The History Channel has lots of options for exploring the past on mobile devices. Bet You Didn’t Know is a fun app for trivia that gives users lots of options. You can also view clips of shows and specials on the History Channel app.
Check out my bundle of Common Core aligned Social Studies iPad lesson plans!
Geometry Pad is a fantastic free app for drawing on a coordinate plane on iPads. Draw figures, add text and identify the points on the grid. This app is great for teaching how to identify x and y values and creating your own polygons.
Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan for teaching geometry in your classroom.
I’ve shared some great free apps for turning your iPad into a measurement tool: protractor, reading a ruler. Measure Length – Tiny Chicken by TapToLearn is another app that’s perfect for teaching students how to use a ruler to measure inches, centimeters and millimeters. They’ll move a ruler on their screen and find the length of different farm animals – fantastic for elementary school students!
Check out one of the Common Core aligned iPad lesson plans in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
In classrooms with just one iPad there are lots of apps that you can use to create presentations (Educreations, Doceri, ScreenChomp, Haiku Deck). If you have access to 1 to 1 technology you have to try NearPod for presentations. Use an old PowerPoint as a template and upload it to the NearPod website. Add interactive items like quiz questions and polls that will keep students engaged and help you access student understanding. Once your presentation is created, students can watch on their own iPad screen as you control the pace of the presentation. It’s easy to use and with free basic accounts it’s definitely worth checking out!
If your students are making their own presentations, check out my screencasting guide!
I’ve talked about all the ways I use QR codes in my classroom and it is so easy to make your own! The free iPad app QR Code Maker gives users the ability to copy and paste any URL and turn their link into a QR code. Save the QR code to your camera roll and share with students.
I have lots of QR hunts in my teacher store (here’s bundle #1 and bundle #2)
*this app works great on your iPhone too!
One of my favorite topics to teach in the classroom is healthy eating. There are lots of great free apps to support this subject at all grade levels.
Here’s my Common Core aligned QR Scavenger Hunt “Intro to Healthy Eating” and the “Food Plate (aka Food Pyramid)“
There is a wonderful free app that introduces students to Westward Expansion through the famous painting by John Gast. Manifest Destiny allows students to explore the motivations of pioneers, the struggles they faced and terrain they explored. I love that this app centers around a primary source document and helps children think about the western United States in the past and present.
Try one of my Common Core aligned iPad Scavenger hunts if you’re teaching Westward Expansion in your classroom: Lewis and Clark, the Dust Bowl, the Trail of Tears, the Gold Rush, or the Great Plains.
Thank you for attending my workshop this month!
If you weren’t able to make it, check out my presentation Free iPad Apps for the K-5 Classroom:
My fifth graders don’t have their own account or login, but Khan Academy is still a great way to introduce new topics. We often use BrainPop and student created tutorials to learn and review the steps for solving different math problems, but Khan Academy is a fantastic resource for upper elementary, middle school and high school students. The Khan Academy app is a great way for me to preview videos while I’m on the go or use with a small group who is struggling.
If your students are making their own tutorials check out my guide ->Screencasting Teacher Tools: Tasks, Procedures, Checklists and Rubric (on iPads) and Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan
SlideShare is a great resource for PowerPoint presentations. This website allows you to view presentations created by teachers (and all sorts of people) that may be useful for your classroom. It’s also a fantastic place to share your presentations with others.
Check out my SlideShare presentations:
I love using Dropbox in my classroom, in fact I can’t live without it. Dropbox is fantastic if you’re looking to conserve resources or save time making photocopies.
Here are just a few things that are in my students’ Dropboxes right now:
Check out my Common Core aligned iPad lesson plan bundle with activity sheets that can be completed in other apps on your iPad!
If you use rubrics to grade student work you have to try ForAllRubrics! Once you set up your class list, this website allows users to import rubrics they’ve already made, or easily create new ones. Open the site on your iPad and with a few taps you’ll have projects graded in no time. It’s easy to access previous grades, print out data, and it’s free for teachers!
Here’s a Common Core aligned guide to creating Screencasts in your classroom (it has a rubric too!)
If you’re looking for a good resource for documentaries, SnagFilms is a fantastic app. Completely free, with no requirement to sign up, SnagFilms offers a great variety of award winning documentaries. Whether you’re looking to extend a lesson, kick off a unit or just learn more about a topic before teaching, you’ll want to check out this fantastic free app!
Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app in the classroom!
I love learning new things and SnapGuide is a fantastic free app that you must explore! Pinterest is a great place for gathering new ideas, and SnapGuide takes this concept to a whole new level. SnapGuide is full of how-to guides that show step-by-step instructions on how to complete a variety of tasks. You and your students can even create your own how-to guides using this free service!
Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan for using this app!
If you weren’t one of the 300+ attendees of my live webinar, you can still check out my presentation:
If you are looking for a new formative assessment tool check out Understoodit. Whether your students are on iPads or have access to the web from desktops, Understoodit is a fantastic free assessment tool that is perfect for collecting data when presenting new information to students. As you speak, students press one of two buttons on a website unique to your class: “Confused” or “Understood” You’ll receive real-time data on how well your class understands your presentation.
At first I was hesitant to try Understooit with my fifth graders, since it seemed so perfect for university professors and high school teachers, but it worked great with my group. I don’t normally teach by lecture so I had students first try it out while watching a BrainPop video. This way it was easy for me to know when to pause and initiate a discussion when they were confused. I’m gathering formative data and can alter my instruction by the minute!
There are so many free assessment tools that I love and if you are in a 1:1 classroom you have to try The Answer Pad!
The Answer Pad allows you to set up an electronic answer sheet to a test you’ve already created. Students can then “fill in” their multiple-choice answers by using the TAPit app or The Answer Pad website. The best part of this assessment tool might be the ability to assign a Common Core Standard to each question. That way when a student answers a question I know if they’ve mastered each skill. Students can also show their work using a scratch pad on the app before submitting their answer. Watch their tutorial for a complete breakdown – this is a must have for a 1:1 classroom!
If you weren’t one of the 200+ attendees of my live webinar, you can still check out my presentation:
Toontastic is a fantastic app you can use in your classroom. Don’t be fooled by the cartoon graphics, this app can be used with all ages.
Students create their own short stories or retell a story that they’ve read. Each scene in the story arc requires that students draw their own setting and characters or use one of the templates included in the app. Music can be added to change the tone of the story and all cartoons can be shared with families and peers through Toontastic’s own website.
Check out my Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app!
Here’s another Common Core aligned lesson plan using this app!
