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World’s Worst Pet – Vocabulary

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world's worst pet

FREE educational app – World’s Worst Pet – Vocabulary. Snargg, a cute blue pet needs kids to use their vocabulary skills to get him out of trouble. The app’s four games teach context, word sorts, synonyms, & antonyms as they expose kids to over 1000 words across 5 levels: grades 4 – 8. Words are taught in sets – 10 conceptually related words per set. Kids are encouraged to replay each word set to improve their scores. Other features of the app include: clearly explained definitions with examples of how the word is used, multiple exposures to words, writing prompts, and… a really fun narrative with rewards. The app allows multiple players making it perfect for use in the classroom. Teachers can use it to differentiate instruction, as part of a center, for individual or group assignments, as homework, etc. There are so many great things about this app – meaningful content, a fun interface, and it meets CCSS. Fabulous!

Common Core Standards met:
4.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c.Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
5.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/worlds-worst-pet-vocabulary/id730540095?mt=8&uo=4

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AlphaTots

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AlphaTotsFREE again for a limited time – AlphaTots, a GREAT ABC app for kids! What makes this app unique is that it uses 26 action words to teach the alphabet. Kids are asked to complete 26 interactive tasks, for example: b – build a robot, p – play instruments, z – zap alien spaceships, etc. This app has been featured on The Today Show and has received a lot of positive press. It is a VERY fun app for toddlers/preschoolers who are learning their alphabet!!

AlphaTots™ - Spinlight Studio

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Resources for Computer Science Education Week: Dec. 9 – 15

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There is a lot of excitement building up about Computer Science Education week which begins tomorrow. Check out the csedweek website @ The Hour of Code 2013 | The Hour of Code 2013 for lots of ideas.

The purpose of this week is to show kids the importance of computer science by getting them involved in an Hour of Code. Learning to code can turn anyone into a creator or innovator. How? Start by watching this video for inspiration – The Hour of Code is coming – YouTube. Try coding yourself. Then try it with your students. We are living in creative, exciting times – be part of it!! 🙂

Here are two fabulous resources to use:

Hopscotch HD

Hopscotch HD is an educational app that teaches kids how to program their own games and animations! Introduce kids to computer science with this app. 🙂 Kids drag and drop “method blocks” into scripts. When they are done, they can press play to see their code in action! Why teach kids coding? According to the developer – there will be about 1.4 million computer jobs by 2020 and only 400,000 computer science students. Many coders first fell in love with coding when they were  8-12 year old children. Hopscotch is based on a visual programming language named Scratch which was developed by MIT. It promotes STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) in a fun way – by making coding kid-friendly!  LOVE it!!

Hopscotch HD - Hopscotch Technologies

 

Khan 2

Khan Academy has a special activity for Hour of Code. Here is the link: Welcome to our Hour of Code! | Hour of Code | Khan Academy

Khan Academy – an amazing FREE educational app! Whoever said the best things in life are FREE was absolutely correct. With Khan Academy you can learn almost anything and the app is completely FREE! It has a library of over 4,100 videos which covers a wide range of subjects such as K – 12 math, biology, chemistry, the humanities, and more. You can use the app to review a subject that you have already studied or to learn something completely new! You can watch the videos online or you can download  them to watch offline at your own pace. The videos are subtitled so that you can read along, skip ahead, or go back. If you log in with your Khan Academy account, you can track your progress. The app gives you credit for watching the videos and allows you to see your achievements. Badges and points are earned for learning. Teachers can access their students’ data – as a class or individually. Khan Academy is an incredible resource for all kinds of learners – students, teachers, principals, home-schoolers, adults returning to school, and anyone committed to be a lifelong learner. It is truly one of the best educational apps available – at any price!

Khan Academy - Khan Academy

 

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Tiny Dentist Holidays: Christmas

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Tiny dentist holidays

FREE for a limited time – Tiny Dentist Holidays: Christmas. Too many cookies for Santa has landed him in the dentist’s chair! Kids get to be the dentist for a day with the holiday version of this educational app. Like Tiny Dentist, this app teaches about dental treatments and the instruments that dentists use to keep teeth healthy. 24 patients with dental problems need fixed. The “dentist” has the tools to: remove cavities & fill in the hole, remove plaque, use water & air sprays, remove decayed teeth, put on braces, and more! He/she also has 36 fun braces, 18 hair styles, and 6 unusual kinds of toothpaste to use. The app was developed to help alleviate children’s fear of the dentist. Another fun feature of the app is the ability to take before and after pictures of the patient. The app is rated by Apple as 9+.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-dentist-holidays-christmas/id722921745?mt=8&uo=4

