New i-Ready® iPad® App Builds Vocabulary to Boost Reading Comprehension

New addition to the award-winning i-Ready blended learning program builds Tier Two vocabulary through an engaging, game-based learning environment

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., Nov. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Curriculum Associates announces a new addition to i-Ready Diagnostic & Instruction product line, winner of the 2013 CODiE Award for Best Student Assessment Solution, with the release of the first app in a new series of educational games for the iPad. These apps will target the skills that are most essential for achievement in Reading and Mathematics and then harness the power of game design to motivate students to develop them.

World's Worst Pet is the first educational game in this series. Designed for grades 4–8, the game provides targeted skill development specifically focused on Tier Two vocabulary, a key area of emphasis in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The game also helps educators ensure long-term achievement gains and increased student performance and growth outcomes when used in conjunction with i-Ready.

"With the release of World's Worst Pet, i-Ready gives teachers an additional way to deliver targeted skill development to students and to engage them in a truly blended learning environment that utilizes online, print and mobile tools," said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. "With the addition of this app—and a computational fluency app currently in development for release later this fall—i-Ready offers the most comprehensive solution available to help teachers increase both student performance and growth outcomes and ensure long-term achievement gains."

World's Worst Pet complements i-Ready's online and teacher-led instruction, addressing key shifts in instruction related to the CCSS in areas shown to hold students back. The app focuses on developing understanding of Tier Two vocabulary words, which is a key part of developing students' ability to read and understand complex text. Tier Two words appear across a wide range of texts, including literature and informational texts. They include academic vocabulary, as well as domain-specific vocabulary such as science and social studies words. 

More About World's Worst Pet
World's Worst Pet, available now through the App Store, provides students with robust practice and multiple exposures to words in a variety of contexts. In the game, students must use their academic vocabulary skills to help keep Snargg, the troublesome pet of the BakeStars—the onscreen characters from i-Ready's online lessons—out of danger, but Snargg keeps escaping and getting stuck again in other strange places.

The app incorporates engaging and pedagogically sound games and requires minimal direction and intervention from teachers or parents.  Multiple replay opportunities within a low-risk environment provide teachers with the flexibility to use the program as part of small-group instruction, classroom activity centers or for practice at home.

The app can be downloaded at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worlds-worst-pet-vocabulary/id730540095?ls=1&mt=8 or by searching for "World's Worst Pet".

More About i-Ready Diagnostic & Instruction
Built for the Common Core, i-Ready Diagnostic & Instruction helps students make real gains. It combines a valid and reliable measure and personalized instruction into a single online product that saves teachers time at a fraction of the cost of similar products.

The adaptive Diagnostic pinpoints student needs down to the sub-skill level and generates a combination of online instruction and downloadable teacher-led lessons that are unique to each student's diagnostic result. These individualized learning plans are easy to understand and implement. 

i-Ready was named the winner in the Best Student Assessment Solution category of the 2013 Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Awards. The SIIA CODiE Awards are the premier award for the software and information industries and have been recognizing product excellence for 27 years.

For more information, please visit www.i-Ready.com/empower, and visit Curriculum Associates' YouTube channel to watch video testimonials from teachers and administrators using i-Ready: http://youtu.be/98IU2V9XGDM.

About Curriculum Associates
Founded in 1969, privately owned Curriculum Associates, LLC, designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company's products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students. For company and product information, visit Curriculum Associates on the Web at http://www.CurriculumAssociates.com or call 800-225-0248.

SOURCE Curriculum Associates