Hot Springs Village, Arkansas – A little Arkansas boy with a pair of magical britches is the star of “Smarty Britches: Nouns,” a new educational app that celebrates Arkansas, created by National Board Certified Teacher Cyndie Sebourn of Hot Springs Village, AR.
Targeted to first- through third-graders, the app teaches kids about nouns, using an Arkansas-based tale that includes 24 pages of story and illustrations, interactive activities, sound sprites, and animation.
A National Board Certified teacher, Sebourn said the app “is designed for educators by an educator.”
“Smarty Britches” teaches literacy and nouns through narrative, and allows kids to leave the text to visit non-linear pages and practice specific types of nouns: person, animal, place, thing or idea,” Sebourn said.
Sebourn, founder of Sascyn Publishing, Inc., also created free curriculum for the app, called “Smarty Activities,” for educators and parents that can be found on the author’s website. The curriculum is aligned to Common Core State Standards, uses upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, incorporates reading strategies, and is cross curricular with science, geography, art, and music. Lessons include Picasso’s “The Old Guitarist,” Handel’s “Messiah,” as well as topics about southern states.
“The app works for parents, homeschoolers, and teachers,” Sebourn said. “A child can use the app without an adult and learn nouns, or the adults can download the free curriculum and expand the child’s learning.”
The app tells the story of a southern boy who owns a magical pair of “britches” that teach him literacy by helping him learn about the nouns in his life. Teaching cultural literacy about the South and the state of Arkansas, some of its features include The Arkansas River and Hog Heaven – a make-believe place noun where Hog fans go when their team wins.
Sebourn is founder of Sascyn Publishing, Inc. and author of “Smarty Britches: Nouns.” She has worked as an English teacher, most recently at Jessieville High School. Sebourn retired from education in 2011 to develop educational apps with Common Core State Standards aligned curriculum.
Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 4.0 or later
* 47.5 MB
Pricing and Availability:
Smarty Britches: Nouns 1.0 is $3.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Education category. The app will be available on other tablets soon.
Sascyn Publishing
Smarty Britches: Nouns 1.0
Curriculum
About the Author
Purchase and Download
YouTube Video (Trailer)
Sascyn Publishing, Inc. develops children’s apps for education, and it creates custom-designed curriculum for other app developers that meets the needs of educators. Copyright (C) 2012 Sascyn Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
About the Author
