4.5
Where to Buy

3rd Grade Reading App Review

App Info

Price: $2.99

Overview

3rd Grade Reading Comprehension, from Peekaboo Studios, offers nine reading comprehension passages with ten or more questions keyed to each. Questions range from rote comprehension to inference, vocabulary, summarizing and sequencing tasks. The app is simple and straightforward. It will provide reading comprehension practice as advertised.

This application may not be the best choice for third grade readers due to the high reading levels. It does a good job of providing comprehension activities, and could be useful for more able students.

Features include:

  • Nine reading passages
  • Questions for each passage
  • Passages are visible while responding to questions.
  • Highlighted answers in text after answer selection
  • Emailed score reports upon completion of exercises
  • Task completion animated “scoreboard”

QUALITY REVIEW TEXT

This application provides users with exactly what it promises. Users will be offered reading passages and comprehension questions. The passages are a mix of fiction and nonfiction and are engaging to read.

3rd Grade Reading Comprehension boasts passages of over 300 words in length with 12 or more questions per passage. The questions cover a wide array of comprehension skills, including summarizing, sequencing, vocabulary, and inference. The application is simple to use and contains few distractions.

There are several problems with the software, however. Of three passages checked for readability, the Spache scores were 5th grade, 6th grade and 10th grade. These are far too difficult for many students in the targeted third grade level. The application recalls student scores from session to session, but there is no way to reset the scores without deleting the application and reinstalling it. When a child completes the program, they are allowed to repeat the stories and get new scores on the exercises, but it would be nice to be able to reset to zero with less fuss.

The application could be improved with the addition of a built-in record keeping system that showed the types of questions missed as well as the overall score. It would be good to maintain records for multiple users for family or classroom situations.

The passages in this application are entertaining and informative. They will appeal to a range of age groups and genders. The questions are challenging, but they are also school-like, which decreases the play value for many children. The reward for correct responses is simply a “correct” notice on the screen.

3rd Grade Reading Comprehension costs $2.99 and will provide novel play for approximately one and a half to two hours. While it’s possible for the same user to redo the stories, there is little incentive to do so, unless the user is highly self-competitive and wants to improve scores. The main value would be in use with different children or students in a family or a group setting.

3rd Grade Reading Comprehension is easy to use. The home screen contains just four buttons. “Start Here” launches the program itself, opening a screen with a numbered path. Pushing the start button on the path opens a screen of instructions. The passages are not accessible until this screen has been accessed. The directions are clear, but the reading level is higher than grade 3, though the directions are designed to be read by the child.

The home screen also contains easily-accessible buttons where a child could access the App Store and an email composition window. These may make it important to supervise children’s use. The More Apps button opens a screen where other applications from the company are listed. Selecting one of those icons opens the App Store. The home screen button labeled Credits opens an informational page about the author with a link to the sales page for a book on Amazon.com. The Feedback button opens a blank email addressed to the company.

3rd Grade Reading Comprehension
4.5
Where to Buy