A Fluid Resource of Quality Educational Apps and Sites That Can Be Used In The Classroom to Complement Traditional Student Learning
Maths Facts: Number Bonds offers a good introduction to the concept of number bonding (while building the scaffolding for future work with bigger fact families). The multi-sensory approach that has young learners dragging numbers to complete a bond helps reinforce their building number sense. This app is particularly strong in the way it pairs with the Singapore Math curriculum familiar to students in schools that incorporate this curriculum
Felt Board is a great app for not only creating, but also story boarding as well. Students can create a scene with backgrounds and characters, save it as a picture, and then change it slightly and continue the process of saving each change as a new picture. They can then “app-smash” by inserting the saved pictures from their tablet’s camera roll into Book Creator and use those tools to finish their story. Younger students who are just getting started on their writing journey could take advantage of the voice recording feature in book creator to narrate their story that originated in the Felt Board app.
Catchy Words is a great app that uses augmented reality to engage students in practicing spelling in a very interactive and multi-sensory way. Using an iPad, students can find letters that appear to be floating around the room and place them in the correct order to spell words. They can either access different words from a variety of lists already created and leveled, or they can add their own words that correspond to their own weekly spelling list, word study, or thematic unit.
The Google Tour Creator tool is similar to ThingLink in that you are combining the concept of creating a hyperlink but doing it within a 360 degree image that you can view in VR. In fact, you could also look at it as an interactive slide show in VR where you can string together scenes while narrating overtop, or embedding text, photos, links and more. You can essentially guide where someone is looking while in your tour. IMPORTANT NOTE Google is going to be phasing out this platform so while it will work until late June 2021, it will no longer be accessible after that. Google will be incorporating this platform into Google Arts and Culture, as well as building in similar functionality within Google Earth.
There is also a ton of pre-existing content created and shared by other users so it is a great resource for just experiencing guided tours that already exist, before creating your own. You can also upload your tour to Google Expeditions where you (or others) can view it in virtual reality.
The content for both VR and AR has grown exponentially in the past year, and Google Expeditions is a fantastic resource for students and teachers to gain a broader perspective about a range of topics. For teachers in a classroom, it is very easy to control all student iPads at once while guiding a tour. But even in the absence of a classroom experience, students can independently take advantage of this platform in a variety of ways. You can print off AR “markers” which act as a trigger to show a model in augmented reality, or simply move your device around a specified area until the model appears. For VR, you don’t actually need a VR headset to explore in a meaningful way. The VR content (which is a larger catalog than AR currently) can be viewed by moving your device (tablet or phone) around and exploring the content as if it is all around you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Google will be phasing out Expeditions and it will no longer be active as of June 2021. It is worth taking advantage of this platform while it exists though, and after it ceases to exist, check out Google Arts and Culture where many of the tours enjoyed in Expeditions will transfer over.
Students don’t need to be just “consumers” of the content either. You can create your own VR tour in Google Tour Creator (or see that entry on this site to learn more) and upload it into Google Expeditions to view. Using the screen record feature on the computer, tablet, or phone, students can also record their voice while giving a tour of what they have learned or detailing features of an AR model while it appears projected right there in the room with them. There are lots of possibilities for app smashing (combining tech platforms) with this tool.
You may not have even been aware that Google has an Arts and Culture division that has a ton of content for classes to explore. From using VR headsets to tour the Louvre, or delving into the culture of a particular country through art and architecture, this resource is worth checking out. Google will also be pouring even more of its attention into this platform as it phases out Expeditions and Tour Creator, in favor of a single, all encompassing platform.
This is an app that can be used alongside a lesson to help students visualize information. There are a number of similar apps out there that are rapidly adding content, though some are better than others and many will pester you with add-ons to purchase. JigSpace is a solid option however because it has quality content for free. Most of the topics center on science and history, but you could certainly apply some of the content to other subject areas. Students could also record themselves explaining a model that they are looking at in AR, therefore allowing them to interact with the content more than just as a “consumer”.
VR has long been considered an extension of the video game industry and the assumption is that it is purely entertainment (or worse, excess screentime strapped to your face). However, the educational ramifications of putting students into space, geographically anywhere on the planet including in the oceans, in the midst of a battle fought long ago etc… are pretty powerful. Even as a short intro to a larger lesson, VR is a fantastic way to engage students and give them a more visceral learning experience to complement other more traditional components of teaching a unit.
