iPad+Apps

iPad Apps Note: While clicking on the link will take you to a page describing each app, you have to search for them through your iPad’s App Store in order to install them on the iPad (Unless you are on an iPad, in which case clicking on the link will take you directly to the download page).


 * ====**Name of Person Commenting **==== || ====**Category (reading, math, etc. **==== || ====**Name of App **==== || ====**Description **==== || ====**Age Level **==== || ====**Cost **==== ||
 * John Cross || Language Arts/Reading/Writing || [|StoryKit] || Students can use this app to write, illustrate, and record their own stories, using the iPad. They can be shared on a server, where they can be accessed worldwide by other student authors. || Appropriate for all ages, as long as some instruction on how to use the app is given. || Free! ||
 * John Cross || Science/Astronomy || [|APOD] (astronomy picture of the day) || This app, updated daily, features a high-resolution picture of something astronomy-related, along with a short explanation of what is shown. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3 to 5, as the explanations are often technical in nature. Younger kids can still enjoy the pictures though; it is a great way to garner interest in science. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Social Studies/History || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This Day in History || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This app gives a short list of notable events that happened throughout the world on that particular day. Clicking on each event brings up a more detailed explanation || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All grades, but younger kids won’t be as familiar with the events. A great conversation starter. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Social Studies/Geography || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stack the States (lite version) || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A fun game that helps kids learn the states, their shapes, capitals, locations, etc. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free (lite version)$.99 (full version) ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meritum Paint || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a beautiful and simple painting app. Kids can make museum-worthy pictures in less than a minute. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Language Arts/Spelling || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Jumbline 2] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This game is similar to boggle. Kids are given 5 or 6 letters, and must make as many words as possible from them. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3 – 5, but a younger child with great word building skills could enjoy it too || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I found this for free from the iPad app store, but the link I added says it is $2.99 ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Language Arts/Writing/Upper and Lowercase Letters || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|ABC Writing] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great practice in writing upper and lowercase letters, as well as learning word families. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades K-2 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! You can buy a full version for $1.99 ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make Music || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Soundrop] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This one is hard to describe. This app would be a great way to help calm someone down… turn it on, tell them to touch the screen, and soon you are immersed! || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make Music || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Shiny Drum] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Choose from different drum kits and jam away. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make Music || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Beatwave] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A fun and beautiful app that combines light, sound, and patterns || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make Music || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Virtuoso] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A piano app… duet mode available. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Social Studies/Language Arts/Spelling || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|WordSearch Star Free] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a great word-search game. You can pick the category of the words in the search, and there are enough of them that they can tie in to your instruction. For example, I read Percy Jackson: The Lighting Thief, and the kids enjoy the word search with the names of the Greek gods. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Good for grades 2-5. It may be too difficult for some of the younger kids. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|GlowColoring] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a fun painting app and is easy to use. There is not yet an iPad version, so you download the iPhone version and magnify it to fill the screen. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Art || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|SketchBook] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a professional-grade drawing app. Many features allow a skilled user to create photo-realistic drawings. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4th or 5th grade, or advanced students… this is not a “simple” drawing app. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I bought it for $.99, but now it says it is $7.99! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Science/Math/Physics || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Angry Birds] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is an amazingly addicting game that is both fun and educational. Teaches kids about physics, trajectory angles, etc. without them even knowing it. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">$4.99, and totally worth it. ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Relaxation/Calming || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Fluid] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This app is a great stress reliever and could be used to help calm an upset student. Touch the screen and watch the surface of the water ripple. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Science/Physics || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Finger Physics Free HD] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This game requires you to stack shapes to a certain height without them tumbling || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading/Books || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|iBooks] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This app gives you a virtual bookshelf to which you can add other iBook titles. It includes a free copy of Winnie the Pooh || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading/Fluency/WPM || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|iReadFast] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a great app. It increases fluency through a combination of repeated reading and “forcing” the reader to finish a line in a certain amount of time. The text used is Alice in Wonderland || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3-5 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading/Fact or Opinion || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Professor Garfield: Fact or Opinion] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pretty self-explanatory! Incorporates internet safety as well. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3-5 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Math || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Tangram] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use tangrams to create pictures. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 2-5 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Math || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Zentomino] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use Tetris-like shapes to fill in the puzzle. Challenging and fun, it teaches kids about spatial relationships between shapes. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3-5 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! $.99 for the full version. ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Math || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Ace Multiply] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A great app for teaching multiplication facts. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 3-5, or advanced younger students || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading/Non-English || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|El Traje] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This and other tales from the Brothers Grimm are great for our Spanish-reading students. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grades 4-5, or advanced younger readers. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">News || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|NPR] (National Public Radio) || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A very nice news app. Can livestream NPR from radio stations across the country. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great for news-following adults and inquisitive kids. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">News || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|CNN] || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An immersive app from CNN. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great for news-following adults and inquisitive kids. || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Free! ||
 * John Cross || Math || [|Pearl Diver] || A great app for fraction learners. A diver must dive on the correct location on the number line to retrieve a pearl. Avoid the eels! Can be quite challenging. || 4th and 5th grade || Free ||
 * John Cross || Utilities || [|LabTimer] || This can act as a timer/multi-setting alarm clock. You can set up to 16 timers at once. It allows for multitasking; you can set a timer for 20 minutes, start it, close LabTimer, and use any other app and the timer will still go off. I use it to make sure my kids don't stay on the iPad longer than I've told them to. || All, but younger kids may not be able to set the timer on their own. || Free ||
 * John Cross || Science/Social Stuides/Geography || [|Google Earth] || Satellite images allow the user to view the entire surface of the earth, often at a very high resolution. Zoom in on cities, houses, terrain, etc. || All || Free ||
 * Megan Fontanini || Math || Snowman Math || Build a snowman by answering addition and subtraction questions. Each round has harder problems than the last. || All || $0.99 ||
 * Megan Fontanini || Reading || How Zebras Got Their Stripes || This is a free app sponsered by reading a-z. They have one book from each level that you can read in the iPad. There are many more. Just search "LAZ reader" and many will come up! || All || Free ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">iPad picture from []