Junganew: A Herd of Sounds "S" 1.1.6

Platinum Award - Best Mobile App Awards, 2015

Member of - Moms with Apps

Rated 5 Stars - Teachers with Apps

This educational application invites young learners to engage with the sounds of the English language through an innovative, sound-centric approach. The narrative centers on Miss Snake’s favorite sound, “Sss,” encouraging children to listen, imitate, and explore in an interactive environment featuring Theo the Tree Frog and his friends in the vibrant land of Junganew.

Junganew distinguishes itself as the first educational series where auditory elements serve as the primary focus. Designed as a collection of apps for children aged four and above, it fosters a comprehensive auditory and language development experience. The program emphasizes strategies such as phonemic and phonological awareness, vocabulary expansion, pre-academic skills, and social communication competencies.

Key features include hand-painted watercolor artwork, engaging animations, original music compositions, five interactive mirror models, and eight distinct games designed to reinforce learning objectives.

Educational Objectives

• Sound acquisition and recognition
• Phonemic and phonological awareness
• Language development and vocabulary growth
• Pre-academic and academic skills development
• Listening and auditory discrimination skills
• Turn-taking and pragmatic communication skills
• Comparative learning techniques

Focus on "S" Sound Games

Miss Snake’s activities are themed around practicing the “S” sound in various contexts:

Isolated "S" Sound Activities

• Mirror Model: Participants replicate Miss Snake’s “S” sound through recording and viewing their own imitation.
• Seashells by the Seashore: Children help Theo listen for seashell sounds by tapping each shell and sorting them into bins based on auditory identification.

Beginning "S" Sound Games

• Hide and Seek: Using auditory clues, children assist Sal A. Mander in locating Theo by selecting the correct response based on initial sound cues.
• Mirror Model: Kids mimic Sal A. Mander as he articulates the "S" sound at the beginning of words.

Mid-Word "S" Sound Activities

• Dress Up: Children select accessories to complete Rissy Rose’s costume, reinforcing middle-position sounds through matching activities.
• Mirror Model: Imitate Rissy Rose while she enunciates the "S" sound in the middle of words.
• Two-Hand Tracing: Trace images representing the "S" sound in the middle of words using both hands, enhancing motor coordination and phoneme awareness.

End-Word "S" Sound Games

• Balloon Pops: Children identify rhyming words ending with the "S" sound by popping corresponding balloons replaced with words.
• Mirror Model: Mimic Ferris the Monkey as he enunciates the "S" sound at word endings.
• Guess the Goose: Tap on ducks matching descriptive clues provided by Mother’s Gosling to develop phonological awareness.

S-Sound Voicing Activities

The app encourages children to practice buzzing the “S” sound while dancing with Theo to lively tunes performed by The Vocal Chords. Participants imitate Miss Snake and Bea Z. Bee as they slither and buzz their sounds, promoting oral-motor skills and prosody.

S-Blend Word Games

The activities include blending Miss Snake’s “S” sound with other consonants to form new words in playful scenarios such as cooking or baking:

• Blender Cookies: Combine “S” with other sounds to create cookies; children tap ingredients into a virtual blender to hear blended sounds, then feed virtual cookies to Theo.
• Blender Cupcakes: Add toppings with plurals; children identify toppings, drag them onto cupcakes, reinforcing vocabulary and plural forms through sound blending exercises.