We currently have VR headsets for 6 students at a time and can take advantage of apps like Discovery VR and Google Expeditions to instantly take students anywhere. 
Additionally, we have a top of the line virtual reality headset and equipment that lives in the tech training room. Although only one student at a time can actually navigate with the headset, classmates can watch on the big screen while they await their turn working on another “learning station”.
Augmented Reality is perhaps even more powerful than VR in an education setting because every student can have the same experience at the same time. It can easily be added into an existing lesson and be experienced concurrently with class lecture, group work, research, and more.
Imagine frog dissection without the smell! Students can look at the human body and dive into layers of a cell. If you have a topic you teach, there is an augmented reality visual experience you can draw on to reinforce learning. There are also numerous ways for students to take advantage of existing material, add to it, and incorporate it into their own project to showcase their learning.
CommonLit is another alternative (also 100% free) to reading comprehension building, similar to ReadWorks. Educators can sign up for a free account and either choose to have students also create accounts or not. There is a huge catalog of reading passages for all different comprehension levels, as well as built-in extension activities for student enrichment. Many of the topics found overlap with our own curriculum throughout both lower school and middle school.
ReadWorks is another option for teachers looking to boost reading comprehension. This is a completely free site and teachers can use the large collection of fiction and nonfiction to curate lessons that accommodate all different reading levels. It has comprehension pieces built right in, as well as vocabulary building tabs. Within the same passage, teachers can also toggle between two different choices that adjust the reading level, while delivering the same content.
Newsela is a great option if you are looking for student-friendly, up to date news articles. Teachers and/or students can create an account using their school email accounts. The free version has plenty of content that is worthwhile, though if your grade level or department is interested in a premium membership, there are options for managing multiple students at a time.
There are also comprehension check lessons built into each article. Given the importance of teaching students to vet quality news and information, Newsela could be a good place to check out and use as examples from their lessons that are geared towards this very topic. You can adjust reading levels for younger students, and filter by topic, opinion, etc…
Explain Everything is another resource that is both an app and a site. We have a school account so if you are interested in taking advantage of features not offered on the app (available on all library iPads) we can help you to get logged on.
Explain everything has been around for a while and it keeps getting stronger with constant updates and new features. It is similar to other platforms like Educreations where you can create interactive lessons, presentations, or “how-to’s”, but it is even a little more robust than the other options whose advantages are simplicity of use for younger students.
Educreations is an app and a site. We already have the app available on iPads so there is no need to create an account. However, if you end up wanting to use this resource often, we can create an account where you can keep track of your projects. Educreations is similar to Explain Everything and other platforms that let you create “how-to”s, presentations, etc…, though its simplicity and clean interface make it a great option for younger grades as well.
Rewordify is a great option for differentiating reading content so that different students get the same information while being delivered at their level. It is completely free and there are different avenues for use depending on what you are looking for. If you create a free account, you can take advantage of the more advanced features, but even just visiting the site allows you to plug in text and have it convert it to an easier reading level. For this reason, it can be as useful to younger students as it can older students.
This site has a great collection of tools for audio and video editing. Because so many other editors out there can be a bit sketchy, this is worth having in your back pocket to ensure quick, safe, and easy editing when working on a project.
DoInk is actually two separate apps. One is for animation and the other is for creating green screen content. They can be used interchangeably though and you can really get creative with app smashing here to create virtually anything you can imagine.
Here are a couple of examples of projects that have used DoInk as a primary tool for their creation:
Book Creator has also added a major update this Fall; the ability to embed content from
other sites and applications!
designer.io is the multifaceted vector designing and graphics program that has evolved from its earlier version known as Gravit. It is one of the more commonly used design tools in our EurekaLab because it communicates well with multiple “making tools”.
There are tons of tutorial videos online such as those found on their official youtube channel below:
WeVideo is a great alternative to iMovie, particularly for students and teacher who use PCs. Even for MAC users, it provides one key feature that sets it apart. Because it is a platform that is online, students can collaborate together on the same project from home without having to sit in front of the same device that began the iMovie project. It also is very similar to iMovie in its layout so students who are used to working with Apple’s video editing platform will have no trouble making the transition. We have a school account that allows us a certain number of videos to be created and stored, though there is also a free version that has some limitations. There are other movie making resources listed on this site that are worth comparing, but WeVideo is a solid option.
