Appy Hour: Switch Zoo

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Welcome to Appy Hour!  I depart tonight from math apps to bring you a really fun and creative science app--Switch Zoo.  In this zoo, the animals are limited only to your child's imagination!

The feature that will attract kiddos to this app is the ability to mix the head, tail, and legs of different animals to create their own unique creation, which they can then name and even write stories about.  The pictures are beautifully done and very lifelike.  Stories and pictures can be printed to share.  A cool 'shake' option with the iPad creates random animals.  But aside from the fun factor, there's learning going on here, too.  The app contains profiles of each animal, including diet, predators and threats, habitat, life span, scientific name, and a written summary.

The version I reviewed was free, which limits you to the zebra habitat.  What that means is that the zebra will be the base for all of the animals you build.  The paid version ($2.99) gives you access to 142 animals and 9 habitats.  There is actually also an online version of Switch Zoo which your kiddos could use on your classroom computers.  It features links to the profiles of all the animals, as well as educational games, lesson plans, and more.

Switch Zoo is a real educational find, combining science and creativity!

Technology and the CRA Sequence of Instruction

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I got an email from a reader last week asking about the impact of technology on the CRA sequence of instruction, so I thought I'd blog about it.  First, let me remind you that CRA stands for concrete, representational, and abstract.  From Van de Walle (pg 99):

"...this model reflects a sequence that moves from an instructional focus on concrete representations (manipulative materials) and models to semi-concrete representations (drawings or pictures) and images to abstraction (using only numerals or mentally solving problems)."

Lots of problems occur when we skip steps in this instructional model or move too quickly through them.  For example, before students start practicing with traditional flashcards (very abstract), they need to have lots of concrete and representational experiences to develop understanding.

Van de Walle makes a great point, however, that the stages need to overlap.  That is, we need to connect the abstract to the concrete and representational along the way.

"...it is essential that there is parallel modeling of number symbols throughout this continuum to explicitly relate the concrete models and visual representations to the corresponding numerals."

What this means is that while you are using base-10 blocks to model addition or subtraction with regrouping, you need to also show the connection to the algorithm or students will never move past the concrete or representational stage.

Now back to the original question about technology.  I've actually been reading lately that research has shown that there is little difference in learning between actual concrete manipulatives and virtual manipulatives, such as the ones you find at the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives or NCTM's Illuminations website.

I think what's important is that when choosing technology, whether it's computer programs, websites, or apps, you have to consider the CRA stages, just like you would when choosing any instructional activity.  For example, I reviewed a number line app last week.  I would consider it quite concrete, because you move the frogs along the number line.  Another app I seriously love is Mathtopia +, but it is strictly abstract fact fluency practice.  Does that means it's bad?  No, it's a great app!  It just means that kiddos need lots of concrete and representational experiences before using the app.

I hope this all makes sense.  I would love to hear your comments!

Bagels and Blogs, May 12

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On the heels of Teacher Appreciation Week, we have Mother's Day! I hope you felt appreciated this week at school and that you're being majorly pampered today.  My son will be home from Connecticut on Wednesday, so we'll be having a belated celebration. Enjoy these great posts by some talented and creative bloggers.  Be sure to leave a comment when you visit to show your appreciation.

Mo at More Than Math by Mo shared this free activity for comparing numbers using operators.

I know it's Mother's Day, but it's not too early to start thinking about Father's Day!  Fran at Kindergarten Crayons shared this great freebie kids can use to honor their dads!

Wow! Janaye at Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes posted links to her favorite YouTube videos.  What a great list!

Yahtzee was one of my favorite games growing up!  Anita at Mrs. Bremer's Kindergarten shared  a Kindergarten version she uses with her kiddos. 

Finally, I had to share this tribute to moms from Kid President!  Enjoy your day! :)

Appy Hour: Little Monkey Number Lines

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Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you had wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week, and thanks for joining me for Appy Hour tonight. :)

Tonight I want to feature an app from Little Monkey Apps.  They have a terrific suite of apps for math, including apps for subitizing, friends of ten, coordinate grids, graphing, place value, and multiplication facts, just to name a few.  The one I've chosen to highlight is one of their free apps, Teaching Number Lines.  There's an important word in that title--teaching--and you will see that's one thing that sets Little Monkey apps apart.  While there are independent practice activities included in the apps, they are meant to be used interactively with teacher and student working together.  The app even contains teaching notes to help guide your instruction.

