I am excited that on Tuesday, January 31, we are already hosting our third informal app sharing session. Once again, Sarah, Rhona and I will be presenting some interesting apps that we discovered - some already used with students in class.
As during the previous sessions, I will focus on reading and book apps. The more apps I download, explore and use with students, the more I learn about the differences from one app to another. While some reviews already point out strengths and weaknesses, it is often only once I have the app downloaded and explored with students, that I can tell whether I find it useful or not. With book apps, especially interactive book apps, the question is often whether they distract too much from the main storyline. Here is an app which I find has just the right balance of engaging the reader without distracting. I like the various options available (read to me, read myself, etc.) as well as the brief tutorial at the beginning of the app:
And here are some great nonfiction books for our young inquirers:
This is a real multimedia experience since the app includes videos, images and text (so there is definitely some independent reading required).
I have to admit that with this app it wasn't "love at first sight", it took me a little while to appreciate it and discover its special features (e.g. you can adjust the reading level). It was an immediate success with our first grade inquirers. Even though I have had this app for a little while already, I still have a group of students basically every day reading this book during recess.
And here two of my favorite (non educational) fun apps: I think every iPad needs a Candle and a Facelift from time to time. Enjoy!
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