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Santa’s Home

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Santa's home
“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.”
Now you can see what Santa is doing with Santa’s Home, a FREE app. The app is a “LIVE” feed of Santa’s house – the bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, his office/workshop, and the outside grounds. Kids can keep track of what Santa is doing up at the North Pole. I checked in on Santa a few times – first he was in the kitchen washing his dishes, then he was on the computer checking his list, and a little after 11 PM he was in bed snoring. The app even displays the correct date and time to make it seem more realistic. The app also gives adults the option of can subscribing to Santa’s newsletter. Adults can also help kids send Santa one of their drawings that he will display in his workshop. Super cute!!
Teachers – This would be a fun one to use for creative writing!! It would also be fun for teaching prediction. :)
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Lullaby Piano Book

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lullaby

FREE for a limited time – Lullaby Piano Book, an educational app for your budding pianist! The app’s keyboard has 13 sounds. There is a learn mode and a play mode. In the learn mode, kids are guided (note by note) through the songs. In the play mode, the notes are provided but kids are on their own. I wish the app also included an autoplay so kids could hear the song before attempting to play it. The app features cute cartoon characters and 6 songs that kids love – Hickory Dickory Dock, Mary Had A Little Lamb, It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, Eensy Weensy Spider, Three Blind Mice, and  Do Re Mi. This educational app is designed for both iPhone and iPad. 

Lullaby Piano Book - BelugaBloo

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Into the Snow: A Stella and Sam Adventure

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into the snow

FREE for a limited time – Into the Snow We Go, a Stella & Sam app. In this adventure, kids join Stella and Sam to make pictures in the snow, decorate a snowman, and discover what’s hidden under the snow.These educational apps are based on the television show and book series by Marie-Louise Gay.The Stella and Sam books have been translated into 15 languages and have sold over a million copies. All Stella and Sam apps are also supported in French. I love how all of the stories focus on getting kids outside to enjoy the beauty of nature. They are beautifully animated, creatively presented, and such fun for preschoolers!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/into-snow-stella-sam-adventure/id420670528?mt=8&uo=4

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Multiplications with Math Matthews

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Math Mathews

FREE today only – Multiplications with Math Matthews, a great new app for studying multiplication facts. Kids join Math Mathews and his crew on a high seas adventure to find treasure and break the curse that turned him into an octopus. There are so many great things about this app that make it perfect for the classroom. The app includes a diary (ship’s log) that gives the back story to this adventure that kids are about to join. I envision teachers using this narrative as a group activity to get kids excited about joining the crew. Then the app is divided into 3 mini-games with each game using a different method of practice. Kids earn badges and collect gold as they practice facts. The app allows you to set which facts it will review. This feature makes this game particularly valuable in the classroom. Teachers can start with ones & twos, add fives, then three & fours – adapting their students’ practice to their teaching. And…the app can be used with 7 different players – perfect for small group practice, centers, etc. It keeps track of the progress for each individual – another plus for teachers. If I was still teaching, I would definitely use this educational app in my third grade classroom  – it meet a CCSS for third grade multiplication. What a fabulous & fun learning tool for kids!!

Common Core State Standards met:

  • 3.OA.7 – By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/multiplications-math-mathews/id611130011?mt=8&uo=4

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Tiny Dentist

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Tiny Dentist

FREE again – Tiny Dentist. Kids get to be a dentist for a day with this educational app that teaches about dental treatments and instruments. Dozens of patients with dental problems need fixed. The “dentist” has the tools to: remove cavities & fill in the hole, remove plaque, use water & air sprays, remove decayed teeth, put on braces, and more! The app was developed to alleviate children’s fear of the dentist. Visual instructions for using the different tools are found in the grown-ups section. Another fun feature of the app is the ability to take before and after pictures of the patient. 🙂 Check it out!!

Tiny Dentist - fantastoonic

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Petting Zoo

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Petting

FREE again – Petting Zoo, an adorable app for kids and adults who are kids at heart. 🙂 This educational app combines the charm of Christoph Niemann’s humorous animations with state of the art technology as one scene morphs into the next. The app is simple to use – just swipe and tap the 21 animals to see how they react. The results are delightfully surprising! Kids will discover what an elephant would do in the bathroom, if a dog can breakdance, how monkeys play soccer, and more. This app is suitable for kids of all languages because there are no spoken words. It’s perfect for discussion and predicting what will happen next. It would also be great for story writing. A really fun storybook app – creative, silly, and sure to delight!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/petting-zoo-animal-animations/id602773895?mt=8&uo=4