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Friday, April 28, 2017

Friday Five: Favorite Apps

Welcome back to the Friday Five...



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Nora Davis


Kimmie Stephens


Today we are sharing five of our favorite apps! 

WordFoto

A picture is worth a thousand words and with WordFoto this old saying comes to life. This app is really easy to use. You just upload a picture from your camera roll, add up to ten words to your word list, and voila! You can also change the fonts, the number of times a word appears, and other advanced options if you want.



I sent the picture above to Kimmie for one of our end of year videos and she had a great idea to use this to teach main idea in first grade! Awesome! 

Settle Your Glitter

This is a relatively new app from the Momentous Institute. It can be used to help children identify and regulate their emotions and their breathing.

First, students choose what emotion they are feeling.

Next, they rate how much of that emotion is present.

Then the pufferfish guides them through a breathing exercise to "settle their glitter" and resume school activities with a calm, clear mind. 

I know this seems pretty simple, but I have used it recently and it REALLY worked. A student was very upset in class and was throwing work on the ground and knocking over chairs. I got him to come into the hallway with me and we used the app. When he returned to class, he was calm and ready to learn. He had a great rest of the day too. Sometimes, kids just need that visual to help them recenter.

Quiver

Who doesn't love coloring? It has made such a comeback lately and you can find adult coloring books all over the place. This augmented reality app takes coloring to a whole new level of fun!

You simply print coloring pages from the Quiver website or app and let your creativity loose.


Then, you use the app on your device to scan the page and view the 3D version of your drawing. It shows up in whatever colors you used and inputs all off the little details you put into your coloring.

It really is amazing! I love using this app with individual students because if kids can have something to do with their hands, they are much more likely to talk and be open with me. It takes away the pressure of hard conversations. Honestly, it works for me too! 

Book Buddy

I shared this one way back at the start of this blog, but it remains my favorite organizational app and I thought it was worth sharing again. Click here to see the original post.

You can catalog your personal library with your own categories and it makes it so much easier to find the books you are looking for.




Kids World Atlas

I teach Geography during summer school and am always looking for something new and exciting to get their attention. I recently found this app and I think my students this summer are going to love it. It is a free download, but does have in app purchases for expansion packs. 


Students can view a world map, choose a category, and explore. 

The app comes with the animal expansion pack. When you choose an animal, you can read about it and then watch a video of the animal in action. I haven't had time to explore the app too much, but if you know a kid who is interested in our world, this is a great app for them! 

That's all for the Friday Five for today! If you have any app suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Until next time...




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