iPads in the Classroom
Elementary Grades
iPads in Education
- Since their release in April of 2010, Apple’s iPads have taken the US by storm.
- iPads have swept through almost every industry, especially education.
- With these powerful mobile devices come a lot of possible benefits for educators and students alike
- iPad technology in the classroom can be a powerful tool for learning and comprehension. The interactivity it provides can make for a very engaging experience, definitely for elementary school aged students.
Goals & Objectives
Determining your iPad “APPtitude”
iPad Tips & Trick
Technology Integration
- Setting Instructional Goals with the iPad
- Locating and Evaluating the Best Apps
Some "favs" or Recommended Apps
Creating an "Apptivity"
Questions, Comments, & Evaluation
Are you iPad Savvy?
Are you familiar with all these features?
- The iPad can hold 25 apps per screen
- The iPad mini can hold 20 apps per screen
- You can group apps into folders - Each folder can hold 20 apps
- The dock can hold 6 apps at a time
- You can prevent in app purchases
- To charge your devices faster, use airplane mode
Adding, Moving and Deleting Apps
- iTunes Account
- Moving Apps
- Deleting Apps
- Creating & Naming Folders
The Keyboard
- Auto Correction Features
- Shortcuts - Hidden Keys
- Emoji Keyboard
- Splitting the Keyboard
Gestures & more fun features....
- A four finger swipe up or a double click to the home button shows apps still open
- Four fingers scrolling left or right allows you to scroll through your open apps
- To close apps that are open, swipe up; you can close two at a time
- Snap (closed) all 5 fingers to return to the home screen
- The spotlight search allow you to find apps, messages or emails quickly
- When you delete apps, the remain in your iTunes account
- Do you know how to copy, cut and paste?
- Can you use Siri? or disable her?
- WebClips, Bookmarks and Screenshots
- Scrolling tips for web use
Accessibility Features
- Speak Selection
- Text Size
- Screen Rotation
- Guided Access: You can "lock" a user into a single app
- Assistive Touch
- Custom Gestures
Photos & Video
- Camera Settings
- Editing Pictures
- Sharing Pictures & Videos
- The Cloud/Photo streaming
Technology Integration
Technology Integration is the use of technology tools in general content areas in to allow students to apply technology skills to learning and problem-solving.
****The curriculum drives the use of technology and not vice versa.****
It can be as easy as......
Incorporating the iPads during center activities
Students accessing a web link or web page
Watching an instructional video
Apps that allow students to create projects to show what they have learned
Or use Apps that practice a skill or set of skills…..
Technology Application K-8
Grades K-2
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-12
To meet the K-8 TEKS districts can:
Teach the Technology Applications TEKS in a computer lab setting
Integrate the Technology Applications TEKS into the core curriculum using the grade level strands listed above
SAMR Model of Technology Integration
Planning for Instruction
Start Small -- Set Goals!
Elementary children have a very short learning curve for using apps and other technology resources.
Most apps are very intuitive
Don’t be afraid to try new things. You do not have to be an expert
Most importantly, You are building “thinkers” with problem solving skills!
iPads do more than open Apps
Integration Ideas -ELAR
Guided reading/Listening Centers
Practice a set of skills (letters & sounds, sight words)
Spelling practice
Practice Fluency (recorded audio or purchased apps)
Create posters advertising books they love
Redesign a book jacket
Character Trading Cards
Create thinking maps
Create Character maps
Create their own storybooks
Access activities from textbooks or other curriculum resources (http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/menu.html)
Explore author websites or literature sites
Websites related to the theme/topic of stories they're reading.
Use Sesame Street site to practice letters, sounds, numbers, rhymes, etc.
Check out Play Kids Games for alphabet fun.
Use Starfall or PBS's Between the Lions to help build basic reading skills
Access reading and language arts games at Gamequarium
Use iStation on the iPad
ABcya.com (apps also available)
Writing/Language Arts
Create writing centers/literature response centers
Work on editing or grammar
Type, illustrate or animate poems or stories
Use drawing tools for brainstorming,Create graphic organizers, venn diagrams, etc
Practice writing, handwriting (stylus recommended)
Create comic strips or slides for a presentation
Make a storybook about a field trip, a topic they research,etc
Use as a tool for students to look up synonyms, definitions, example sentences for words they come across in literature groups, in their writing, or during other class activities.
Create picture books, flashcards and more!
Writing/Language Arts - Web Resources
Gamequarium- Parts of Speech Games
FunBrain - Grammar Gorillas
FunBrain - The Plural Girls
Spelling City - Spelling & Vocabulary
You can add your spelling lists or terms, too!
