I loved this book as a child, I bought the pop up book for my own daughter, and now we have the ebook in the library. This book was a huge hit with ALL my students. The preschool, kindergarten, and first grade all enjoyed watching it on the projector, but I saw kids of all ages, even my 5th graders checking out this fun interactive book. So fun that the characters read the book to you and you have to interact on each different page to get to the end of the book. While you are knocking down walls, wiping up glue, and so on you will finally find out who the monster is at the end of the book. I was just going to buy one copy of this book to use on the iPad that I hook up to the projector, but the kids wanted it to so I ended up buying it with my VPP money. Enjoy!

I came across the suggestion for this app in a parenting magazine, but I have many students that enjoy checking out cookbooks and this is a fun interactive version of one. It provides great examples of writing in lists (in order) which is something I ofter have teachers asking me for when they complete how to writing. This may not have as many curriculum connections as other things listed here, but it is still a fun colorful site that is FREE! Great pictures!

Disney offers this book app for free and it is a great example of the many features that can be found in an ebook. You can select young reader mode, read to me mode, or record your voice to listen to (great for fluency practice). The best feature of having it read it to you is that it plays your voice over the music which makes it sound very official. There are a few coloring pages and games that students can also look at. Very fun and a big hit with my youngest iPad users (preschool and kindergarten).

Tu estudiatnes habla en esponal? Un peliculas es gratis! Es muy bien! Es mismo - Brain Pop en engles.

Students are able to create, direct, and act out their own stories using this app. I love how you can actually see the stage and the offstage. Students have been able to quickly teach themselves how to use the program with little direction from me. This one has been especially fun for two students to use with headphones and a splitter. I love watching them collaborate together to create a story.

I wanted to come back and let you know that I was able to purchase the Puppet Pals Directors Pass. This app costs 2.99 per iPad (of course, I used the VPP and bought 32 copies for half price). Students can now download different backgroups and characters. The free one only uses the fairy tale set. They love mixing them up and making new stories. However, what I am really excited about and what made me want to spend the money on it -- the students can use the camera on the iPad 2 and take pictures to make their own characters and backgrounds. My idea is that they will take a picture of their traditional science fair board then they will the puppets that will talk about their science fair. Fun app!

Assess My School This could only be considered a free app if you school district has access to these Gale Databases, but I have loved how easy it is for students to access quality information and images using this app. The first time that it is used, you will be asked to enter your code. (If you work for CPS, you can find your code by asking the Department of Libraries) Then students can select which ever database they are interested in. Students can also take a screenshot (hold the small flat button at the top of your iPad while you press the home round button to get a screenshot) of their information

While this may seem like just another drawing app, the students in my library have really enjoyed this one. It is easy to maneuver and gives you lots of options. You can change the type of line you want to draw, how thick the line is, and the color. It also offers many different backgrounds, stamps in two sizes, four fonts, and stencils. I have had young students draw response pictures to stories that we have read in the library and they turned out great. You can email the picture or take a screen shot. You can also turn the sound off and on which is always nice if you don't have headphones.

Brain Pop Movie of the Day / Brain Pop Movie of the Day Espanol Students will enjoy these quick movies of the day clips. The movies that are currently shown as free are usually timely with current events or calendar events (example: Movie about Voting on Election Day). This app provides a great quick activity for students to use and if you get in the habit of checking it, you will find things that relate to your lessons. Brain Pop also offers this site in Spanish. Brian Pop itself is a company that offers subscriptions to their website full of educational activities. I am hopeful that they will get an app similar to Brain Pop, Jr. as I am huge fan of that site. As of now, you would need flash to access their site.