Assignment+2-Apps


 * Educational Apps**
 * Math Drills Lite:** Students can practice their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. In the full version students can have their own personalized settings, score and teachers can review their test history.


 * Wordventure!:** This app is similar to having a book of Mad Libs. Using wordventure! you create a story by choosing adjectives, nouns, and verbs. This is a great activity for students who are learning or need a review of basic parts of speech.


 * Pocket Zoo HD:** With this app you can view a map of a zoo filled with animals. When you find an animal that interests you, you can click on its picture and receive a list of fun facts and a description of the animal. There are also videos students can watch about the specific animals of their choosing. Live web cams from zoos across the country are also a fun feature of this app.


 * Motion Math Zoom:** This is a great app to teach kids how to use a number line and the skill of skip counting. Students’ high scores are recorded so that they can compete against one another.


 * Word Wagon:** Mozzarella the mouse takes students through 4 different levels of phonics activities. Students choose an object from the conveyor belt, drag the letters to their proper spots to spell the word and then Mozzarella sounds out the word and pronounces it. In my classroom we work on using our strategies of sounding out words when we read so this is a great app to use during reading instruction.


 * MeteorMath:** This is a great app to practice basic math facts. It reminds me a lot of a video game with the sound effects and high speed pace. Students can choose between addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Once they have chosen the operation they are given a target number and have to create a problem that would equal that number. As the game progress the meteors move faster to make it more challenging.


 * Math Bingo:** Learning basic facts is a large focus in my first and second grade classroom so I have found many apps that will help the kids learn their facts in a fun way. Math Bingo is a simple bingo game that up to five kids can play at one time. They can choose from all four operations or a mixed game of operations, as well as three levels of difficulty. Students are given an equation to solve and select the correct answer on the bingo board. The first player with five in a row wins. As an added bonus students can collect bingo bugs and can play additional (non educational) game with the bingo bugs.


 * AB Math Lite:** This app has a free version as well as a full version. In the free version students can choose to practice basic calculations, times tables and ordering numbers (called bubbles). A nice feature for teachers is there is a record of the history of the games played. It shows you how many students got correct and incorrect and what day and time they completed the activities. In the free version students are not able to enter their name so it is difficult to use the history feature however if you chose to buy the full version this would be a great way to track student progress.


 * Fox in Socks:** My class is currently reading many Dr. Seuss books in preparation for our fieldtrip to see Seussical. I purchased Fox in Socks for my iPad and the kids love it! They can choose to read the story themselves or have the story read to them. The pages of the book are very interactive asking students to tap on pictures to hear the rhymes made in the story.


 * TeacherPal:** Throughout the day I meet with many different kids for individual reading and math instruction. I found this free app to be very helpful when writing anecdotal records for my students. You can create individual classes or group kids by subject area. Within your class you add your students and then can track their attendance, behaviors, create notes and track grades. You can also input student email address as well as parent emails. If you include this information TeacherPal allows you to compose a message and send an email to all parents or students.

**Personal Apps**


 * Fun Facts 1000:** “If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white.” You can find fun facts like this using the Fun Facts app. I enjoy useless knowledge so I really enjoy the facts that I find on this app. Two features of this app include emailing the fact and/or posting it to a social networking site.


 * SkyView:** This free app is great if you enjoy the outdoors or are just interested in looking at the sky during the day and night. When you have the SkyView app running you can hold your iPad up to the sky and it will show you constellations, identify planets, the sun, moon and satellites.


 * Yatzy HD:** My husband and I enjoy playing the game of Yahtzee however slamming the dice on the table gets old after a while so I was happy when I found this generic free version of the game. Although the name is not exactly the same the rules and how you play the game are.


 * Birds ‘n’ Blocks:** Everyone needs just one addicting game to play! I found this when I had been searching for Angry Birds and this is actually just as addicting. In each screen of the game you must get the bird to land on the black blocks; however you must first break other blocks and bounce the bird here and there to get the bird to its ending point. It’s fun; it’s addicting no need to say more just try it!


 * **Beer Pong:** **This version of the real life game is not as messy but definitely still as fun. You can play against the computer or other challengers. The same rules of beer pong apply in this game. As you ‘drink more’ the screen begins to sway making it more difficult to shoot your ball into the cups. A fun game for a Friday or Saturday night on the couch!