Doodle Buddy is a great art app for the younger grades, especially. This app is simple to learn and use, and creates a space in which the user is able to be creative. Also, with the assistance of a teacher, this app can be an incredible way to work with young students and students with disabilities to practice the small psycho motor movements of writing letters and numbers.
Doodle Buddy starts you out with a blank slate. At the bottom of the page is a menu of options, including brush color, size, texture, etc. You may also type text into a textbox, use an eraser, add stickers, a background, and even trace patterns. With these simple features, students could be occupied for hours! However, to take the app a step further into an opportunity to learn, an instructor can draw a line down the middle of the blank page. On one side, the instructor writes a number, letter, a simple picture, etc. On the other side, the student is expected to copy the brush strokes of the instructor in order to create an identical image. As seen on one of the Youtube tutorials, this exercise can be especially helpful for students with learning disabilities. These students may struggle with the small muscle control of forming written characters. By watching an instructor form the letter in front of them, and then having that letter as an example, the student would feel more confident in trying for themselves.
As a teacher, I hope to be teaching the younger elementary grades, preferably kindergarten-second grade. Especially in kindergarten it is essential that students are constantly practicing proper letter formation. I could use this app much in the same way the tutorial did, by allowing a student to mimic my brush strokes to form a number or letter. However, this app can also be used to nurture student freedom of creativity.
Nice work
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