Tag Archives: apps that link to the Common Core Standards (CCSS)

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Little Writer – The Tracing App for Kids

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This FREE letter writing app for the iPhone/iPad is designed to teach 3 – 6 year olds how to write upper & lower case letters, numbers, shapes, and words. It starts by showing the shape of the letter and naming it. The child traces along lines to write the letter. Then the child is praised and told what letter, number, shape or word he/she has just written. When writing a word, the letters are presented one at a time with the full word shown in the upper right-hand corner. When the word is finished, a picture pops up with the child’s writing underneath it.

There are a lot of great things about this app. I like the size of the letters  – nice and big for little hands. I also like that there are subtle dotted lines on the page. But, the best part of this app is the ability to customize it. You can turn items on or off in order to introduce letters, numbers, etc. slowly. You can record your voice or your child’s voice pronouncing the names of the letters, numbers, etc. You can add in your own pictures & words so that your child can learn to write his/her own name and names of family members or whatever you wish! You can add additional letters for foreign words so that you can use it to teach simple words in another language. SO many possibilities……

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.RF.1 – Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Highly Recommended!

Little Writer - The Tracing App for Kids - Innovative Mobile Apps

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Marbleminds Phonics

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In this app for the iPhone/iPad (which normally costs $2.99) kids practice phonics in four different ways: picture to letter (choose the beginning letter for a picture), letter to picture (find the pictures that start with a letter), memory (match letters to pictures), and sounds like (choose the letter for the sound). In the game mode, all four methods are mixed and kids earn marbles as they play. This app provides some good practice for kids with letters/sounds for over 150 pictures.

Be aware of a few issues that will hopefully be addressed in the next update. The sounds of c and k can be the same. When c is followed by a,o, or u it makes a k sound. In the app when looking for words that start with the k sound, the correct answers were kettle, kangaroo and kettle but other choices included cat and candy cane – too confusing!  Also, vowels can be tricky. When looking for the short i sound, one of the correct answers was iron which is incorrect because it has a long i sound. When looking for the short o sound, two of the correct answers were orange and onion – neither make the short o sound. Even though this app has some mistakes, it is better than many of the other phonics apps that I have seen.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.RF.3 –  Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.a.Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

Keep reading my blog to find out when apps go FREE. There is a lite version of this app that you can try.

Marbleminds Phonics - Iskandar, Inc.

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ABC Mouse.co – Ham with Jam, Hen in the Pen, Big Pig & Little Pig, To Run is Fun

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These apps for the iPhone/iPad are from the ABC Mouse word family beginning reader series. I chose to downloaded The Hen in the Pen to review the series. Each story emphasizes words from a particular word family. There are also easy sight words in the stories. There are several ways that the books can be read: Read to Me, Read with Pause, I Can Read It, and Hear the Words. I really like the Hear the Words option. It allows the child to read alone but tap any word that he/she gets stuck on. There are parent tips on the title page that explain word families and sight words for beginning readers. There are also parent tips throughout the books. The illustrations are colorful and support the text so that kids can use picture clues as they read. The story lines are very simple. But, that is not a negative thing because these apps are more about the process of reading than the actual story. When my son was an early reader, he loved books like these because he could read them “all by himself” and that alone makes them worth downloading 🙂 And…. they are currently FREE.

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. c. Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does). d. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

Recommended!

ABCmouse.com Ham and Jam - Age of Learning, Inc. Ham with Jam     ABCmouse.com The Hen in the Pen - Age of Learning, Inc. Hen in the Pen     ABCmouse.com Big Pig and Little Pig - Age of Learning, Inc. Big Pig & Little Pig     ABCmouse.com To Run is Fun - Age of Learning, Inc. To Run is Fun

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Bubbling Math

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Bubbling Math for the iPad helps students in grades 1 – 4 become proficient in basic math skills – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. In the Task Configuration section of the app, parents/teachers choose the operations & the levels of difficulty (easy, medium, hard, expert). Descriptions tell specifically what kinds of problems are included in each level. The ability to customize what a child needs to practice makes this app very powerful. Another plus is that the levels can be set differently for each operation. The other powerful section of this app is the “parents section” where a child’s progress is reported by the date, the operations and levels practiced, the number right & wrong, the specific problems missed, and percent correct.

As for the actual game – there are 9 levels that unlock as the child makes progress. There are trophies awarded for doing well. The graphics and music are nicely done. The speed of the game can be adjusted  – slow, normal, fast. But…what makes this app stand out is the ability to truly personalize it. Unfortunately, I don’t think the app tracks more than one child’s data. The data can be reset but the results for the first child would be lost. Regardless, this app is great!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
  • 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
  • 3.OA.7 – Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

This app was FREE last week but is currently selling for $.99. Keep watching my blog to find out when apps are offered for free.

Highly Recommended!

Bubbling Math - TappyTaps s.r.o.

