This Weeks Skill Work Apps: January 5-9

As a part of my new blogging journey I thought I'd share with you the apps that I'm using during our skill work station for reading and math. I typically offer the same 3 app choices for 2-3 weeks, depending on student interest. This is a station that the students visit twice per day (once for reading and once for math) for about 10-15 min each time. This is different than the differentiated app list that I use for individual students based on their academic needs. On the weeks that I don't showcase skill work apps my thoughts are to highlight some of the creation apps we are using on our iPads in the room. That way if you are in a pinch and need some quality go-to apps to use for that week you've got them here! I've linked them to the iTunes so all you need to do is send the link to the person who manages your devices (like your media specialist). Most are available for VPP (Volume Price Purchasing) so I didn't include the price for each app as your cost may be different. I've included a brief description below as well, and remember these are tried and true apps that I have used before (unless they are brand new releases but I myself play with them quite extensively before letting my kiddos try them out).

Anytime we have been on break for awhile I find it effective to incorporate apps from three different areas: new skill set (what we will be working on), previous skill set (something we almost all show mastery of but are good reviews of latest skills to refresh our memories) and an app that they've previously played and loved (an app they already know helps some students transition back easier, kinda like me wanting to wear my comfy sweatpants tomorrow to help ease back into it!) Here is what I chose for my students this week:

READING APPS:

-Endless Wordplay. See my review for Endless Wordplay here. From the Endless Numbers/Alphabet/Reader series this app focuses on rhyming word families while reviewing letter names, sounds and blending in a fun way.

-Beginning Sounds Interactive Game. Students match words that share the same beginning sound. Simple but to the point, this is a great app to help solidify understanding of beginning sounds.








-Alphabet Car Premium. Hands down one of my students' favorite apps every year. The students build basic words by driving a bus to each letter. Well worth investing in the paid version as you get so many more levels! {Note there is also an Alphabet Car Premium 2 that I believe includes these words and more for the same price. Since I already have the first one I'm not looking to buy the next one yet but if you are it may be worth looking into further!}

MATH APPS: 

 -Park Math. A good multi-concept app that works on numbers, counting, simple addition and subtraction, sorting and patterns. The variety of activities within Park Math make it a great content review app.







 -The Math Tree. Works on beginning addition and subtraction (0-10) and is my go to app for when we start addition/subtraction. It provides engaging, hands-on manipulation of objects to help students develop their understanding of arithmetic. Plus it has cute graphics and sounds!






-Sid's Science Fair. Showcasing the familiar characters from PBS's Sid the Science Kid show, this app works on both science and math through classification, patterns, graphing and sequencing. The content and the characters make it a huge hit with my students year round!







So there you have it: my skill work apps for this week! Let me know if you have any ?s about these apps, or any others that you are considering for use with your Kinderkiddo. I'm happy to share my thoughts! Check back in to find out what websites I will be using on our Chromebooks this week, as well as the creative apps we will be working with this month as well! As always, thanks for stopping by!

App Review: Endless Wordplay

I am a BIG fan of the Endless Alphabet, Endless Reader and Endless Numbers apps from Originator Inc. So when I was perusing iTunes looking for more apps to add to my wish list I decided to not wait on purchasing Endless Wordplay, the newest app in the Endless series. Endless Wordplay is an app that focuses on learning simple spelling patterns while reinforcing letter names and sounds. Each stage is a different rhyme, with the user spelling 3 words from the same word family. 

The first word to build in the word family

When you play within each stage the first word has the letters highlighted in the background to help guide the user. With the second word, the first word is displayed above and the beginning letter is highlighted to help guide the user. For the the third and final word, none of the words are highlighted but both of the previous words are listed above as visual cues. As you drag each letter to its space in the word it repeatedly says the sound that the letter makes. When you put it into place it says the letter's name. (Except for the last letter of the word, then it goes right into spelling the word. I don't like this and hope the developers fix it).     

