This FREE iPad app is available on iTunes.

Lorrie Ann Harrington originally created this 4th of July story to teach her son, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, new vocabulary, language-based concepts, and social communication skills.

She found that incorporating his interests, including photographs of him in the stories, helps him to stay engaged and relate to the teaching topic more easily.

This interactive story focuses on building language and early literacy skills around the location words “next to”, “in front of”, “on”, “behind”, “inside”, and “above”.

With simple sentences and a repetitive theme (“Do you see Lucy’s ladybug friend…?”), it can be used to help teach children to recognize and use location words. Encourage active participation and commenting during the story and game by asking the learner “WH” questions such as “Where?”, “Who?”, and “What?” (“Where is Lucy’s ladybug friend?”, “Who has a firework?”, “What is Lucy doing?”, etc.).

 

Interactive

– “Read it to me” by touching the sentences.
– Find the ladybugs to make them giggle.
– Ladybugs change locations to provide a variety of learning opportunities and fun.
– Tap the “sparkling” fireworks for a special surprise!

Game Included

– Help Lucy find her 9 ladybug friends so they can go to the 4th of July party together.
– Pop the balloons to make it easier to find the ladybugs.

Personalize

Using the iPads camera or photo album, the story can be personalized to help your learner stay engaged and relate to the teaching topic more easily.