Name of reviewer (your name): Stephanie McElvain

Name of the Website: ABCYa.com

Educational Activity Selected: 1st Grade -> Letters -> Alphabetize It!
Web Address to the Activity: http://www.abcya.com/alphabetize.htm
Publisher: ABCYa.com, L.L.C., a division of IXL Learning
Grade Level: 1st Grade

Brief Description of the Activity or Program:

The Alphabetize It! activity has the student enter as many words as they would like into a text box and
then click the play button. Once the program sorts and chooses only 20 of the words, the student is then
told by a friendly, child-like voice, to sort the words into alphabetical order. Once the words are sorted
the program then “grades” your sorting and tells you if it was done correctly. If there are any incorrect
answers the program has a red dot next to it and a voice says to try again. If the order is correct there is
then an announcement that the student did “Super!” and gives the option to either play again or start a
new list.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the program?

I believe that a strength for this activity is that it does help a student to learn by trial and error. With
that being said, I think that there are more weaknesses to this activity. Here are a few examples:

 The activity does not thoroughly explain how alphabetical sorting is done.
 There is no explanation on why your answers are incorrect.
 Many first graders may have difficulty in thinking of enough words to input into the text box in
the beginning, it might be helpful to be given a list to work on.

How long did it take you to become familiar with the program?

I became familiar with the program quite quickly, it is well put together and easy to use.

How long might it take students? Why?

My own children use this site, they learned how to navigate it quickly as well. I think just 20 minutes on
the website gives you a solid understanding of how to use it.

What is the program’s educational value? Explain

I believe that with the right guidance that this program could be of great educational value. There are
several games that the educational value is questionable, but those can easily be avoided with the right
supervision and guidelines from a teacher.

Is the documentation for the software program, such as technical support and instructions on how to
use the software presented clearly on the website? Explain

Technical help is easy enough to find, it is at the bottom of any page. The help link is a button that says,
“I need help!”. Once that is clicked on, it leads to a page where there is a drop-down box labeled “My
question is about…” and then the user can select different categories such as: Technical Help, General,
Advertisement, or Android App.

How does the graphic, sound, & animation contribute to its educational value? Explain

The graphics are very much geared towards elementary aged children, it makes it fun and exciting for
the student to learn. The sounds and animations are intriguing and encouraging no matter if the student
struggled in the activity or greatly succeeded.

Will students enjoy using this program? Explain why or why not.

My children certainly enjoy using this program at home! They find it to not only entertain them, but to
also engage them in learning in a fun and exciting way. I feel that this feeling would be mutual for most
students their grade levels. (1st and 2nd grades)

Does the software program give appropriate feedback to responses? Explain

I did feel that this program was lacking in this area. When I entered answers incorrectly, I was only told
to “try again”, there was no explanation behind the answers being incorrect.

Is the program user friendly? Explain

I felt that this program was very user friendly, my only complaint is as stated before, there should be an
explanation to incorrect responses.

Can the skill levels be adjusted by the user/instructor? Explain

Yes, the skill level can be adjusted by the user or instructor. When at the home page for ABCYa.com,
there are grade levels to choose from, from Pre-K to Grade 5. Users or instructors can move through the
grade levels as the see fit.