Reading Comprehension – Solar System

Kickstart a love of the final frontier with this galactic app, featuring 17 non-fiction eBooks about the planets, moons, asteroids, comets and telescopes of our solar system. Even budding astronauts with super-short attention spans can soak up enough interesting information in these short stories (roughly 300 to 500 words long) to tackle multiple-choice and yes-or-no questions—as well as vocabulary word matching—relating to each passage.

The text, while factual, is textbook-style and dry despite the kid-friendly space theme; however, this problem can be remedied by uploading customized stories and questions into the app. Little learners will build out critical comprehension skills and expand their vocabulary with the visual cues (mostly bolding) highlighting important terms. The format is great for visual learners, but audio learners may struggle due to the lack of a voice-over option. Smiley faces and frowns indicate correct and incorrect answers, and kids are encouraged to keep trying when they get a question wrong.

Developers haven't quite taken advantage of the interactive capabilities of modern tech devices here, making the app feel somewhat old-fashioned. The opportunity to learn is there, but you may find the real issue is motivating non-science lovers to willingly return to this app.