Sites & Apps

I downloaded Scholastic's Storia to my iPad today and I've already bought my first book! THIS will be dangerous!!! I enjoy that there are interactive features and reading summary reports you can use. Another feature that is invaluable is the vocabulary assistance. Students can click on and unfamiliar word to hear it spoken and many words have a "look up" tab which takes the student to a dictionary link of that word. I am looking forward to seeing how I can use these features with my students.

10-9-12
My next new love as Apps for books is HMH Readers.  The books you access through this app are from Literacy By Design (Rigby) leveled readers and Journeys leveled readers.   You can also give your parents a code and they can purchase bundles of readers to their own iPad as well.  I got a bundle of about 16 books for $2.99 (Journeys) - the Literacy by Design bundles seem to be smaller.  Each bundle included both fiction and non-fiction books.  You can also purchase from certain grade level books and sort them by recommended grade level.  Although this program has an audio feature where students can be read to, it does not have the same cool vocabulary feature that Storia has. 

10-28-12

I have spent the past few weeks searching for and trying out apps that could help with small groups or conferring.  What I found difficult is finding ones that would be good for small groups...most seemed more appropriate for individual practice.  Below are a few I found in my search.  I included a small write up on each including which CCSS I would use with them.  This information was in preparation for a group presentation.

iPad App:  Spellboard

CCSS applied to:  4.L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing. 

d.  Spell grade-appropriate works correctly, consulting references when necessary.

Spellboard is an application that can be used to practice spelling.  There are quizzes, practice activities and report features.  Individual student data can be stored and accessed.  Students are able to hear the words used in sentences through pre-recorded audio and the program allows kids to practice writing the word on the screen along with one of the practice activities.

Spellboard comes with preloaded lists from the Dolch word lists as well as some common animal names.  You can also create your own lists along with a record feature to pre-record the word for audio.  You can also attach a picture to the word.

I can see this being used for individual and partner practice.  I can see it very beneficial for students who:

·         do not have support at home in practicing spelling words

·         do not have English speaking supports at home

·         need additional auditory support when learning text

iPad App:  Quick Math

CCSS applied to:  4.NBT.4  Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.

Quick Math is a timed fluency practice application that allows students to keep track of their growth.  It can be used with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and mixed.  There are 3 difficulty levels and the program graphs out progress at the end of each session.  Students enter the answer to the equation using handwriting recognition. One downfall for Quick Math is it only keeps track of one set of data.  You can erase data to start over but cannot save data from one student to the next.

I can see this application being used for individual and partner practice.  I can see it very beneficial for students who:

·         need additional fluency practice

·         need to practice correct number formation

Quick Math may be able to be used with the TeacherKit App (or similar record keeping program) to keep track of long term progress. 

TeacherKit App

Classroom organization tool.  You can track attendance, behavior and keep a grade book.  You can input parental information and send email message directly from the program.  You can do multiple sorts and put the class in a seating arrangement.

Other Apps I have tried:

Grammar App – not appropriate for 4^th grade

Times Tables (Lite) Magnicode, Inc.

Times Table Quiz!

On the Spot – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ***intermediate elementary and higher - worth looking at!***

Khan Academy *** will be using this one!

TeacherKit **using this one for record keeping

Confer App ** using this one for reading groups

Bold Calendar (I chose this one to be used with Confer to schedule next conference with kids)

HMH Readers *** LOVE this one!

Storia *** LIKE A LOT but books can be spendy

Doceri – neat program, need to be more technically saavy to figure it out J