Literacy & Numeracy Apps

The activities and challenges presented in this suite of tools are organized in two levels of stages. Level A (alphabet letters and sounds) were designed with early literacy and performance arts standards in mind for prekindergarten children, who must also give great attention to Level B’s language focus (vocabulary and phonemic awareness).

Learn how to play Alphariddims

LEVEL A.1 - SOUNDS & RHYTHMS

In this level, you can freely explore the drum sounds and rhythms available using the keyboard or drumball/drumpad interface.

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(Browser only)

LEVEL A.2 - LETTER NAMES

In this level, you must play the correct rhythm patterns to produce letters using combinations of 4-beat rhythm patterns with the Alphariddim code: tone (), slap () and bass ().

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LEVEL A.3 - LETTER NAMES & SOUNDS

This level focuses on exploring the names as well as the sounds for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet by drumming out the pangram: “quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.

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LEVEL B.1 - WORD FORMS

The WordTap level builds on the Alphariddim code introduced in Level A. Now, you must spell the names of icons (animals, natural phenomena). This level incrementally progresses from 3- to 4-, 5- and more letter words to help you build your science vocabulary.

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(for Android only)

LEVEL B.2 - SAYINGS & PROVERBS

The aim of the Drum Proverbs level is to provide meaningful sayings that children can reflect on based on their emotion in the moment, bolstering their emotional intelligence. In it, proverbs are associated with a particular emotion (e.g. “Scared”: “when spider webs unite they can tie up a lion”) and can serve as reflection, conversation or storytelling prompts, in a variety of situations.

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LEVEL 1 - ONBOARDING

In this multi-island game, you are undergoing initiation as a royal drummer and must learn the basic tones, symbols and drum codes (for directions, syllables, numbers and shapes) in order to complete timely missions and save the rest of the village. As you progress through various levels of increasing difficulty, you must remember the rhythms from previous levels in order to successfully navigate and achieve the "quest of the griot".