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i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures

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For a limited time, all i Learn With Boing apps are being offered for $.99 and i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures is FREE.  These apps are geared towards 3 – 6 year olds. All i Learn With apps have the option for children to register so that they can earn rewards to play with on Planet Boing (a FREE central app that goes with the i Learn With series). Parents can also track their child’s progress if the child registers.

i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures has three math games: counting, ordering, and calculating. In the counting game, kids are asked to help the meerkat make soup by matching the pictured amount of ingredients with the written numeral (1 – 20). If kids touch any of the items, the total is named. Instead, I wish app counted the items (for kids who still need that) with the option to disable. In the ordering game, kids guide a frog across the pond by choosing the next number (1 – 20). The ordering doesn’t always start at 1 and there is variety in this game. Numbers may be ascending, descending or in a simple pattern (by 2’s or 10’s). In the calculating game, kids add the correct number of ostriches to a truck to reach a total. This game can be played alone or with a friend. Overall, this app is cute and nicely done. It would be fun for young kids who already know their numbers and are ready for some beginning math skills. The i Learn With program is brought to you by the developers of PBS KIDS PLAY and CBC Wonderworld online learning programs.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.OA.2  – Add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.
  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.

Recommended.

i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures! - Tribal Nova

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The Opposites

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The Opposites is currently FREE for the iPhone/iPad. Designed for kids 7+, this app requires the matching of increasingly difficult pairs of opposite words. There are two sections of the app: dictionary and play. In the dictionary section, words are listed next to their opposites. To learn the meaning, students just tap on the word and a definition appears. There are 10 levels with 100+ words per level. In the play section, words are pronounced by a boy or a girl as they appear in bubbles and float towards the top of the screen  Kids are to tap pairs of opposites as they appear – which makes the words turn a color then pop. The goal is to match 12 sets of opposites  – which completes the level. A bonus round then appears in which the student has 20 seconds to match up an entire  board full of opposites. This app starts off simply but becomes quite challenging in the later levels. It could be used for differentiating a lesson and/or for helping students grow their understanding of antonyms.

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.

Recommended!

The Opposites - Mindshapes Limited

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Fetch! Lunch Rush

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From our friends at PBS comes this very unique FREE math game app for iPhone/iPad.  In this multi-player game, it is the students’ task to keep up with the lunch orders from Ruff Ruffman’s movie crew. The challenge is to keep track of how many pieces of sushi everyone wants by adding and subtracting. Before the game begins, game pieces have to be printed from the PBS website and distributed around the room. As the sushi orders come in, students have to find the game piece with the correct answer to the problem. Using the camera lens on their device, they focus in on then tap the sushi. The sushi pieces magically move to the table in front of their character (as seen above). Students have to think fast and keep moving to fill all of the sushi orders before their friends do. What fun !!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
  • 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

Highly recommended!

FETCH! LUNCH RUSH - PBS KIDS

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Math Magician

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This app for the iPhone/iPad was just launched on August 7, 2012 and it has already been offered for FREE twice. There are 3 levels with several math concepts covered within each level. The easy level covers counting 1-120, skip counting by 2 & 5, addition 1-20, subtraction 1-20, and greater/less than 0-20. The medium level covers: skip counting (10 and 100), addition 0-100, subtraction 0-100, add/subtract by 10, greater/less than 0-100, multiplication 1-10, and division 1-10. The hard level covers: addition 100-500, subtraction 50-200, multiplication facts 0-12 and division facts, 0-12.

Kids earn treasure from the magician as they solve problems in the magic crystal ball. As kids answer correctly, the magic meter bar fills so they can keep track of their progress. Correct solutions are shown in the meter bar after the question is answered. Kids have to answer about 30 questions correctly in order to earn a treasure – which seems a little high to me. The other concern I have is that the answers do not reflect common mechanical mistakes. Kids can arrive at the correct answer by just adding or subtracting one’s place. Example:  386 + 199 = ?? and the 4 answers are 586, 585, 587, 589. If a student knows that 6 = 9 is 15, he/she will pick the answer with the 5 in one’s place. The more common error that kids make is forgetting to move the 10 over. So… 4 better answer choices might be 485, 585, 575, 475. That being said… there is a lot of good practice in this app.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
  • 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
  • 3.OA.7 – Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

Keep reading my blog to find out when apps are offered for FREE.

Math Magician - abcteach

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Counting Numbers 123

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This cute little app for the iPhone/iPad sells for $.99 is sometimes offered for FREE. Geared towards preschoolers/kindergartners, it has 5 activities which teach counting to 10, symbols and words for the numbers 1 – 10, the concept of one more, and the concepts of  adding & subtracting. Kids help Molly, a friendly little bird, by dragging and popping her balloons to arrive at a number between 1 and 10. Also included is in the app is a catchy sing-along called The Numba Rumba which features dancing polar bears and penguins – very cute and fun!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.OA.2 – Add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.
Keep reading my blog to find out when apps are offered for FREE.
Counting 123 - Learn to count challenge for kids - TabTale LTD
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Freefall Time

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This iPhone/iPad app sells for $.99 but  I downloaded it on a FREE day. Kids practice matching the analog clocks with correct times, choose the correct time for a clock, or practice setting a clock – all while earning items to add to their interactive fish tank. The settings can be adjusted in different increments: 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and 1 minute. 24-hour format is also available. Simply done – it provides kids with practice they need reading and setting clocks.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.MD.3 – Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
  • 2.MD.7 – Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.
  • 3.MD.1 – Tell and write time to the nearest minute (first portion of the standard).

Keep reading my blog to find out when apps are offered for FREE!

Freefall Time - Merge Mobile