Saturday, January 26, 2013

Sushi Monster

This is not for the faint of heart or the addition newbie! A hungry monster is looking for addends of "target numbers". Find the correct combinations and he eagerly gobbles them up from the "Sushi bar". I recommend this for kindergartners who are "hungry" for a math challenge!

Cosmic Counters

This App provides a nice introduction to Mathematicians who are in the introductory level of using tens frames to reinforce the Common Core Standards. When the answer is correct, the rocket lifts off! Awesome!



Sight Words by Photo Touch

What a great App for encouraging early readers... You may choose the level of difficulty by choosing how many words will be displayed on the screen. Students are asked to "touch...say" for example. Auditory prompts lead to successful reading of unfamiliar words and reinforces word reading for early readers.



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Bitsboard is the ULTIMATE !!!

Every concept from numbers to letters and sight words has a format for learning with this App.

Select from boards that have already been created or make your own board. Just add text or a picture (or both) and tap on the lower left hand red button to add the voiced word (or sound) for each item.

I discovered that someone had set up our kindergarten sight word for Reading Street Unit 1-3.
I downloaded that list and then created my own for unit 4-5.

This App has loads of potential for my kindergarten classroom! Games include flashcards (for exposure), photo touch (receptive language), as well as matching and sentence building.





App Crayon

I just discovered the PERFECT writing tool and letter practice APP for my Kinder Kids! And the price is right!
I picked mine up at Radio Shack, but the App Crayon website states that they are also available at Target, Walgreens and Bed Bath and Beyond. The web site also offers a "classroom 6-pack". I'm waiting for a price quote but I paid 10 bucks for a single stylus. I eagerly paid that price since I had previously paid $22.00 for a chunky (but heavy!), stylus for my K's to use with our iPads.

What makes this stylus just PERFECT in my opinion is that it is light weight, AND it had a training grip which encourages a tripod grip. I love it!

Now, here's the bonus... A FREE app is available for your students to practice writing their Capital Letters as well as their Lowercase Letters. Our school just adopted the Handwriting Without Tears handwriting program. While they have an app for Capital Letter practice, we are still waiting for them to release the App for lowercase letter practice. The App Crayon practice is similar enough to the HWT program, so I WILL be using it with my students while I wait for the HWT lowercase App to make its appearance.






Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Little Reader: 3 Letter Words

Use voice on and voice off option. Students match picture tile with 3 letter word on the right. Set with up to 6 images and words. While these are all "real" words, this App allows for practice for the NWF portion of DIBELS.

ABC Touch

This great little App can be set to Capital Letter, Lower-case Letters or a combination of both.
Screen can be set for 4 images or multiple images. Students are asked to "touch the....".
Turn off the sound and you can use this app to allow students to rapidly name all the letters on the screen
(great practice for DIBLES, Letter Naming Fluency task!). Note: Students may use a plastic pointer instead of finger to accomplish this last activity, in a guided learning setting.