I would include Google Drawings in the “swiss army knife of digital resources”. On its own, it is easy enough to create stand alone projects, though it is most powerful when it is incorporated into other aspects of a larger project. Because of its consistencies with other Google publishing platforms, it is extremely easy for students to use independently. It is also beneficial to have students be able to share their work as they would with any other Google doc, make a copy of a template teachers could send out, or whatever else you can think of with using a digital canvas.
Below is one example of how teachers used Google Drawings to create a map that they had student partners duplicate and complete.
You may not have even been aware that Google has an Arts and Culture division that has a ton of content for classes to explore. From using our VR headsets to tour the Louvre, or delving into the culture of a particular country through art and architecture, this resource is worth checking out.
Discovery’s education division has not only grown to become a leader in virtual reality content, it also provides a wealth of opportunities for distance learning for our students. There is a huge collection of free virtual field trips and both teacher and student resources.
In addition to all the free resources for educators and students that PBS Education and Learning Media offers, they have a great database of virtual field trip opportunities, guest speakers, and a great listing of events in our area.
University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History offers a great curated collection of virtual field trip opportunities. The majority of opportunities listed are free, though there are some that list sessions that do cost a small fee for a particular docent or institution.
Microsoft offers this free online community that is filled with possible connections to experts and other classrooms from around the world. It continues to grow its collection of possible sessions and with our many spaces that have larger display options, large groups of students can “reach across the globe” to participate at once.
Nepris is a resource for connecting leading experts in a variety of fields with classrooms. They offer live personal distance learning opportunities as well as shared sessions where students from around the world can submit questions to be answered live. They also provide a curated collection of past presentations. We do have a basic school subscription that grants us access to many features and sessions, though we could upgrade our plan if there is enough interest.
Padlet is still one of the more dynamic resources you will find today for teachers and students. We have a school subscription to the EDU version so your options for using it are not limited (though the free version is very strong). Padlet basically exists as a digital bulletin board that an entire class can access and collaborate together on at the same time. The most recent updated versions allow you to embed video, documents directly from Google Drive, audio, text, and and more. You can customize backgrounds, sort posts in a variety of ways, and can easily clone existing Padlets so many people can personalize their notes. As a note-taking tool, it is a fantastic option and you can customize fonts and features as you would in any other digital document. Students as young as third grade have had success using it, though obviously the older the grade level, the broader the possibilities. Check out some of our own student and teacher examples below!
CLICK HERE to see how 3rd grade student group used Padlet for taking notes:
CLICK HERE to explore a 4th grade note-taking Padlet
CLICK HERE to explore how 3rd grade teachers have used Padlet to present a lesson:
We use the Create-a-Car app in JK during their car unit to allow students to design, name, and test out their own automotive creations.
You are likely already plenty familiar with Khan Academy as it has already been used by our math department to provide additional tutorials for students. Along with other powerful tutorial sites, a link to this completely free resource can also be added to the sidebar of class Schoology pages or wherever math homework is assigned. While the lessons are not specifically Singapore aligned in their explanations, for our older students it allows for tutorials as an additional accompaniment to their learning.
***Side Idea*** Once students get some experience with evaluating what makes a successful video tutorial, there are a number of platforms featured on this site that we can use to curate and showcase our own student lessons.
The Newseum’s online content is some of the best available when it comes to vetting of information, teaching students about research in the 21st century, and archival information about history’s most impactful events. Even the premium membership is free to students and teachers. It is a highly recommended resource for teachers and students to have bookmarked!
Listenwise is a site that contains resources for teachers to pair with recent topics covered on NPR programming. While it offers a school subscription, it also provides free resources that work on their own as a nice complement to SEL, current events, government, or civics curriculum.
The Civil War Today app has been around for about 8 years now but it continues to improve with each new updated version it puts out. If there is interest, we can put it on all Library iPads depending on desired use. It basically provides a daily interactive front page newspaper of events occurring on that day during the Civil War. Used as either as a quick warm-up activity, or as the foundation of an entire unit or curriculum, Civil War Today remains a solid resource for our students.
Words is yet another learning tool that utilizes the Osmo devices. There are sets that can be checked out from the library (enough for a half group). They are a great way to 
reinforce spelling and phonetic patterns to help complement any existing word building program.