Internet Picture Dictionary
- Dictionary.com - Dictionary-Thesaurus Lookup
Integration Ideas - Math
Make graphs from data
Write and/or illustrate story problems for their classmates to solve
Review skills
Have students create Math:storybooks, videos, etc demonstrating what they have learned
Khan Academy
Solve and create problems as collaborators
Web Based Math Activities
Khan Academy ( also an app)
Teachers can now add their own content for games
Think Through Math - Grades 3 - Alg I
Tablet compatible android & iPads
Texas TEKS, STAAR alignment, provided for free by TEA
Project Share
Courses for teacher PD, student use, TEKS updates, etc.
Integration ideas - Science
Websites to track live information
ex. weather (graph the weather over time), moon phases
Draw/illustrate/write about concepts (animals, habitats) they are studying
Locate resources, video clips, etc. for kids to read/watch and create extension activities for them to do with the information.
Research science concepts, scientists and create presentations on what is learned
Web-Based Science Resources
Finding the Educational Apps
Free iOS Apps
Did you know? Apple requires their developers to offer their apps for Free or For Sale at least once a year. Cool huh? The kicker: they do not have to notify us when the apps are free or on sale. So with that in mind, here are a few websites and apps to help you find those Free apps!
These sources provide timely information on app price reductions:
- AppShopper.com and the AppShopper app provide many search options. I like thePopular Price Changes in Education page. You can limit that page to just iPhone or iPad apps. Education isn't the only app category with great apps for students, so you it might be worth checking out Popular Price Changes in All Categories. AppShopper is nice enough to provide web feeds for these price reduction lists.
- Twitter users frequently share apps they have found on sale. Even if you don't have a Twitter account, you can search Twitter for #edapp free to see if there are any current deals.
- iTunes lists Top Free Apps in Education (and top free apps for all other categories). Apps that are on sale often climb to the top of the Top Free Apps lists as users grab them before the price reverts back to paid.
- FreeAppAlert tracks paid iPhone apps that just became free. You can get their alertsvia email if you'd like. Similarly there's Free App a Day, but it focuses mainly on games.
Resources for finding Free Apps
* If you are a member of TCEA and join their iPads in the Classroom community page, Lori Gracey provides a list of free apps daily. Membership is $40/year *
Current list of TCEA recommended iPad apps by category
The Hunt for the best Apps:
The iTunes store is full of apps, but if you have ever spent anytime searching through it, it can be confusing and frustrating.
This article explains the best way to muddle through the iTunes store.
Of course, you can always Google, but i prefer to use https://fnd.io/. You can sort by apps, categories, podcasts and more. Try it!
And last but not least, try Edshelf.com
Apps for Teachers
App Start - Not your boring getting started manual
Special sections explain how to turn your ipad into a variety of tools
Essential apps by categories
Get the most our of your iPad
- STAAR Strategies K-6
- Brain Pop, Jr.
- Remind
- Too Noisy
- Class Dojo
- Best Sand Timer
- QR Creator & Reader
Productivity Apps
Microsoft Office
OneNote
iSuite (free on newer iPads)
Keynote
Pages
Numbers
Mindmapping/Brainstorming
Screencasting Apps
works like a recordable whiteboard
requires wifi
Teachers account allows collecting work and collaboration with campus users
Educreations
Works like a whiteboard with a recording feature.
Create a teacher account and you can upload all student work.
Easy to use and create!
You can have your students creating masterpieces in almost no time!
Flip classroom instruction, create tutorials, or have student create their own presentations!
Whiteboards, Chalkboards or Drawing
Doodle Buddy -Basic Chalkboard
wSketch - Drawing and Sketching App
Skitch- Annotation app
Skitch App for iPad
Doodle Buddy
WHAT MAKES DOODLE BUDDY SO SPECIAL?
• Funny sounds paired with stamps are a blast!
• Doodle and stamp all over your own pictures
• Scribble inside fun stencils to draw perfect shapes.
• Text Tool with resizable text and four fonts
• Draw with other users on the same WiFi network
• Text chat back and forth with your drawing buddy
Audio Options
Dragon Dictate- voice recognition, speech to text
Chatterpix
And some more favs.....
Tellagami - Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated video called a Gami. A Gami can be an exciting tweet or status update. It can be a fun way to tell a story. It can be a thank you message or a vacation postcard. It can be a birthday greeting, party invite or cool way to share photos. The possibilities are endless!
Gabit - Talking Cartoon Creator Free - Design your character, record audio and animate. It's that easy!
