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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Scratch JR. continues to be one of the leading platforms for teaching young students how to code. Because it lays the groundwork for success when students are ready to make the transition to Scratch (the more robust platform for older students), it becomes a natural transition when they are ready to layer in more advanced commands.
Tynker is both an app and an online platform that teaches early coding. Even the free offerings provide a large volume of coding lessons. For younger students, the “drag and drop” block-based coding is presented in a way that they can learn the basic elements of coding. There are a number of game-based tutorials that keep young learners engaged, and lay the groundwork for java and python languages down the road.
ScrapColoring is a website, not an app. It is one additional option for younger students to explore different mediums, patterns, and digital art tools but is simple to use. It has additional links to origami tutorials and more.
Bomomo is very simplistic in appearance and ease of use. It uses elements of symmetry and shapes to allow students to create somewhat of a kaleidoscope effect of an image. While it is somewhat limited in the style of art students can create, it is easy for even the youngest students to navigate as they learn texture.
MoMA Art Lab is a great app for JK through 5th-grade students to experiment with design. For older students, there are activities that reinforce various styles throughout art history. It is free and child-friendly. One great feature it possesses is the bank of activities that can help guide and teach students while they create.
Pic Collage is an easy way for our younger students to make digital cards, collages, etc… It is a free app that provides plenty of content on its own, though be aware that the in-app purchases are present and kids can want to add stickers that are not free.
MAKE-10 is an app that also promotes early number sense. Because JK and SK students can begin practicing concepts of number bonding first using dots, then digits, it helps reinforce number sense rather than simple rote memorization.
levels can be adjusted to begin with “make 5” and then can increase in increments
the “Tetris” style game movement can at first overwhelm JK students who are just beginning with number recognition
Quick Math JR. is an engaging and interactive app that is a strong option for reinforcing number sequencing in the youngest learners.
Wet-Dry-Try is the app that specifically goes with “Handwriting Without Tears”, the program used to review proper letter formation in JK-2nd). It is pretty straightforward so although it is not as visually engaging as Letter School, its simplicity makes it advantageous for students who benefit from less distraction.
Sight Words is pretty straightforward with what it does, but as to what sets it apart from other similar apps, you can record your own voice reading words that you plug in to make personalized lists
This app, Zoom, is a great way of providing students with visual, interactive number lines. These number lines depict whole numbers, decimals, as well as positive and negative numbers, and is an app available on all iPads JK-2.
Google Tour Builder continues to become more powerful in its ability to create interactive maps and presentations, blending a multimedia map-making platform within Google Earth. Virtual reality is at the forefront of some of the biggest additions to the latest version. NOTE: The Tour Builder platform will be discontinued and merged into Google Arts and Culture in June 2021
A free subscription to this site gets you a nice collection of materials, particularly good if you looking for a collection of videos showing quick science experiments that support your lesson.
Integration Resources 
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