Numbers is another learning tool that uses the Osmo devices. In addition to reinforcing spatial awareness, it is another way to engage younger students in activities that build number awareness in an engaging way. We have sets that can be checked out from the library (enough for half groups)
Tangram for Osmo is a great way for younger students to practice spatial awareness, symmetry, shapes, and design. We have multiple sets (enough for half groups) and can be checked out through the library.
X-Code is known as an integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS. It can basically be viewed as blueprints for students to develop their own app, which can even be developed and potentially sold through the app store. There are tons of tutorials and help sites built in so even those students without advanced programming experience can gradually pick it up if they are motivated learners who like an independent track that they can follow at their own pace.
Swift is a programming language similar to java and is developed by Apple. Swift Playgrounds is a program that teachers intermediate level student programmers how to code. It takes students step by step and is a great alternative to “Hour of Code” lessons sponsored by Code.org and others.
This is an app that you may find useful if you coach or play basketball. It is available on all Library iPads and there are also similar apps available for soccer and lacrosse.
Along with other academic areas, virtual reality has also grown to support amazing art and creation. This past August, student interns who helped build the computer that drives our top VR equipment had fun “virtual tagging” walls with spray paint design. Just like traditional art, there are lots of mediums you can work with and many options for displaying your finished work so it can be appreciated beyond just the virtual world.
Augmented Reality is perhaps even more powerful than VR in an education setting because every student can have the same experience at the same time. It can easily be added into an existing lesson and be experienced concurrently with class lecture, group work, research, and more.
Imagine frog dissection without the smell! Students can look at the human body and dive into layers of a cell. If you have a topic you teach, there is an augmented reality visual experience you can draw on to reinforce learning. There are also numerous ways for students to take advantage of existing material, add to it, and incorporate it into their own project to showcase their learning.
VR has long been considered an extension of the video game industry and the assumption is that it is purely entertainment (or worse, excess screentime strapped to your face). However, the educational ramifications of putting students into space, geographically anywhere on the planet including in the oceans, in the midst of a battle fought long ago etc… are pretty powerful. Even as a short intro to a larger lesson, VR is a fantastic way to engage students and give them a more visceral learning experience to complement other more traditional components of teaching a unit.
Schools that have headsets, and can take advantage of apps like Discovery VR and Google Expeditions to instantly take students anywhere.
Additionally, we have a top of the line virtual reality headset and equipment that lives in the tech training room. Although only one student at a time can actually navigate with the headset, classmates can watch on the big screen while they await their turn working on another “learning station”.
CLIPS is a relatively new app (also a site) that was released late last year. It is a FANTASTIC alternative to iMovie, especially for our lower school students as it allows for an engaging, visual project but can be condensed into a one-off lesson. It is simple in its layout and can be used in a variety of ways. From narrating and animating a story or poem, to labeling parts of the ecosystem, to breaking down the cause and effect of a moment in history, it is all very easy and engaging for our students. It can also be a powerful tool for our youngest learners because of its ability to show the words you speak in “real time”. The possibilities for students to be able to narrate and illustrate their own books with words that fly out on the screen in any style they choose is really exciting. Clips is available on all school iPads (including the Library if students would like to check one out for a project).
Check out a student-created example below!
JK and SK students have access to Osmo devices and accessories in the classroom, where one of the strongest accompaniments is the Osmo Coding program. They provide a nice bridge between the tactile elements found in other early coding tools such as Bee-Bots, and transition to the screen based drag and drop style that they will be accessing more and more.
codeSpark Academy is another platform for young coders. It is drag and drop, block-based coding that gets more challenging with each level. It is almost strictly pictorial, so even emerging readers can find success.
Bee-Bot is a great app suited for JK and SK students who are just getting started with building a “coding mind”. It would be the best route for laying the foundation for planning out a path using simple commands, as well as block-based. We use the physical Bee-Bots with mats in the classroom beginning in JK and continuing with SK.
Code.org is a free online platform that teaches students of all ages how to code at their own comfort level. Younger students can progress through different challenges using block-based coding, similar to what they will use when working with Scratch Jr. The early lessons also let them click on the speaker icon to hear directions rather than rely on being able to read them, should they still be an emergent reader. Our oldest students will also be plenty challenged as they are given personalized lessons that suit their level of programming experience.
Integration Resources 
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