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"Push your students to explain their thinking and create their own digital portfolio items with these fantastic free apps!"

"I've shared some ways that word clouds can be used in the classroom, and here's another activity that works for all ages and subject areas. Find a website that you are planning on sharing with students. This could be an informational text on a science topic or simply a current events article. Copy and paste the website URL into the online tool Tagxedo. This website will create a word cloud using text from that website."

"Mindsnacks has a fantastic vocabulary app that I often recommend for teaching children tier three words. If your students are looking to expand their Spanish vocabulary you may want to check out Learn Spanish by Mindsnacks. This powerful app has tons of games for children to explore and free content for them to check out. It's engaging, colorful and kid-friendly."

"National Geographic has tons of fantastic apps and The Underground Railroad: Journey to Freedom is a great choice for upper elementary and middle school students. This interactive app introduces children to the Underground Railroad by placing them in first person experiences. They'll have to make decisions on how to proceed from on step to the next while they learn about this period in history."

"Many television shows and museum exhibitions have companion apps that bring content to your fingertips. Walking With Dinosaurs: Inside Their World from BBC Earth is a fantastic app with tons of high quality content. Students can read articles about how fossils are formed or learn about dinosaur extinction before checking out encyclopedia style entries."

"Storytelling is such an important skill and there are plenty of ways to turn your students into storytellers using a mobile device. These apps are perfect for kids of all ages and can be tailored to a wide range of activities and tasks. Search through this list to see which app is the best fit for your class."

"Working with more than one app in a lesson is a great way to push students with technology.  There are combos for math I love to use, and here is another one to try out: Have students create a visual model using virtual base ten blocks and take a screenshot of their work.  Add the screenshot to a ScreenChomp creation and have students record themselves as they explain their thinking!"

"Synopsis is a completely free iPad app for students that lets users create notes by highlighting different sections of a PDF document.  Kids can then modify the notes they have created by adding their own text. Synopsis gives kids the power to summarize any text so they won't need to go back to a PDF document to study material.  Each individual note can be converted to its own flashcard there is no need to buy flashcards or type and create your own."

"Graphic organizers are fantastic for helping students brainstorm ideas for a personal narrative or collect information for a research report.  Kids can create mind maps, sequence events, make connections, and more.  Popplet is a terrific app for iOS devices that is also available on web browsers.  Students can create their own graphic organizers combining text and multimedia.  They even have the option to customize colors and layout."

"There are lots of apps that ca n "wow" a crowd and MyScript Calculator is definitely one of them.  Write an equation (simple or complex) onto your screen and the app will use handwriting recognition software to solve the problem.  This fantastic free app can be used by students to check their work, especially order of operations.  If you've tried this app before update to the most recent version to access all of their great features.  You'll need to try it to believe it!"

"I've shared some great apps from The Lawrence Hall of Science (DIY Human Body, DIY Sun Science, Monster Heart Medic) and DIY Nano HD is another free app for iPads that you'll love.  DIY Nano HD contains easy science experiments for teachers, students and families.  Using easy to find materials children can follow along with instructions on the screen to learn about nanoscale science, engineering, and technology.  This app contains videos, images and informational text that can help students learn about expository writing styles including how-tos and step-by-step guides."

"In the Social Studies and English Language Arts classroom students can benefit from visuals and interactive text to help making meaning of the past.  The Berlin Wall HD is a free iPad app that presents informational text, primary source documents and interactive maps on the screen.  Students can tap, zoom and explore this period in history."

"Students need to have a balance of literature and informational text.  If you're looking for sites that include nonfiction passages or high-interest articles here are a few worth exploring:"

"This summer PracTutor is offering their online curriculum completely free for students.  This personalized curriculum includes a diagnostic pre-test that measures current learning levels and customizes a learning path for every student.  This summer your students can practice Math and English skills through various question types, manipulatives, and videos with scaffolds and support."

"Using topics that children are naturally excited about is a great way to grab their attention across the content areas.  When it comes to sports, there are a few iPad apps that I love including the fantastic MLB.com At Bat.  You can ask students to write their own math problems using data they find within the app or assign each student a different team or player to create a graph of different stats.  This app asks you to subscribe for extra features but after you decline this option you can access all of the data you'll need for math projects!"

"I've shared lots of reasons why I'm a fan of QR codes.  i-Skool is a project that incorporates scannable technology and puts learning in motion.  Its goal is to enhance brain activity by getting kids on their feet as they practice cognitive skills.  Teachers create a quiz with an item connected to a color in a specific location.  Children receive directions on what to do based on what they scan as they move around with their mobile device."

"Reading Rainbow has inspired young readers long before an iPad entered any classroom.  This powerful iPad app gives students access to hundreds books in a variety of genres.  Within the app are over 100 educational video field trips hosted by Reading Rainbow favorite LeVar Burton.  Students can listen to books read aloud to them or read independently as they turn the page.  Each book has animations that are sure to grab your students' attentions."