The use of technology has been rising steadily in the last decade. Many schools have purchased iPad carts, the iPod Touch and iPhones. Some have implemented Bring Your Own Device programs. When selecting apps for all of these cool devices, consider your unique classroom structure. Are the devices in your class shared by students or does every kid have their own as with the BYOD program? Some teachers prefer using devices in a learning station. Also consider the learning goals for your students. Do you want the students to access information or practice skills for the learning objectives?
Many great apps are really inexpensive and even free. No excuses, brush up on your tech knowledge and get on the ‘app bandwagon’ for fun ways to learn in the elementary classroom. Parents, administrators, kids and you will be happy with implementing these apps into the classroom.
The following five apps were rated by a group of Apple Distinguished Educators as being especially good for the elementary classroom.
BrainPop Featured Movie
BrainPop movies have been educating and entertaining kids for over a decade. Now they can have them at their fingertips. The free BrainPop Featured Movie app works with the iPod touch, iPad and iPhone. Kids can watch hundreds of movies from a multitude of categories. It is easy for them to read along since the movies are close captioned. Then they get to test their knowledge with BrainPop’s popular interactive quizzes.
Early Jamestown
Early Jamestown is an interactive social studies textbook by Victoria Productions. Teachers really love the rich graphics and engrossing story of the beginning of America. The app features interactive timelines along with zoomable maps. Assessments are embedded throughout the program. Kids can also click on words for definitions and pronunciations to enrich their content reading vocabulary. This app is free and intended to be used with the iPad.
Mad Libs
Kids get to practice grammar and sentence structure skills in a really fun way with Mad Libs. The free sample version lets them test skills with fill-in-the-blank activities on their iPhone or iPod touch. The paid version lets them create outrageous Mad Lib stories and play crazy word games. The complete version is an iPhone app called Goofy Libs. There are over 20 silly stories for hours of fun. There is even an email option so they can share their goofy creations with family and friends.
Motion Math HD
This math game app for the iPad is well worth the $2.99 download price. It comes highly recommended by Randy Rodgers, education technology specialist. It is a challenging game for third through sixth graders. It helps them review decimals, fractions and percentages in a fun and unique way. They must use the iPad’s gyroscope to properly place numbers on a number line. They tilt the iPad and make the numbers fall in the correct place. This game really gets challenging as the levels go up. Perfect for the ‘einsteins’ in math class, Motion Math is guaranteed to increase number sense.
Professor Garfield Cyberbulling
Cyberbullying is a growing problem in society today. Impress kids and parents with this free app for the iPad. It will feel good knowing that this app may really help kids in real life situations. The story features Garfield’s friend Nermal who wants to win Best Dancer on the Animal Idol website. The mean dogs next door devise a plan to humiliate Nermal and use his email to write hurtful messages to him. Garfield turns into Professor G., his highly intelligent alter ego. He and his companion Dr. Nova get to the source of these cyber attacks to fix things. After the story, there is a Try and Apply section for teaching kids to recognize cyber bullying and apply strategies to prevent becoming a victim of it.
