iPads & Literacy

More Examples and Ideas Beyond Daily 5:

iPads Reading Text

iMovie Book Trailers

Article

Teacher Example

* Educreations - (free) Students create a slideshow type audiobook. With Educreations students can take pictures of pages from a book to add to slides. Once all of the pictures have been added, the student records their voice reading the pages. Article1 and Article2 All student work can be saved into a free teacher account that can be accessed from an iPad or a computer.

* Tellagami - (free) Tellagami is an extremely enjoyable way for students to record themselves reading fluently. I have used this app with students ranging from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade. Below is a Kindergarten student's Tellagami. Article

Student Example

How to Use iMovie (Trailer)

* AutoRap - (free) A very fun app that changes what students record while reading into a professional sounding rap. Below is an example of a second grade student reading "Arthur's Reading Race". Article

How to Use iMovie (Movie)

Tellagami and AutoRap Classroom Lesson

* Evernote - (free) If your students do not have Google Accounts, then Evernote is a great option. Students can add voice memos within each note, along with reflecting on their fluency through written text. Have students take a picture of a page in a book and then have them read the page adding the voice file to their Evernote note. There are many ways that Evernote can enhance a classroom besides literacy... Article

* Epic! - (free) If you would like your students to have access to free books on your iPads follow the directions below. Some of the books are "Read to Me" books. This app is great for all levels and there is a lot of books to choose from. I can't believe it is free to educators! Thank you Epic!

Here is what you do.

1. Got to http://www.getepic.com/ on your laptop.

2. Click "Sign Up Now"

3. Choose "Educator" and create an account (free).

4. Download "Epic! - Books for kids" onto your iPads (free).

5. Click on the Epic app on each of your iPads and sign into your account.

6. Students can browse books and choose favorites for easy access at a later date.

* iStoryBooks - (free) A collection of 25 "read to me" books.

2. Work on Writing

* StoryKit - (free - Purchase as an iPhone app, but will work on iPads.) Using StoryKit students can create books by taking photos with the camera or import from the photo library. Users can also create their own illustrations. Another great feature of Story Kit is that students can read the text to add voice to the book or add their own sound effects. For sharing purposes the story will be uploaded to StoryKit. After uploading the user will receive a private web address to share via email, or save the link to put on a blog, website, or wiki. Article

* Scribble Press - ($3.99) Students can create storybooks in a variety of formats. The books can be illustrated by the students, they can upload photos, or they can use the Scribble Press gallery stickers. All creations are saved in the app on a bookshelf. Students can publish their books to the Scribble Press Gallery, email the link, or export to iBooks. Students can also post links on a website or blog. For a fee Scribble Press will publish your book or use one of your drawings to create a few different products. Article

* Google Drive - (free) If your school is a Google school, this is a great place for students to write stories or to store any of their creations while using other apps. Google Drive makes a wonderful digital portfolio, as not only can they create documents, but students can upload picture and video files to their own accounts.

* Book Creator Free - (free) Book Creator is similar to ScribblePress without the drawing and stamp tools. With the free version the user can create two books by deleting contents of the instruction book. Once a user saves the BookCreator creation to iBooks the contents in the app can be erased to create a new book in it's place. Students can record their voice on the pages in Book Creator, a huge bonus over ScribblePress. Book Creator books can be saved as an .epub and opened in apps like iBooks to be read.

* My Story - ($3.99) Another Book creating app. I purchased this app when it was free for a day as advertised on Apps Gone Free. Students can add voice recordings, pictures, stickers, and draw. The downside is there is no typing option. If you get this app while it is free, it would be a good one to give students options, however there are free apps that are just as good and possibly better.

* Bookabi - (free) Yet, another book creating app. Bookabi has similar features to ScribblePress. What I like about Bookabi is that you can share finished books as a .pdf. This is a great option because some parents do not have technology equipment that can read .epub. Bookabi Tutorial

* Tar Heel Reader - (free) A wonderful book creating website that works just as well on an iPad as it does on a computer. The nice thing about using Tar Heel Reader is that students can work on their books at home, from a computer, or a tablet, as long as they are logged into the account that their work was created in. Article

* Make Beliefs Comix, ComicBook!, and Comic Maker - (These apps are sometimes free, but usually cost money) Great Apps for students to create comic strips or comic stories.

3. Word Work

* Spelling City - (free) A wonderful and engaging way for students to work with their spelling words. Teachers can create a free account while using their laptop. Then make as many lists as they wants. When students use the app, they search for their teacher and then choose the appropriate list. Once logged in, students can choose from several different games that will use the words from the list they chose.

* Moldiv or Pic Stitch - (free) Students create picture collages to reinforce vocabulary understanding. Using pictures gives students visuals to reinforce what words mean. Article

*Popplet Lite - (free) A great app to organize thoughts for writing a story, but can also be used to create a vocabulary web. Article

4. Listen to Reading

This is where those QR codes that you printed by using the AudioBoo app will come in handy. For free, you can build a whole library of audio books. Ask student's parents and colleagues to help, along with your own students. Soon enough you will have a whole library full of audiobooks. Article on QR Codes

5. Read to Someone

Many of the "Read to Self" options could be used as a "Read to Someone" option, however, I feel that this category may be best served to not use technology. It is very important to make connections with someone each day and Read to Someone is a great place for that connection with classmates and teachers.