thing 14: app-apalooza

I have know about Smart Apps for Kids for a while. Over the last year or so have obtained many free apps to try out and learned about many others.  we have a limited number of iPad at schools and I have used them for one project.  I would like to integrate them into my school day more.  I have big dreams of trying library centers and having learning apps for one center.  I think the kid would be engaged and want to use that center, but finding time in an already packed fixed schedule has proved to be more than challenging.  looking for apps to use with materials I already teach might prove to be most useful.

I loved the poetry suggestions here... including Poetry Creater app and Word Mover app both of which are free and a student could use like magnetic poetry.  Could be used in a center or if students finish a project.  With more iPads these would be great for the kids to try out and share.

A few examples I was able to try... Here is Word Creator and Word Salad...



I liked how easy the apps were to move and create.  Because they were free, there isn't a huge level of choices, but enough.  Word Salad lets you type in a list and create more of the word cloud images and I was able to quickly go from one to a new version by changing amount of words, colors and layout fairly quickly.  Example is a list of my son's favorite things.  Poetry Creator let me add more words to my word draw and adjust the amount of the word "the", plus still add in 10 words of my own choice for free.  More words and options were available for a small fee, but for now, this would work.  Would be fun to attach the Ipad to the smartboard to demonstrate and have the kids show their work to all.  I also downloaded a "refrigerator magnet" app, but the words kept getting stuck which was frustrating. 

And then I stumbled across a site that had citation apps!  Oh my how cool and a great thing for the Library in your pocket folder you could create on you Ipads or Ipods!  This one is totally free!  EasyBib has you scan the barcode and it creates the entry for you!  Amazing!

A great Site I hadn't really spent time on before is.. http://www.educatorstechnology.com.  There I found a wealth of resources including a current post on Using Ipads and apps in the classroom.  Lots of tutorials and more!  When I have a few free baby minutes I will have to go back and explore more!

Wish there was more time to devote to Ipads in the library.  I was able to do a project last Sept with having the fifth graders reread a favorite picture book, write a few lines about it, record with an app, then I made a QR code to link them and posted them on the books.  Then anyone could scan the code and hear the review.  Would love to hear or learn of some quick projects and applications for Ipads in the library.  or I could brainstorm and create all summer I guess...

updated: 3/22/15 -- just saw a neat website (or really a search engine) to look for apps called app crawler.  Lets you search by device, topic, age level, free or paid and more.