I love it when developers include videos for their apps, especially when it's a paid app. I like to see more than just screen shots before I commit to a purchase.  Take a few minutes to watch the video for Number Lines:

With the free version, there are ads at the top of the screen, but they are just for other Little Monkey Apps.  You have the option to remove the apps for $1.99.

The main menu is easy to navigate.

The practice tools for Jump Forward and Jump Back contain unlimited problems.  The Little Monkey apps do not include voice over, so while there are visual clues to show students they have a correct answer, the affirmations are all text, rather than verbal.

I'm really impressed with the Little Monkey suite of apps.  They feature great math, teacher interaction and notes, and they are very reasonably priced.  Check them out!  

Ten Plus Card Game

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Happy Monday and happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  Here's a little game, based on a Van de Walle activity, that addresses two important common core standards: (1) K.NBT.1, compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into tens and some further ones, and (2) 1.NBT.2, understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones.  I'm calling it Ten Plus.  All you need is a standard deck of cards and these free "10+" cards.

Here's how to play:

• Remove the 10 cards and face cards from a deck of playing cards; deal out the remaining cards to the two players.
• Lay the "10+" cards face up between the two players.
• Each player turns over a playing card.  Players add the two numbers together and try to find a matching "10+" card.  For example, in the first picture, the two players turned over a 9 and a 7.  The sum of 9 and 7 is 16, so the 10 + 6 cards matches.  One option is to take the matched "10+" card off the table.  Another, more challenging, option would be to leave the "10+" cards on the table and have the kids record combinations for each "10+" card. 
• If the two cards equal a sum less than 10, one of the players turns over another card.  For example, in the second picture, the players first turned over a 5 and a 2 for a sum of 7.  Since that's less than 10, one player turned over another card, a 4, for a sum of 11.

There is no real winner in this game--players work collaboratively to find the matching cards.  I'd love to hear your comments about this easy little math center activity!

Spring Cleaning

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I'm doing a little spring cleaning in my TpT store!  Don't you love the new look of my ORIGINAL freebie?  But it's not just the look that has changed.  To better align the product with common core, the money amounts are now shown with both a dollar sign and a cents symbol.  Grab it here.  Scroll down for another updated product.

This is my NUMBER 1 best-seller!  It's a simple little math center based on a John Van de Walle activity.  Check it out here.

I may have to curtail my 'cleaning' activities now and get outside!

Appy Hour: Tally Tots

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'appy Friday!  This week I have an adorable app from Spinlight Studio that will have young children counting to 20 in no time!  You'll also want to check out the rest of their apps for kiddos ranging from 1 to 12.  All of Spinlight's apps are available for the iPad and iPhone, Nook, Amazon, and Google Play. They are currently running an End of School sale, and all apps are $0.99, so it's a great time to stock up for summer learning.

Tally Tots is a joyful little app that combines engaging graphics, music, and repetition to promote counting skills and one-to-one correspondence for the numbers from 1 to 20.  Each number has its own colorful animation, featuring both audio and visual cues to represent the number.

The main menu is easy to navigate for small children.  Let's choose 9!

When a child chooses a number, the app counts out loud, highlighting each number on the number line.  Once the target number is reached,  the child gets to interact with the objects on the screen.  In the case of the number 9, the 9 fish grow as each one is tapped (one-to-one correspondence).  So cute!  I really like how the entire number line from 1 to 20 is shown, so children can see the relationships between the numbers.

Kids can practice counting skills all the way to 100 with this colorful, interactive  hundred chart.

Ready for some music?  Kids will love the catchy little song that counts all the numbers, showing the  corresponding objects for each number.

This app is definitely a kid pleaser, and it will be a mom favorite, too, as they watch their little ones' counting skills take off!