Middle School Drivers...Yikes!!!!

The following app would be a great addition to any drivers education course in middle school. 



DMV Test Prep-North Dakota  $2.99


This app is specific to North Dakota, I have seen other state apps available. Thanks Autumn....great find! Congrats Sabrina on your driving permit!

Ideas for Red Laser App

This app has some instructional possibilities in the classroom.....

Free App.... Red Laser

Idea 1: Have some items (ex. cereal boxes, soup cans, books etc...anything with a barcode) and have students use the Red Laser app to scan the barcodes on the items. Tell the students that they each have $50 to spend to get the best deals for their money. Students can use the following worksheet to recored their work.  

Idea 2: This app also will generate QR code for the user...I could see teachers using this app for that purpose. Once the QR code is created it can easily be emailed or saved in your photos on the ipad/ipod for later use. The idea of a scavenger hunt using QR codes sounds interesting to me and will probably be something I try in the next few months. The following are a couple links about QR code and some ideas to use in education.....


Using QR Codes in the Classroom

QR Codes in Education Livebinders

US National Archives App

This app would be great for anyone interested in history!!! The Today's Document app displays a piece from the US Natonal Archives. The link gives a more detailed description. One of the features of this app is a small "i" in the upper right hand corner of the screen, clicking on this will give you the text of the document along with a link to more information about the archived document. The US National Archives also provides lesson plans to use with the app, with some additional analysis worksheets.

Thank You Starbucks!

Yesterday I'm waiting in line at Starbucks when I spot these little cards by the cashier........

I knew that they had cards with free song downloads from iTunes, but I had no idea that they also had apps too! ITunes has the Star Walk app on sale for $1.99 today, but if you have a "Pick of the Week" card from Starbucks, all you have to do on your ipad is redeem the code on the back of the card, through the App Store....simple!


Just wanted to pass this on...........

Addicted to Whirly Word

I've officially been on holiday break for the past three days and might be addicted to the app Whirly Word....help!!!

Here is an idea for the classroom:

1. Project your ipad/ipod on the activboard or smartboard, whichever you have. As a class, have your students write down (on whiteboards) all the words they can create with the six letters on the whirly word screen. Set a timer....
2. Do the same activity, but have student in pairs with one ipad. They can type their words in the Pages app.
3. Students can get points for words that no one else found. Student with most points gets to got to the activboard or smartboard and start a new game. (plays the facilitator/gameshow host, etc.)

Apps for Grandkids :)

What a beautiful day in Bismarck, North Dakota! We are in the middle of December and we are enjoying 40 degree weather, it doesn't get better than that! 

The post today is dedicated to a great friend, who would like to get her grandchildren some educational apps for Christmas. Here's my suggestions Carol........

123 Color HD

http://xrl.us/bmmafr

PBS Kids Movies

http://xrl.us/bmmagy

Brainpop

http://xrl.us/bmmagq

Create a Car
http://xrl.us/bmmahe

Cash Cow

http://xrl.us/bmmahv

Story Lines

http://xrl.us/bmmaiq

United States Puzzle Map

http://xrl.us/bmmai2

iBooks Top Ten List

iBooks is one of my favorite apps...the possibilities are endless for its uses!!! Here are my top ten apptivities and features of iBooks....enjoy :)

#10--Creating "Collections" to organize your books and pdf documents. Apptivity--I created a collection called School Board and placed a pdf within that bookshelf. This pdf contained school-wide K-8 mathematics data, comparing the beginning of the year to the middle of the year benchmark assessments, along with pictures from our most recent Math Around the World event. I brought in about six ipads and let the school board members open up the pdf's within iBooks....they loved it!

#9--The ability to use books with movies and animation, like the science experiment book, "Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes" by Steve Spangler

#8--The note and dictionary features available while reading a book. By tapping on a word and holding your finger on the word for a second, a set of features will appear. Apptivity--Last year a small group of 8th graders helped me test out iBooks. We read The Call of The Wild where the dictionary feature came in handy when we came across words such as--draught animal. Student were able to read the book at their own pace and I was able to keep track of their comprehension by using the Notes feature. I would post questions on notes throughout their book and they would answer my questions on the same note. I could easily find these notes and answers by choosing the notes tab on the table of contents page. Great way to individualize instruction!

#7--The search book feature allows the reader to type word or phrase and a list of places where the word or phrase is found in the book will appear....this is a wonderful tool for students to find answers to questions.

#6--Ability to change the brightness, font size, font style, and background theme...wonderful for those of us that like to read larger font and at night in the dark.

#5--Before you purchase a book from the iBook store you can click on the "Get Sample" button. A chapter will download into your iBooks, so it's like going to Barnes and Noble...you get to preview the book before you buy it.

#4--Creating your own iBook with hyperlinks and videos.   Apptivity--Let's say a Kindergarten class went on a field trip to your local zoo. The teacher took some small videos of the animals. As a class project, the teacher has the students write about their favorite animal they saw at the zoo, along with a fact about this animal. She then takes a picture of the student's writings (with the ipad/ipod) and places them into a Pages document, along with some of the videos from the zoo. Of course, the teacher would pretty up the document. It is then placed into iBooks for students to view and could also be shown to parents at conferences.

#3--Built in Google and Wikipedia search within the iBooks app. Highlight a word or group of words....example: Area 51, then click on the search feature and you have the option of google or wikipedia.

#2--You don't have to carry around a bunch of books, instead you have all your library on one small device. 

and 

#1----IT'S FREE!!!!

Engage Our Students!!!

Thought I would share.....

Welcome to my blog :)

This blog will be my place to share ideas about the ipad and ways to use it the K-8 classroom. Here are a few math apps that can be used to teach fact fluency....

Players can choose addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. If player is stuck on a problem hint will appear, such as animated fingers and area models.

Ace Multiply is a good app for fact practice with three games like Grid Play and Game Blitz. If your students need to review and learn the times table they can use the Multiplier.

Good app to learn multiplication facts, students can write their answers and check to see if they are correct.