App Reviews

Tonya’s App Reviews  
*Stars are keepers!

*Abc Lite:

Grades:  K/1
Description:  Trace letters in zaner bloser then make words.  They give the sound, you choose the letter.  Goes from 2 letter words to three letter words.  Letters are limited in the free version to a, i, n, p, s, t.
Rating:  4/5  Worth buying!

Brain Pop:

Grades:  2/3
Description:  Watch movies and take quizzes.  Not very interactive.  No access to movies unless you buy it.
Rating:  Didn’t love, but teachers of upper grades may like it better.

Math Play:

Grades:  1-3
Description:  Math Facts, 1-4 players, can change from just addition to subtraction, multiplication, and division.  Can not change level of difficulty.  Quite a variety of problems within addition.
Rating:  There must be a better one out there in which you can individualize more.

Whiteboard:

Rating:  Doodle Buddy is WAY better!

*Doodle Buddy:

Grades:  All
Description:  Like kid pix, draw using tools, stamps – some make noise and can be annoying (watch out for the crying baby and poop stamps….my kids’ favorites), type, use stencils, change the background, shake the ipad to erase like etcha sketch.  Can’t seem to select things and move them around the screen though.
Rating:  Good for fun and kind of learning to use the ipad.  Not a lot of educational value.  Lots of ads.  Can get rid of them for $.99.

*GoSkyWatch:

Grades:  All
Description:  Point the ipad to the sky and it shows you which stars, planets, and constellations you are looking at.  So cool, but even cooler in the dark.
Rating:  2nd and 3rd grades could use this with their science units but again, more beneficial to use in the evening.

*Magnetic Alphabet:

Grades:  K/1
Description:  Build words using magnetic letters like on the fridge.  Good for some word work.  Can only use capitals with free version.  Would be worth buying for the lowercase letters for $1.99.
Rating:  3/5

Lobster Diver:

Grades:  3rd grade (maybe)
Description:  Use a diver to learn the number line.  The program gives you the number.  You have to send the diver down to that number on the number line but many of the numbers are missing.
Rating:  Not very good.  No way to set level of difficulty.  Can go from easy to negative numbers and halves.  Better for third grade to try and rate.

NASA:

Grades:  Very advanced, but 3rd grade might be able to take a little from it.
Description:  Learn about space by clicking on planets, watching videos, etc.  A lot of upper level reading involved.


StoryBuddy:
Grades:  All
Description:  Create books page by page.  Can take pictures with the ipad and use them in your story.  Flip through pages like readl book.  Cannot create books with this version.  Need to upgrade for $6.99
Rating:  Hard to tell without being able to use it.  Gets great reviews and looks promising!

*Word Solitaire:

Grades: 2/3 – Adults
Description:  Cards like solitaire but with letters on them.  Super fun and addictive!  Great tutorial of how to play.  Object is to use the letters to build as many words as possible.  The longer the word, the more points you get.
Rating:  5 for adults.  Would need to try it out with students to see how they like it.  May be challenging for some.

Dragon Dictation:

Grades:  All
Description:  Talk into the ipad and it turns your speech into text.
Rating:  3/5  Doesn’t get it all right when I speak into it.  Recognized barely anything when my kids spoke into it….maybe a better one out there?  Like the idea of having the kids to practice their oral storytelling.


*Clock Master
Grades:  1-3
Description:  Read the clock.  Lots of ways to make it more difficult.  Great for a free app to practice telling time!
Rating: 5/5

*Sound Sorting


Grades:  K

Description:  Match pictures of words that have the same beginning sound
Rating:  4/5

*Sight Words

Grades:  K-3
Description:  Flash cards with sight words per grade level.  Go through the cards with or without sound.  Go to settings and choose Play Mode/Games for students to have to choose the correct sight word from a group
Rating:  Good practice for those who need it.

*Rocket Math

Grades:  1-3
Description:  Complete math missions to earn money and then build a rocket to complete more math missions.  Super fun!!
Rating:  5/5  Probably want to buy because of ads.  $.99

*Tic Tac Toe Phonics

Grades:  End of first – third
Description:  Play tic tac toe by answering phonics questions
Rating:  4/5  Wish you could change the degree of difficulty