How to use Word Builder™
We suggest you have your copy of Word Builder with you while you read this guide so you can try the various features for yourself before using the app with students. If you don't have Word Builder yet, you can purchase from the app store HERE. If you are not sure where to begin, please try our
Otherwise, click a link below to get started!
Learn about the purpose of Word Builder and the skills it helps you to teach.
See a summary of the all of the buttons and elements that make up the Word Builder app.
Learn how to change the English accent used in Word Builder.
BUILD WORDS BY TAPPING ON LETTER-SOUND TILES
Learn how to build words using letter-sound tiles so students can see and hear the speech sounds in words they are learning.
SWAP AND REMOVE LETTER-SOUND TILES
Learn how to swap tiles within a word you have built.
DELETE LETTER-SOUND TILES OR WHOLE WORDS
Learn how to delete letter-sound tiles or words you have made in the word display area.
BUILD A WORD WITH A 'SILENT E'
Learn how to add a 'silent e' to a word and change a short vowel into a long one.
ADJUST LETTER-SOUND CLUES (MNEMONICS)
See how you can change the memory cues to help students remember letter-sound relationships.
ADJUST THE DIFFICULTY OF LETTER-SOUND PATTERNS
See how you can change letter-sound pattern difficulty to make harder words.
SHARE YOUR WORD WITH OTHERS, SAVE THEM, MAKE A LIST AND MORE!
Learn how to create lists of words you have built with Word Builder. You can also save them as images or share them with others via Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
See how you can load preset tile sets that correspond to popular synthetic phonics programs or your own letter-sound tile sets that you have created.
Learn how to create and save your own letter-sound tile sets.
REDUCE THE NUMBER OF TILES IN WORDS
See how you can change the maximum number of tiles allowed in words students are building.
See how you can check the spelling of a word you have made.
HIGHLIGHT PARTS OF WORDS FOR A STUDENT
Learn how you can highlight certain letter combinations in a word that a student has made.
MUTE THE MOUTH THAT SAYS THE SPEECH SOUNDS
Learn how you can turn off the animated mouth so that students have to say the speech sounds by themselves.
CHANGE THE SPEECH SOUND FOR A TILE
Learn how to change the speech sound for a tile while keeping the letters as they are, helping you to build 'sight words' which contain unusual letter-sound relationships, such as "was" and "said".
CHANGE THE LETTER PATTERN FOR A TILE
Learn how to change the letter pattern for a tile while keeping the speech sound as it is, so you can build 'sight words' that contain unusual letter-sound relationships, such as "was" and "said".
Learn how to put down blank tiles when tapping sounds, insert a blank tile in a word or replace letter-sound tile with a blank tile.
Learn how to add apostrophes to words such as didn't, hadn't and it's.
Learn how to change a vowel speech sound into a neutral 'schwa' vowel.
Learn how to mute a speech sound in a word you have built so that you can build words with silent letters, such as 'castle' and 'numb'.
Learn how to use syllable markers to divide multisyllabic words up into syllables.
ADJUST W/Y AND WH/QU PRONUNCIATION
Choose between 'traditional' and 'recommended' pronunciations of these letter-sound tiles.
Learn how to restore the preset letter-sound tile sets to the default sets included when the app was first installed.