m-Learning tools for Grade 4 L.A.
Using apps to make language arts convenient and fun!
Bitsboard
What is it?
Bitsboard is a free app that provides students with dozens of educational games. They have the ability to choose between flash cards, memory games, true/ false quizzes, match up, and bingo just to name a few! The app provides resources for all subjects and grade levels.
How can it be used?
This app is a great tool for engaging learners and providing extra resources for students that need a little more help in specific content areas. Students are able to personalize their learning and choose what they want to use to enhance and practice what they've learned.
Have students create flash cards to practice definitions (ex. metaphor, simile, rhyme, stanza etc.) Students could also use Bitsboard to match terms to the correct definitions. Use the true/ false feature to test punctuation. It's a great way for kids to practice language arts outcomes!
Click here to see what Bitsboard has to offer!
Flixlab
Flixlab is a great tool for making movies! The app is easy to navigate and provides students with lots of options while creating.
How can it be used?
Students can use Flixlab to create short videos representing their knowledge in a specific subject area and easily share the video to Facebook or other networking sites for instant feedback and review. Flixlab is a great tool to use for book presentations! After reading a book, students can create a short movie demonstrating their knowledge of the book and share it with their peers. It is a great way for students to summarize a story and share what they liked/ didn't like about the book!
Journal Jar
Journal Jar is an app that provides writing prompts to students by shaking either their device or pressing the "shake" button.
How can it be used?
Journal Jar is a great way to pick prompts for students to respond to as a writing warm-up activity. Give students 5-10 minutes to get their brains working before starting a lesson! This is a great way to get thoughts flowing. Students can use their journal jar piece to help them generate ideas for the upcoming language arts lesson!
Toontastic
Toontastic is a tool used to create stories based on cartoon characters.
How can it be used?
Toontastic is a fun way for kids to apply their knowledge and create representations of their understanding. Toontastic is a great way to have kids create their own stories and then share them with peers to discuss understandings and differences.
Have students read a novel and change the ending using Toontastic. It is a great way to initiate discussion and encourage creativity! It is interesting to see how students portray their images of the book in cartoon form.
Click here to read more about Toontastic!
StoryKit App
StoryKit App is an app that allows students to create detailed stories using their imagination and also provides an option to change the ends of classic stories.
How can it be used?
A fun way to get kids engaged in language arts would be to use StoryKit app to change the ending of a classic story like Little Red Riding Hood or tell the story from a different point of view. Sharing the new stories with peers is a fun way to get kids using their imagination and put writing into practice!
VoiceThread
Voicethread is a tool that allows students to record audio of themselves. Students can play back & edit their work so that it suits their standards.
How can it be used?
Students can post recordings of them narrating their work (drawings, pictures, videos) so that others can comment on what they upload! Fun for kids & beneficial in the sense that there is peer feedback.
The possibilities for VoiceThread are endless. One idea is to record a reflection topic and post it so that students reply with their own recordings discussing their thoughts and ideas on the particular topic. Sort of like a written discussion forum, but in this case it would be voice recordings. Engaging and different for most kids!
Click here to access VoiceThread!