FREE again for a limited time – the FULL version of DoReMi 1-2-3: Music for Kids. Cute characters teach kids learn how to play familiar tunes. Kids learn by listening and repeating what they hear. There are two modes in this app – song mode and free mode. In song mode, kids can choose to play one of 6 different songs. In free mode, kids can create their own recordings. Very cute app with great auditory training!
FREE again – Three Little Pigs – A Play for the iPhone/iPad for kids 4+. An updated version of the 3 Little Pigs is presented as a play starring Mitch, Clara, Ran, and Clarence Bear. The book is brightly illustrated and the characters respond when they are tapped. The background music and narration are nicely done. The book can also be read alone. The story generally follows the traditional tale – the first pig builds a house from straw, the second pig builds a house of sticks, and the third pig builds a house of bricks. All of the pigs get away (rather than the first 2 being eaten) and wolf runs away yelping in pain. The first 2 pigs learn the lesson: Take your time and do your best. The story ends with the first 2 pigs starting to rebuild their houses in the spring – this time with bricks, of course!
In my classroom I used different versions of the same fairy tale/folk tale for studying story elements as well as comparing & contrasting. This would be a good version to compare with the traditional tale since its setting is in modern times. Kids can look for evidence to prove that the story takes place in current times. They could also use Venn diagrams to compare the traditional tale to this version or other versions that they have read. Lots of possibilities to extend the use of this book as you get comprehension strategies.
Recommended!
FREE for a limited time – Montessori ABC for Kids HD: Learn and Trace Alphabet Letters. This app has two sections: animated flashcards (to teach kids the letters/sounds) and traceable worksheets (to teach kids how to write the letters). The flashcard section has cute animations to teach kids letters & sounds in a fun way. The writing section has two modes (right-handed and left-handed) to teach upper and lower case letters. The app is designed to have multiple users and parents can track their children’s progress. Nicely done!!
This developer also did ABC Games – Montessori Phonics-enabled Alphabet which I reviewed on November 2, 2012.
Common Core Standards met:
FREE for a limited time – iLuv Drawing Dinosaurs HD. Kids learn to draw 19 dinosaurs by tracing over step by step templates. After finishing the drawing, your child can color it, add a background, stickers, etc. The editing tools (eraser, undo, redo, start over) make this app easy to use! There are also blank pages so that your child can create his/her own drawings. Finished works can be saved, printed, or shared via email. Drawings saved into the drawing book can be edited later. Use this app to have your child create cards, greetings for loved ones!
FREE whiteboard app, Smart White Board HD, is super simple to use! One finger writes, 2 fingers erase, 3 fingers clears all. Press the save button or shake your device to save an image. You can write in black, blue, or red and in 3 thicknesses. The app also includes a simple voice recorder. Just press record, talk, stop & name your file, and it is saved to a list. You can then email your recording if you wish to share it. Teachers can get rid of their classroom whiteboards, markers, and erasers! Have kids show their work, explain their thoughts, etc. with this simple app!
FREE today – Teach Me Toddler, a fabulous app for teaching your little one letters, numbers, shapes, colors, phonics (letter sounds), and counting. The app includes parental controls so that parents/teachers can choose which areas they want their child/children to work on. Up to 40 players can be entered and the topics for each player can vary – it’s fully customizable by individual! And… the app keeps track of each child’s performance – perfect for a preschool or kindergarten classroom. Teachers could start by assigning general practice for all then reset the players and customize it to meet individual kids’ needs – AWESOME!!
Kids are rewarded for correct answers with stickers or coins. Sticker scenes include the beach, reef, pirate cove, city, farm, and playground. Parents/teachers can set the number of correct responses needed for getting a sticker from 1 – 9. Completed scenes can be exported to share. 🙂
One of the BEST thing about this app is the appropriateness of the topics. It teaches numbers to 20, counting to 10, upper and lower case letters, 11 colors, 9 shapes, and letter sounds. I was so excited that it taught the hard and soft sound of c!! Download this one today – it is rarely FREE!
Animal Origami was FREE for a limited time (earlier this week). It is now priced at $1.99. Origami is the art of Japanese paper-folding. This app shows kids and/or adults how to fold paper into 16 different animal heads. It is nicely done with easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions. Keep reading my blog to find out when apps like this go FREE again!
Still FREE and now even better!! Socrative has just added two additional quiz features: # 1 – Teachers can now add images to their questions. #2 – The system can now grade short answer questions. Teachers just input the acceptable answers and the system does the rest. 🙂
This website and app are unbelievably cool – they turn any device with a web browser (iPhone, iPad, laptops) into a student response clicker. If a teacher has access to any kind of wireless lab, he/she can engage the entire class in a game or quiz and watch the results in real-time. Teachers begin by using their teacher app or logging into t.socrative.com with their email and password. Once logged in, teachers are assigned a room number to share with their students. Students log in using their student app or at m.socrative.com and enter the “virtual room number” provided by the teacher. Teachers initiate an activity and students respond on their devices. Multiple choice and short answer quizzes are easy to create – types of questions can be mixed. Teachers can also choose to run the quiz as a Space Race game. The students’ responses are visible to the teacher in real-time. Teachers can see what each child answered individually as well as what the group answered collectively. And the best part is… the app grades, graphs the results, and generates a report as an Excel spreadsheet or an email.
What a powerful tool for teachers – a short quiz at the end of a lesson can pinpoint what students understand and what needs to be retaught. Hours of grading and analyzing test results are done immediately. Every student is involved – wow!
Highly recommended!
Teacher app Student app
FREE for a limited time – Fancy Nancy Dress Up, a game app based on the Fancy Nancy books which have sold over 20 million copies! Nancy is going to a splendid soiree. Kids read her storybook then create outfits for each page. There are endless combinations of dresses, hats, pants, tops, shoes, jewelry, etc. There is even a random outfit generator. Fancy Nancy offers kids encouragement as she becomes fancier and fancier. Kids can also choose a background and decorate it with stickers. They can even insert Fancy Nancy into their photos! Creations can be saved, shared, or used as a great springboard for writing their own Fancy Nancy adventure!
FREE for a limited time – Funny Kids Poems, an interactive book of 12 short rhymes by Maria Lindholm. The brightly illustrated poems are read aloud and can easily be changed from English to Russian. Kids can make the characters respond by tapping them. They can also tilt their device to see the entire scene come alive!
appydazeblog 