iPhone/iPad/Android Apps

Capture a Modern Moment of History

December 5, 2012

The Historypin Android app reveals photos near your current location and allows you to view them layered over the modern scene in front of you. You can also explore collections of some of the best old photos from around the world, wherever you are. You can add your own piece of history and pin it to the map too by using your phone to digitize an old photo, capture a modern moment of historic importance or take a modern replica of a photo on the app. Historypin was created by the not-for-profit company We Are What We Do, in partnership with Google. The app…

Turn a Book into a Digital Classroom

December 5, 2012

Subtext is a free iPad app that allows classroom groups to exchange ideas in the pages of digital texts. When you and your students annotate a book or a document in Subtext, notes are linked to a specific passage, so there’s a built-in emphasis on the source text and close reading. In addition, Subtext allows you to layer all types of web content over texts—videos, photographs and links to articles, blog posts, maps and even locations on Google Street View. Immediate access to a variety of related information encourages students to compare and contrast different media and creates a more complete picture of a…

Hit the “Target” Number

December 5, 2012

5 Dice iPad app is a free math game that helps upper elementary and middle school students practice the order of operations. The game encourages students to use higher order thinking to solve the “target” number by working backward, given the answer but not the equation. After they are provided the number, students have to write an equation, using all of the dice presented to them. When they think they have created an equation that will result in the number given to them, students click “shoot” to hit the target number. If they have written a correct equation, 5 Dice will show them other equations that will…

Trace the Origins of Aphorisms

December 5, 2012

Aesop’s Fables—also called “the Aesopica”—are a collection of stories intended to teach moral lessons. The stories are credited to Aesop, a Greek slave and storyteller thought to have lived between 620 and 560 BCE. The Aesop’s Fables interactive book, presented by the Library of Congress, was adapted fromThe Aesop for Children: with Pictures by Milo Winter, published by Rand, McNally & Co. in 1919. The interactive book contains more than 140 classic fables, accompanied by charming illustrations and interactive animations: a choosy heron eyes the fish swimming at his feet, a fox swishes his tail, a mouse chews a rope and frees a lion.…

Get Students Excited About Reading

November 16, 2012

Tales2Go is an award-winning children’s audiobook service that works like Pandora, giving educators and students instant and unlimited access to thousands of name-brand titles from leading publishers to play on desktops, laptops and Apple mobile devices—in the classroom and beyond. Use the audiobooks with individual students or in groups, in conjunction with printed text or for some fun listening. Click Here to Start a Free 30-Day Trial

Take a Seat in the Oval Office

November 1, 2012

Do your students know which president the Teddy Bear is named after? Or which president got stuck in a White House bathtub? Students can learn everything they ever wanted to know about the American presidency with Disney Publishing’s new iPad app—Disney American Presidents: Unofficial Oval Office Scrapbook. Developed by the Disney Learning team together with a producer from The Daily Show and Colbert Report, the app features more than two hours of hilarious—and historically accurate—presidential profiles for each of the 44 US presidents—from George Washington to Barack Obama. Each president receives his own spread, with interactive elements linked to key decisions, notable characteristics and historical…

Encourage Critical Thinking and Questioning

November 1, 2012

Through engaging interactions and gameplay geared toward learning, Ansel & Clair’s Adventures in Africa (for children aged 4 to 10) is designed to leverage the multisensory experience of the iPad. The original characters—Ansel, a friendly intergalactic travel photographer from the planet Virtoos, and Clair, a brilliant Virtoosian robot—explore three interactive locales: Nile Valley, Sahara Desert and Serengeti Plains. The app encourages children to think and inquire through Ansel’s critical questioning. It is available for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store. Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store This information is provided as a courtesy for BISD teachers and inclusion here does not…

Track a Typhoon—in Real Time

November 1, 2012

The Living Earth – Clock & Weather app for the iPad and iPhone includes a live 3-D simulation of our planet at our current moment in time, with global weather forecasts and world clock for millions of cities around the world. Students can observe the changing seasons throughout the year and view snow and ice coverage as well as other seasonal changes on our globe. They can view live global cloud patterns and explore and experience amazing weather dynamics with real-time 3-D weather maps of temperature, humidity and wind velocity, along with typhoon and hurricane tracking. The app is available in the iTunes App Store at…

Collaborate and Share Creative Ideas

October 17, 2012

iBrainstorm, a free brainstorming app for the iPad and the iPhone, allows users to record brainstorming sessions using a combination of free-hand drawings and sticky notes. Users can share and collaborate with up to four other users. Sharing notes and drawings between users in a local setting is a simple matter of “flicking” an item to another user. Click Here for More Information Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store This information is provided as a courtesy for BISD teachers and inclusion here does not indicate an endorsement by the district. It is important to thoroughly evaluate a website before using it with students. For help…

Avoid Sneaky “Free” App Fees

January 23, 2012

8 Ways to Avoid Sneaky “Free” App Fees Many kids — and their parents — have found out the hard way that what looks like a free app can cost $1, $5, or even $100 (in a single transaction!). Here are a few tips to help you avoid the hidden costs of “free” apps.