Story Creation
Sparkle Fish - audio story finishing game that is hysterically funny
StoryKit - Create from a blank book or use one of the four book templates
Kid in Story Book - Free first story creation
Scribble My Story
Scribble My Story is a book and art creation platform where kids can imagine, create, and share what they make with their parents.What’s included in the Free version is 6 Story Packs with Audio, Stickers, and Backgrounds:
• All About Me
• If I were a Mermaid
• My Dino Book
• My Pet
• I can Fly
• My Vacation
• 1 Blank Book for freeform custom audio and illustration
Video Creation
iMovie ($4.99 currently, Volume Discounts)
Sock Puppets
Sock Puppets lets you create your own lip-synched videos.
Choose Puppets, props, scenery, and backgrounds and start creating. Hit the record button and the puppets automatically lip-synch to your voice.
Toontastic
Making cartoons with Toontastic is as easy as putting on a puppet show - simply press the record button, move your characters onscreen, and tell your story. Toontastic records your animation and voice as a cartoon video to share with friends and family on ToonTube, the app's global storytelling network for kids.
30Hands
30hands Mobile is a fun, innovative storytelling app that allows students, teachers and anyone with creativity to easily create narrated stories or presentations based on photos, images, drawings using an iPad, iPhone or iPod.
Content Apps - Reading/Language Arts
Monster Alphabet : 8 Educational Games
Pre-K - Kinder +
Colors that Lulu Loves (rhyming)
Kids Picture Dictionary (K-3)
Leo’s Pad: Pre-School Activities - 6 “Appisodes”
Kinder - 1st+
Caboose Express- Patterns & Shapes
Created by PreSchool University, search apps by this developer for more free choices
Kinder - 2
Sight Words 2 - 140+ flashcards
More free apps by this developer
More by this developer
Word Domino Free - Ages 6+
Reading Resources- Books
Free Books App (Free Classics)
Story Corner - 2 Stories
Booksy - 2 Books free pack of 20 $4.99
Read Me Stories - daily free stories, can purchase additional stories
Book Apps
Other free books by this developer
Playrific Kids Bookshelf - Over 70 free books!
iStoryTime - 4 full length Free read aloud books
Other Collins Big Cat free stories
iLike Series by Grasshopper Apps
Picture books series Ages 0-6
Can include your child or loved one.
developed by child psychologists and other specialists at The Open University enables young children to take part in fun games which can help develop interests and skills that will be relevant to them when they start to read.
Reading Comprehension
iStation
Reading Comprehension Free-Third & Fourth Grade Social Studies Content
Other grade levels and content
Four free stories in each app
Spelling
Word Ladder (upper grades)
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Genius
Fluency
iPrompt Pro (Free)
Disguise reading fluency in this fun teleprompter.
Provide a reason for students to read with expression and fluency when using i-Prompt for TV reporting, presenting, or giving speeches.
Students can write original scripts on i-Prompt or cut and paste in existing text.
The font size, color, and type are adjustable as is the background color of the screen.
This is app will offer a meaningful reason for students to develop reading fluency.
- Or use an audio recording feature
Poetry
Or you can use a basic creation app like Educreations, ScreenChomp, Powerpoint to write, illustrate, animate and record student poetry
Writing/Grammar Apps
Pre K - 1st
Abby Write & Play -Dolch Sight Words
Consider using : Doodle Buddy, Whiteboard Apps, Educreations, Puppet Pals, etc
Grades 2 +
Write About- Provides prompts
Things to Think About -Provides prompts
Grammar Apps
Grammar for Kids-Parts of Speech (grades 3 +)
Spelling Test-Nouns Over 500 Nouns with picture hints which may be turned on/off
English Irregular Verbs (Homophones, Synonymns, Prepositions and more apps are available)
Content Apps - Math
Butterfly Math -Basic Addition
Fetch! Lunch Rush - Grades 1-2
Math Monsters-Bingo Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication & Division exercises
Sushi Monster - Scholastic’s new game to practice, reinforce, and extend math fact fluency;engaging and appropriately challenging.
Todo K-2 Math Practice - series of 6 fun and engaging multi-level games that offer children practice and support in Pre-K through 2nd grade math fluency skills including: counting, writing numerals, addition and subtraction.
Math! -first 25 lessons are free!
Tiny Tap- various educational games
iPad Appitivity
I will post all of the Apptivities on the Instructional Technology Google Site
Karey Brown
Instructional Technology Specialist
Denton ISD
Proudly Serving : Bettye Myers Middle School, Olive Stephens Elementary, Pecan Creek Elementary and Cross Oaks Elementary
Email: kbrown7@dentonisd.org
Website: http://www.dentonisd.org/Page/44053
Phone: 940-369-1600
Twitter: @kareybrown88