This free app enables students to create, share and categorize their own virtual trading cards to make writing or memorizing far more engaging. Students can make cards in any of seven broad categories: fictional or real person, fictional or real place, object, event, or vocabulary. Then they are prompted to name the card, add an image, and fill in key information on the card by following the guiding questions. The questions will lead them to use descriptive and/or memorable language to describe the card topic including important facts, significance, and personal connection to the place or event. Students are limited in the number of characters they can use to answer the questions which can teach them to write succinctly for an audience and allow them to have a readable card that they can use to study from later or share with classmates. They can categorize cards as they go depending on their needs. Overall, a unique and fun way to engage students in writing and studying.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Reading Basics

ReadWriteThink’s Trading Cards app allows kids and teens a unique way to share their understanding of various topics, to build study aids for school, or to create their own fictional world of characters.

Create trading cards for any number of categories, including:
• Fictional person
• Real person
• Fictional place
• Real place
• Object
• Event
• Vocabulary word

Each category has specific guiding questions for creating a dynamic, information-rich trading card. Summarizing skills are critical as they drill down to the most important information to fit on the card. In addition, they become aware of writing for an audience because they can share their cards with others.

Part of the appeal of trading cards is being able to sort them into collections. Have kids and teens build a collection of cards for characters from their favorite book, landmarks in their favorite city, events from a period in history they find interesting, or vocabulary words by school subject.

FEATURES:

• Multi-user card storage
• Management of users by deleting and restoring within 2 weeks
• 7 card categories, each with a targeted set of guiding questions that cover key information
• Ability to add and edit an image from your device’s camera or photo library
• 12 card designs for styling cards
• Helpful how-to information on each screen
• Ability to create collections of completed cards
• Auto-saving of cards as they are created
• Viewing of finished card for proofreading
• Ability to save card to photos
• Ability to print card on a wireless printer
• Ability to send card by e-mail

Trading Cards is an educational app for all ages that adds creativity and fun to the learning process. If you have ideas for educational uses for this app in school or at home, please Contact Us.

Privacy: Your trading cards are private unless you decide to share them by e-mail. ReadWriteThink.org does not store any personal information from this app.