What Are The Best Apps For Improved Reading Comprehension?
by TeachThought Staff
Reading comprehension is a matter of decoding, reading speed, and critical thinking about the text, all of which can improve with tiered practice. (See 50 apps for struggling readers.)
So below, in an order of general complexity, are 15 apps for improved reading comprehension, ranging from word and sentence fluency, to recall, to critical thinking skills, to reading speed.
Due to the nature of reading and literacy progress, most are indeed for K-5 and SLP, but the latter apps, especially Reading Trainer, Compare Twist, and Enchanted Dictionary, can be used through high school in the right context. Let us know on our facebook page what we missed.
See also 8 Ways To Help Students Improve Their Academic Reading
15 Of The Best Educational Apps For Improved Reading Comprehension
Price: $2.99
Primary Audience: K-3
Idea: Focusing on non-fiction texts and assessment, with the ability to create your own lessons (text + assessment).
Price: $7.99
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Like SentenceBuilder, this app focuses on sentence fluency. The who/what/where/why/when of each sentence are color-coded to emphasize word function.
3. Kids Reading Comprehension Level 1
Price: .99
Primary Audience: K-3 and SLP
Idea: Similar to the previous two comprehension apps, this provides short passages and brief assessments at their conclusion. Comprehension here is addressed through brief bursts of non-fiction text with the expectation of assessment at the end.
Price: $5.99
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Helping students compose grammatically correct sentences, which helps both reading and writing fluency.
5. StoryBuilder
Price: $7.99
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Provide an easy-to-use framework to help learners create and understand stories and basic narrative sequence.
Price: .99
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: With 6 available levels, the idea is to add gamification and interactive elements to story recall and comprehension.
7. Reading Comprehension: Fable
Price: .99
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Brief passages with multiple-choice recall at the end, but the added twist of competition, where up to 4 players can compete to answer recall and comprehension-based questions. May scare some students off, but some may thrive with this approach.
Price: $1.99
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: Comprehension is enforced through short passages with accompanying visuals, and persistent multiple-choice based assessment. Available grade levels from Kindergarten to early middle school. (The link above will take you to grades 2-3; see others in “More apps by…” area.)
9. Second Grade Reading Comprehension
Price: $2.99
Primary Audience: K-6 (all apps)
Idea: A wide variety of stories that encourage comprehension by sheer opportunity for practice. Progress can be set to automatically forward to parents and teachers, and you can also create your own stories to use as well.
10. Reading Remedies
Price: .99
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Comprehension is addressed here by breaking the process of reading down into blends, word fluency, sight words, and then general recall, with suggested activities to improve general fluency.
11. Speech with Milo: Sequencing
Price: $2.99
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Improve common narrative comprehension by improving fluency with sequencing (chronological, narrative, etc.)
Price: Free with in-app subscriptions from $2-$7 per month.
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: High-quality, animated content with assessment across content areas.
Price: $1.99
Primary Audience: Grades 6-12
Idea: Improving general and academic vocabulary across content areas for improved fluency and comprehension.
14. Compare A Twist
Price: $1.99
Primary Audience: K-12
Idea: Use compare and contrast practice to improve fluency and comprehension, and general academic progress. Teachers can create their own lessons, comparing and contrasting everything from musical genres and cell types to geometric shapes and Shakespearean sonnets.
15. Reading Trainer
Price: $4.99 with in-app purchase “packs”
Primary Audience: 6-12+
Idea: Improved reading speed for improved comprehension.