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"Gamification is a powerful way to engage students in the science and math classroom. The Universe and More, a nonprofit company founded by a high school teacher, has released a new game called Action Graphing. This iPad app helps students understand key concepts related to graphing.  Students will learn how to analyze and interpret graphs to model the motion of real objects.  They'll see how the slope of the line represents an object's velocity and the y-intercept of the line represents the object's position."

"I'm a huge fan of augmented reality and want to share a magazine that is using this technology to engage readers. Brainspace is an educational print magazine that is interactive with iPads, iPhones, Android Tablets and Android smartphones. The pages come to life with extra content for 8-14 year old students as soon as they scan with the augmented reality app Blippar."

"Stop Motion Studio is a filmmaking app that can be used across the content areas.  Similar to the Lego movies you may have seen made by filmmakers on YouTube or claymation characters moving across the screen.  In the classroom teachers are using this app to have students demonstrate their understanding of content in lots of subject areas."

"Teachers use lots of different tools to gather and collect information during the school day.  JotForm is an easy to use online form builder that can be used to create online quizzes, permissions, assignment submissions, surveys and more.  JotForm doesn't require coding or technical expertise but is user-friendly for teachers with basic technology experience."

"As teachers and families kick off summer vacation it's important to think about how students will continue to grow their skills over their break from school.  Splash Math offers an online summer program designed to help students maintain their math gains and prepare for the upcoming school year.  Their award winning eight week review program includes a Common Core aligned diagnostic assessment before and during the program and a personalized practice schedule for each student based on the diagnostic assessment."

"Whether you have one iPad, a few, or a class set, there are plenty of great apps that will come in handy in the Social Studies classroom. These apps provide access to primary source documents, reinforce geography concepts, and help children explore the world around them!"

"Synopsis is the new iPad app for students allows you to read any PDF document and create notes by highlighting text. You can then modify these notes and add your own. This free app helps users summarize any text effortlessly so you won't ever need to go back to the PDF document. Each individual note can be converted to it's own flashcard - a fantastic feature of the app. There is no need to buy flashcards or manually type and create them thanks to Synopsis."

"Current events articles are a great choice for informational text.  Students can learn all about news stories and practice reading skills at the same time.  If you have a class full of students reading at different levels you'll definitely want to check out Newsela.  This fantastic site contains brand new articles everyday.  The best part is that you can change the Lexile level of each article by clicking on the one that's right for your students.  You can share the same article at a few different levels with each of your reading groups."

"It's so important to include primary sources in your English Language Arts and content area instruction.  Whether you're doing a close reading of a text or drawing conclusions from a photograph there are lots of ways that students can interact with artifacts.  Here are a few great online resources and apps for primary source documents:"

"There are lots of great apps for gathering information about current events and finding stories that are of high interest to your students.  NPR has an easy to navigate website and high quality iPad app that makes it easy to find articles and interviews.  In addition to accessing print content that you might find in other newspapers"

"Math Shake is an engaging, playful app that helps students learn to solve word problems.  It contains thousands of questions which students turn into an equation by looking for keywords and clues in the problem. Once students have discovered the equation, they can use a variety of built-in learning tools such as number lines, tens frames, fraction pieces and counters to work our their answer. Teachers and parents can also use these tools to teach effective strategies."

"The International Reading Association has a fantastic app for students called Alphabet Organizer.  Available for both iOS and Android tablets, this app lets students work with different letters to create their very own alphabet book.  Alphabet Organizer can be tailored to different tasks and is a great choice for elementary school classrooms.  Students can use this in literacy centers or in learning environments where kids share the screen with a peer."

"Last month I shared some of the great features from News-O-Matic's new update and there is one more you are sure to love.  Teachers using this app can choose between different reading levels for students.  Each article is adapted by News-O-Matic's editorial team to fit three reading levels (400L-600L, 600L-750L and 750-1050L).  These categories are connected to ranges of Lexile levels - a readability measure that helps measure text complexity. Teachers can assign different reading levels to each student in their class so they automatically receive news articles on their tablet that are the right level for them."

"This past year I've shared some of the reasons I love Zaption.  This app gives teachers an opportunity to make videos interactive with text, images, and questions. The new Zaption mobile player app lets teachers and students watch video lessons on the go straight from their device. This free app works on any iOS device including an iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch."

"If you are using iPads in your classroom you'll want to check out the amazing accessibility tools that can help all of your students interact with their device.  Jenny Grabiec is an Apple Distinguished Educator who has created a fantastic iBook that makes it simple for teachers to understand the accessibility features available on iPads.  You can download the book for free and explore these tools in iBooks on your iPad or Mac computer."

"Synopsis is a completely free iPad app for students that lets users create notes by highlighting different sections of a PDF document. Students can then modify the notes they have created by adding their own text. Synopsis gives students 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."

"Here is a great new presentation on SlideShare that outlines the four key questions schools should ask as they prepare to launch an iPad program. Click below to go through each slide and hear advice for making the best choices for your school."

"A new online platform is helping teachers use stories to make content meaningful and engaging for their students.  Visual storytelling is a powerful way for teachers looking to reach students as they introduce new topics and concepts.  Legend is a terrific website that makes it easy for teachers to use video, images, and text to transform the way they get content in the hands of their students."

"If you're looking to support your K-2 students in science this year, you'll want to check out the interactive curriculum from Science4US.  They provide a complete science curriculum with both online and offline materials for elementary school-aged students.  There are teacher resources in addition to activities designed for your kids."