Writing Wizard
Springfield Ed Tech Leaders report that kids love Writing Wizard. It’s an easy thing to do as an early-finish task or a way to divide up a group. Students don’t often need teacher-help, so it’s pretty independent activity. SPS word lists are available for quick download and are helpful when needing to differentiate between students.
Overview
"Writing Wizard can grow with students, starting with the fine motor skill development of forming shapes and advancing to writing numbers and letters and reviewing the phonetic sounds of those letters. The correct formation of each letter is stressed, impressively representing the most renowned handwriting styles. Once students have mastered shapes, numbers, and letters, teachers can create custom word lists for students to practice, giving kids the chance to practice writing their names, sight words, and more." — Common Sense Media Review.
All K-1 students can use Writing Wizard on their iPad once it has been installed.
Teachers: If you choose to use Writing Wizard, please review the information on this page prior to having your students install the app.
What is Writing Wizard?
Writing Wizard is designed to help every child learn how to trace letters, numbers, and words through a fun system carefully designed to maintain motivation.
• Show and enforce how to trace letters correctly
• 13 Fonts available
• Fun tracing using 50+ animated stickers, sound effects and interactive games that animate letters at the end of tracing
• Letter names and phonics
• Uppercase & lowercase letters, numbers and words
• Add your own words and create word lists
Implementation & Customization
Writing Wizard allows for you to customize the settings (letter size, difficulty,…) based on each student's needs and allows you to check on student progress.
Because this app is designed mainly for home use, there is not a "teacher dashboard." Give some thought as to how you want to implement Writing Wizard in your class before rolling it out to your students. For example:
How will you engage with families?
Will you share the video below with families?
How will you use word lists?
How might families review student progress or work with their child while using Writing Wizard?
Click here to learn about the settings that are available.
Video Tutorials
Please watch the videos below for a basic understanding of how to use Writing Wizard.
Family Demo
This video was made by a parent. This will give you the best overview of the program. It may also be helpful for your families.
If you do share it, please watch it first and remind families that printing is not supported by the Family Tech Support team.
Basic Demo
Journeys High Frequency Word Lists
Request Training
If your K-1 team would like training on how to use Writing Wizard, click here to add your name to the list and someone will reach out to you in early 2022.
Installation
Open the Self Service app.
Locate and click on the Writing Wizard app to install it.
Unable to install the app from Self Service? Put in a Web Help Desk ticket.