This week while working on the resources for the monthly Digital Teacher Challenge in my district, I spent some time digging into Apps. Our theme for February is Get Appy! I concentrated on apps for all different tools as we have Chromebooks (Chrome Webstore and connected Apps), iPads (iOS Apps), and Android Tablets (Google Play Apps). Through this research I came across so many great resources both app and web-based, I thought it was a shame not to share here as well! So here's Five for Friday!
Read with Me - This great app helps teachers to assess fluency in students using custom options. Some of the custom features available in the app are the ability to add your own miscues, name the miscues in a way that makes sense and the ability to count or not count the miscue in the score of the student. Additionally the reports look to be quite complete. They are integrated with Google Sign-in and Schoology.
FlipQuiz - This jeopardy style review game is a simple fee way to make review games with kids. Find quizzes already built or create your own. You can add answers to the game board if you choose so that you can be hands-free and host the game as you walk around the room. Because all the answers are built in, you have the ability to send students a link to the game and they can play and review at home! This is a free resource but with the PRO version you will will get in-game score keeping, the ability to add your personal images, and many other features.
Hstry -This great resources allows you or your students to build a historical timeline rich with media (images, video and audio) in addition to the engagement features of commenting and quizzes or checks for understanding. Timelines can then be shared and easily embedded on a website or blog using the embed code generated on the site. With the free service you can have 200 student timelines. Explore this amazing timeline from their site on Life in the Colonies.
Algebra Calculator - This great resource is a calculator that gives a student step-by-step help on algebra problems. Students can use this to enter a problem and instead of the calculator generating just the answer, it generates each of the steps to get to the final answer with a short explanation of what those steps entailed.
Periodic Table - Chemistry Tools This is a free interactive app for exploring chemical elements and their dependencies in the periodic table. The app allows students to see the elements in various ways and makes the periodic table interactive. See the elements, details, atomic structure, boiling point and more. Student s can sort by properties, classification or state.
Google Earth Tour Builder, while not a new tool is one that came to mind after sharing yesterday's post about the resource myHistro. Both tools are similar and make use of maps and visuals. Google Tour Builder combines Google Earth and a slideshow in which you can incorporate images, videos and text to connect locations all across the globe to tell a story. While the first thought that comes to mind might be history, there are plenty other ideas for use including biographies, tours of locations, field trip summaries and literature studies.
Google Tour Builder is a tool that requires a computer (not a Chromebook or iPad). On the computer it does require the Google Earth Plugin.
Creating a Tour is not challenging! Check it out!
1. Begin at www.tourbuilder.withgoogle.com. Sign in to your Google Account and click "Create New Tour".
2. Complete the "let's get started" page.
3. The Next page is where you begin to introduce you Tour. Complete the highlighted items and use the available tools to manage the view.
4. Click add a location on the left side panel 5. Type your location into the search or drop a placemark in a location you see on the map. Click "add to tour".
6. Once you Add to tour you then open a window in which you can personalize this location. You can add up to 25 photos and videos, dates, a story about the location, and even change the icon that represents the location on the map. One area not to neglect is the Pan/Tilt/and Zoom of the view in which the location on the map is viewed. Once you have it set, don't forget to "lock the view".
7. Continue to add your locations and they will build on the tour timeline on the left. Once you are done, click "Save Now".
8. Then, just as you would share another Google Doc, you will see a "share" button in the top right hand corner. Click on the share button and change the visibility to your desired settings. Click "done" and you have created your first tour!
If this step-by-step does not help you out, give this tutorial a try!
The ability for students to create and explore is a large part of the benefit to technology use in the classroom. Teaching history is one of the areas in the curriculum where we often tell kids about events when we could be showing, exploring and interacting with the events that have taken place over time. The resource MyHistro allows students to collaborate over a digital timeline that includes maps, graphics, discussions, and written information. This resource is one that a teacher could create and share or better yet, turn the creation over to the students to explore a historical period and create the timeline on their own. As indicated in the video below, there is a built in element for a quiz within the tool, but the comment feature might provide deeper learning overall. The free resources not only include a tutorial on the main page to learn from, but the following video summarizes the tool in a brief yet concise way.
Read with Me - This great app helps teachers to assess fluency in students using custom options. Some of the custom features available in the app are the ability to add your own miscues, name the miscues in a way that makes sense and the ability to count or not count the miscue in the score of the student. Additionally the reports look to be quite complete. They are integrated with Google Sign-in and Schoology.
FlipQuiz - This jeopardy style review game is a simple fee way to make review games with kids. Find quizzes already built or create your own. You can add answers to the game board if you choose so that you can be hands-free and host the game as you walk around the room. Because all the answers are built in, you have the ability to send students a link to the game and they can play and review at home! This is a free resource but with the PRO version you will will get in-game score keeping, the ability to add your personal images, and many other features. 
Hstry -This great resources allows you or your students to build a historical timeline rich with media (images, video and audio) in addition to the engagement features of commenting and quizzes or checks for understanding. Timelines can then be shared and easily embedded on a website or blog using the embed code generated on the site. With the free service you can have 200 student timelines. Explore this amazing timeline from their site on Life in the Colonies.
Algebra Calculator - This great resource is a calculator that gives a student step-by-step help on algebra problems. Students can use this to enter a problem and instead of the calculator generating just the answer, it generates each of the steps to get to the final answer with a short explanation of what those steps entailed.
Periodic Table - Chemistry Tools This is a free interactive app for exploring chemical elements and their dependencies in the periodic table. The app allows students to see the elements in various ways and makes the periodic table interactive. See the elements, details, atomic structure, boiling point and more. Student s can sort by properties, classification or state. 