The animated sentence after
spelling the word family

Once you complete all 3 words you are taken to a sentence screen with a silly sentence and cute animation that you have come to expect and love from the Endless apps. You can repeat the sentence if you'd like and can click on the 3 rhyming words to hear them spoken to you. Then after that it is on to the next word family. As far as I can tell same structure, just different words. It is a free app to download, but to play more than 3 levels it will cost you $4.99 from an in-app purchase. 

Why I like it:

-The graphics are as cute as ever. From my 2 year old at home to my 6 year olds at school, everyone loves the graphics in the Endless series and this app is no exception. The main monster will sneeze, cough and hiccup to mix up the letters, causing the young players to giggle with delight. The sentence animations are fun and intriguing to young learners, engaging them from the get go.

-The app has a nice simplicity to it. There isn't a lot happening within the app, and with the repetative format it allows the users to really focus on learning the content. There is no stickers, awards or coins to distract and that is always a win in my book!

-I like that the letters aren't always highlighted for students to match. The gradient of support is nice to help push young learners to not really only on their matching skills.

-There aren't a lot of quality apps that focus on beginning rhyming spelling patterns so this is a much needed app in this content area!

The second word you build only
shows the first letter placement

What I'd like to see done differently:

-As I mentioned above, as you spell each word the letters say their sounds until they are put into their correct place. The first two letters then say their name, but when you place the last letter into place it goes right into spelling the word. Not a huge deal but I prefer consistency.

-While dragging the letters into place they make the correct phonetic sound (a says the short a sound). But when you press on the two letters together it switches the a sound. Tricky for my beginner blenders who need to hear each sound correctly slowly and then hear then squish together while still maintaining their sounds. 

-The question mark on the sides seems to me that it should be a way to see a picture of the word and hear a short definition of the word. Nope. It just says ham is like jam but with a h at the beginning (or whatever word family you are on). This app could take it to another level by adding in that beginning vocabulary piece. That is in part why I like the Endless Alphabet and Reader apps-they expand vocabulary in a fun manner. So PLEASE add that Originator Inc and I would be a SUPER fan!

-Because it is new, there is only 1 expansion pack. That means there are only so many words that your kiddo can go through. That said, my students enjoy going back and repeating previous words so that isn't a huge deal in my book. We learn when we repeat something, so that works for us in K! But if you have an older student who is past this skill, it probably wouldn't be much fun for them.

Overall, I'm a fan of Endless Wordplay as I am the rest of the series. With a few tweaks I think this app can be even more valuable, but as it is I recommend it as an app to help young learners with spelling, word patterns and rhyming!

New Year Resolution

Happy New Year! I'm not one for New Years resolutions, but its a fun tradition so why not?! One would expect me to say that I will blog every day. I'm going to be honest and say that will never happen. I may want to, but it will never happen. So why make a false promise that I can't keep?! I may also have a resolution to love my job every second of every day, or to not take any work home with me. Again, never going to happen. I LOVE teaching, but there are certain parts of this career that are yucky and that I will never love. I'll do it-but won't love it. And to not bring work home is laughable!

Sooooo what is my resolution you might ask? It is quite simple and very tough. To love more. I'm challenging myself to just put more love out there. To love this blog when I get to complete a post I'm proud of (and to not hate myself for when I don't get one done as quickly as I want). To love my students more. Tricky-cause I love them a whole bunch already. But there are always moments when we look back on our day and say "Shoot. Wish I would've handled that a little differently." But I don't think those moments are ever from loving too much. No one ever says, "Shoot. Wish I would've loved a little less."  And to love the people I work with and the process of education more. I work with some AMAZING professionals but I'm afraid this past year I haven't always given people the benefit of the doubt. When we lead with love there is less room for doubt. I have to trust that there are often bigger things happening and if I'm doing my best for my students then that will be good enough! On a more personal note: I'm not sure if I can love my children and my husband more, but I can most certainly show it more. But this blog isn't about momma Norman its about teacher Norman so back to it....

Most of all I need to love myself more. When we love ourselves we really are giving our best to the world. My husband, my children, my family, my friends, my students...they all deserve me at my best. But that isn't realistic. I'm not going to be at my best all the time and I need to love that too. Know that I LOVE that you took time from your day to stop by my blog and I truly hope that your 2015 is filled with more love!