Grendel's Great Escape is a storybook app for both iPad and Android by children's author and creator of Blue Sandpiper Imprints, Michelle Anaya (@bluesandpiper).
Grendel's Great Escape is about a boy named Martin, who takes his pet ferret, Grendel, to school for show and tell. But when it's Martin's turn to present for show and tell, Grendel is missing! The entire school turns into a chaotic mess as Martin and his friends try to find Grendel while avoiding the wrath of the school's principal, Mr. B.
What I really like about this storybook app is that it includes a long list of ferret facts at the end of the story. The storybook app also has its own curriculum for helping students develop reading strategies, which teachers and school librarians will find handy. For those teachers and school librarians who are allowed to have animals in their classrooms and libraries, a pet ferret would be a great way to make text-to-self connections with Grendel's Great Escape.
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| Grendel's Great Escape includes two screens of ferret facts! |
Another possible way to use Grendel's Great Escape in the classroom or library is to extend the storybook and reading strategies lesson into a science unit from Discovery Education (@DiscoveryEd), which has a couple of videos on ferrets and animal habitats. Yet another way - let students use online databases and encyclopedias to create their own list of ferret facts. Activities like these help students create text-to-world connections.
The storybook integrates interactive features throughout the book, including one page in which the reader can squirt ketchup or mustard all over the screen -- something kids will surely enjoy. Readers have the option to turn the narration and music on or off. Blue Sandpiper Imprints recommends this storybook app for ages 4 and up. The Android version of Grendel's Great Escape is $2.99, and the iPad version is $3.99.
One of several reviews of Grendel's Great Escape available on YouTube.
This is a amazing app review with educational tie-ins and resources to extend the reading strategies lesson into a science unit on pets and animal habitats. It's my hope that more teachers will see the benefits and utilize apps with curriculum.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting, and I'm glad you liked the review. :)
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