All About Apps

Today it's all about apps: science, math, and grammar!  Three apps to add to your center rotations that encourage learning while having fun.  

Classify It! Animal Exploration App (free!)

Description

Think you know what poison ivy and a firefly have in common? How about some of the ways a dolphin and a goldfish are different? Download Classify It!, a new game from AAAS Science NetLinks, to test your knowledge of how various organisms can be sorted and grouped.

Play through the game’s 30 levels to earn special Creature Cards, and then pick up nine more in the fast-paced bonus rounds! Can you collect all 39 cards for a complete set? Pick your avatar and start sorting!

Features:

- Multi-user system: each child can choose and name his/her own avatar from one of twelve organisms
- Educational information about classification
- Earn Creature Cards to learn more about organisms
- Three progressively difficult modes teach classification

Grammaropolis

Description

Grammaropolis is where grammar lives! Hailed as a Schoolhouse Rock for the 21st Century, Grammaropolis uses the parts of speech as animated characters whose personalities are based on the roles they play in the sentence. From the shady pronoun always trying to take the noun’s place to the motherly conjunction who just wants everyone to get along, Grammaropolis achieves the seemingly impossible: we make learning grammar fun!

Every part of speech has its own neighborhood that includes a curriculum map with songs, books, videos, and quizzes. Follow the map to earn your badge! 

Mathmateer!

Description

Math can be fun! Build your very own rockets and fly them to the stars with Mathmateer!

While your rocket is floating weightlessly in space, the real fun begins! Play one of the many fun math missions. Each mission has touchable objects floating in space, including stars, coins, 3D shapes and more! Earn a bronze, silver or gold medal and also try to beat your high score. Missions range in difficulty from even/odd numbers all the way to square roots, so kids and their parents will enjoy hours of fun while learning math.

MATH MISSIONS:
▸ Numbers
▸ Telling Time
▸ U.S. Money
▸ 3D Shapes
▸ Arithmetic

Create Your Own Library with Libbib.com

LibBib.com is an awesome website that allows you to create an online library of books, music, and/or movies.  You simply go to libbib.com, log in (for free), and you can create any number of "libraries" that you wish.  I started by creating a library of all the random educational books that I have on or around my desk that support me in my role as 21st Century Learning Coordinator.  Here is a snapshot of my library link homepage:

Libbib.com will create a unique link to each of your libraries, an image of the book cover and when you click on each individual book, you will see specific information about that title.  Here is an example:

If you are looking for a fast, easy way to digitally organize your classroom library, your classroom read alouds, books that you like to share with parents, book club books, reading group books, and more, then this is a great tool.  You can scan the book with a mobile device to add it to your collection or you can type in the title or ISBN number.  You don't have to be a library lover to love libbib.com!

An Online Magazine for Kids

As is always the case, there is so much going on in the world, which can often make it challenging for students to access news websites without experiencing some type of emotional trauma.  However, with Youngzine.org, created by an Engineer who believes in global education, children can read about current events or other news shaping the world in a safer forum.  

Youngzine.org is a solid website to use for a critical thinking activity, a reading comprehension tool, or as a way to jump start a classroom discussion.  On the homepage, students can click on a part of the world that interests them and articles will pop up that relay current events of that area.  Have your students pick a region out of a hat and research one fact to share about that region.  Tempt your students with a resource that caters to curiosity.  

Happy Tuesday!