Using Letters alive – Augmented Reality In The Classroom

We all know how much technology can engage and excited our students.  I mean do you all know how much people love Pokemon Go?!  Did you know that Pokemon Go is an augmented reality technology?  Imagine if you could bring that augmented reality technology into your classroom with a research based technology tool?  Well, you can!

Augmented Reality With Alive Studios

Four years ago I was introduced to an amazing company called Alive Studios.  This amazing company created an augmented reality tool called Letters Alive and Math Alive to help students build their reading and math skills.  After seeing the technology at a conference I had to have it.

So basically augmented reality is 3D without the glasses.  Letters Alive brings letters and sounds to live in amazing 3D using animals.  For each letter an animal comes to life and you learn uppercase and lowercase letters, sounds, letter formation and you can use the animal to build interactive sentences!

Letters Alive In The Classroom

Four years  ago I was fortunate enough to bring Letters Alive into my classroom.  I knew my students would love the technology because it blew my mind…so I could only imagine a 5 year old reaction to the software.  But the response from my kids was even more than I dreamed of!

We started using Letters Alive in conjunction with our research based ABC BOOTCAMP curriculum and the results were astounding.  We compared the data from ABC BOOTCAMP without Letters Alive and the data after using Letters Alive and we found a 48% increase in letter recognition and a 112% increase in sound fluency.   Below you can see the data over 4 years from my classroom.  BAM!  Alive Studios also has independent research results showing the effectiveness of the software and the software is research based and backed by teachers, literacy experts and more!  And it’s Mr. Greg approved!!

See Entire Case Study

After seeing the amazing results of ABC BOOTCAMP and Letters Alive, we have partnered with Alive Studios to combine the best tools into a new products:  Letters Alive Zoo Keeper Edition!  This combines Letters Alive with ABC BOOTCAMP!  You get ABC BOOTCAMP in an exclusive Zoo Keeper theme that’s only available when purchasing Letters Alive Zoo Keeper Edition!

How Do You Use Augmented Reality In The Classroom?

 We use Letters Alive Zookeeper Edition in a whole group setting to practice our letters and sounds and learn to build and read sentences, but we also use it during our center/workstation/hippopotamus time.  Yes, I let my students use the technology on their own.  After all, it is THEIR technology!  In these videos you see the students using CVC word picture cards (from my What Does The Fox Say CVC word creation) and building the words using Letters Alive Plus!   As they place the cards the software says the sound, then the students push the letters together and the software BUILDS the word on the screen (in 3D) and reads them the word!  So they’re practicing blending CVC words.  And then they write the words.  They can also do word families and blends and digraphs.

Learn More About Letters Alive Zookeeper Edition Here

But wait, there’s more augmented reality awesomeness!

Rugs Alive

Yes.  It’s true.  Alive Studios has classroom rugs or carpets that also use augemnted reality technology.  We have two of these in our classroom and I will say:  they are beautiful and high quality rugs.

Check out this video to see Rugs Alive in action!

Learn More About Rugs Alive Here

Journals Alive

Alive Studios now has My Letters Alive Journals and My Math Alive Journals.  These journals allow students to work indpednetly on letters, sounds and math skills while using augmented reality.

Storybooks Alive

Now you bring storybooks to life with Storybooks Alive from Alive Studios!  The first book in the set is Amos Alligator Goes To The Airport.  Last year, my class had the honor of being the VERY FIRST people to see the books and use the FREE app to bring the stories alive in 3D.    Yep.  You purchase a book or set of books and the app is free!  That’s a very cost effective way to bring augmented reality into your classroom!  My kids love the Amos book!   It gets read daily using the iPad app from Alive Studios!

So that’s how we use Letters Alive and augmented reality in our classroom to increase achievement and engagement while working on literacy and math skills!   After using this program for 4 years I can vouch for the effectiveness of these tools and I can vouch for the fun and engagement it brings!  This is a Mr. Greg approved classroom MUST HAVE!!!!!

Learn More About Storybooks Alive Here

For more detials on each of these tools and to purchase any of them, visit Alive Studios!