	Students will practice thumb and index finger control, appropriate pressure and controlled drag. Emphasizes hand eye coordination, attention to task and task completion. Activities progress into more complicated task sequences.
Bugs & Buttons, Roach Racing	$2.99	iPad, iPhone and iPod	Creative imaginative play is used to control the roach to get it to the finish line.	Students use two finger access sequentially on two targets; requiring coordination in rapid tempo. Tasks increase in speed as levels progress.
Juno’s Piano - Learning Songs, Play with Parents and Free Play HD	$0.99	iPad with iOS4 or higher	An easy to use and apply way of teaching children how to play the piano.	This app teachs finger isolation and control.
Injini, Trace the Shapes	$29.99	iPad	There are nine levels of tracing that follow the developmental sequence of pre-writing skills.	Students track a ball with their finger or can use a stylus to reinforce pencil tasks and enhance writing skills.
Touch and Write	$2.99	iPad	Learn to write in a fun and engaging way using shaving cream, ketchup, lemon gelatin, pencil, chalk, etc choosing from28 paper styles.	Students touch the screen with their finger or stylus and learn letters, numbers and words. Stylus encourages engagement and handwriting skills, control grasp, letter recognition and basic writing.
ShapeBuilder	$0.99	iPad, iPhone and iPod	146 puzzles for students to complete.	Students must employ visual motor skills; touch control, attention to task, task completion and hand eye coordination. Stylus available to promote pencil grasp.
WritePad for iPad	$0.99	iPad, iPhone, and iPod	This is a handwriting recognition app which creates, and modifies documents that can be filed or emailed.	Converts writing from finger or stylus to text.
Cars2 AppMATes	Free	iPad	Go on journeys with your car, changing from day to night, etc	Students required to use a 3 finger grasp, controlled hand, wrist and finger movements to drive along a designated path. Pressure needs to be modulated for car to work effectively.
Pirate Scribbeard’s Treasure	$2.99	iPad	Engages, motivates and entertains students when their drawings come to life with verbal descriptors and comments.	Students follow verbal instructions while drawing with finger r stylus which reinforces use of pencil/pen.

All of these app would be extremely useful in the classroom as well the resource and learning centers. After watching this webinar, two of my former students from grades four and five leapt to mind. Both had poor fine motor skills which got in the way of their productivity. If I had the chance to take this technology back in time with me, I know that they would have loved Dexteria and WritePad for iPad, they would have soared in the classroom.

Many of the other apps would be excellent in the lower grades (mostly thinking primary and grade one) or the learning center for those students who are working on copying, refined movement and tripod grasping skills.

View my 3 favorites: Bugs and Buttons, Dexteria and WritePad for iPad

For even more details on the writing process and assistive technology options, check out: http://watreluctantwriters.blogspot.ca/