Read Me Stories

This app is GREAT for young children. It has some wonderful books and will read them out loud to your kids. It does not highlight the words though as it reads it. If you choose the free app you will receive a NEW book every day. My daughter loves to read the "new" books every night. If you choose to pay the $3.99, you will receive the 30 books with your purchase. So far, I only have one complaint. We recently downloaded a book called "Tickles Up My Nose" which talks about a boy picking his nose. He makes sure no one is looking and picks it again. It ends by having the boy with his entire arm up his nose. Other than this one book, my daughter loves them. She especially loves the books that have songs to sing to.

Link to app info

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Pottery Lite and Pottery HD

Are you interested in making pottery but can't afford a kiln and want to eliminate the mess? Then these apps are for you. These apps are fairly similiar but I ended up purchasing Pottery HD when it was on sale. With this app, you need to mold your pot, fire it, and then paint and decorate it. The more details you put in, the more money you will get for it at auction. The more money you have, the more colors and details you can purchase. Not a bad app for free!! If you choose to buy the HD version it will cost you $4.99.

Link to app info

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Multipong

Are you a fan of the good old game of Pong. With this game they brought Pong to a whole new level. You can play by solo (which puts you against the computer) or play with up to 4 people. My family of 4 loves the game because it is something we can all play together.

The review says, "One finger to control your paddle. Give your ball smooth effects and thwart the traps to win the game ! In Multiplayer mode, catch the bonuses, use the bumpers and beat your opponents.
In Solo mode, try to beat A.I computer and defeat Mr Monster, from standard skin to 8bits skin, or try to beat your score and share it through the Game Center. Don't lose control of the ball."

The cost of this app is $2.99.

Link to info about app

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Soundnote

Are you a person that goes to meetings but forget things the minute you leave? I tend to go to many sports meeting for my children, only for my wife ask me about everything that was said. Being dyslexic...I tend to struggle in this area. That was, not until I found Soundnote. Soundnote lets you take notes BUT also records at the same time. It will link the recording to the exact area you are typing. At a recent sporting meeting I attended, they talked about uniforms, picking teams, coaching information, traveling teams, etc. As I was recording the entire meeting, I just typed the key words which will let me go back to these specific areas of the meeting. I would recommend this app for everyone! The only downfall is the cost. $4.99!!

Link to info about app

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Penultimate

Do you have problems organizing notes, thoughts, plans, etc. Then this $0.99 app may be for you. I design sets for the musical at the school I work at and would sketch on any scrap of paper I could find. When I needed my sketches, I could never find them. With this app, I created a notebook for my sketches and keep them all in one place. It lets you create many different notebooks so you can have one for home, notes, business info, school, etc. I have ordered a stilus to use specifically with this app since I use it so often. Well worth the $0.99!!

I have an app share day scheduled this week so hopefully I will have many more apps to share!!

Info about app

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Sim City

For all you fans of the old computer game Sims City, here it is for the itouch and ipad. My son and my nephew love to play this game and get lost in it for hours. It is currently $2.99.

Description

BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP TO BE THE BEST SIMCITY™ EXPERIENCE FOR iPHONE® & iPOD TOUCH®! Made to maximize the Retina Display, see your dream city come to life with simplified controls, optimized performance, inspiring visuals, exciting new scenarios, and starter cities. Designed for dedicated and casual players alike, let your inner urban planner run wild!

NOW DESIGNED TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE RETINA DISPLAY
See the texture of the ground and the ripples on the water. Observe your urban landscape in stunning detail. SimCityTM Deluxe includes enhanced graphic features specifically made to maximize the high-end visual quality of the Retina Display.

FACE CHALLENGING NEW SCENARIOS IN DIFFERENT SETTINGS
Get started in cities inspired by world famous locations and remake them to your liking with new, highly detailed buildings – including 41 renowned landmarks. Test your ability as a mayor in up to 7 multifaceted scenarios, from staging a glorious “World Games” to coping with a scorching heat wave.

MEET DEVASTATING DISASTERS
Guide your city through seasonal catastrophes like blizzards, electrical storms…and locust plagues! Or how about fending off a random meteor strike? Even encounter multiple disasters at once!

MODIFY TERRAIN WITH TOUCH CONTROL & INSTANTLY SEE HOW YOUR CITY IS SHAPING UP
Finger-paint water, land, and trees. Seamlessly rotate, scroll, and zoom – and never lose the view of your city! The optimized interface also includes improved menus and an automated power-lines option for easier play.

BUILD THE CITY OF YOUR DREAMS! NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!
If you’re new to the SimCity experience, the expanded tutorial and friendly in-game advisors will help you realize your vision. For added inspiration, you can even play your favorite block-rockin’ tunes as you make your SimCity come to life!

Link to app info

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Top 10 Free Apple iPod Touch Apps for English and Language Arts

I got this from a co-worker and thought I would share. I have talked about a few of these but thought I would include the entire article anyway.

1.Dictionary.com is a very popular and versatile app that should easily find a place on any iPod Touch in the classroom. This handy app features a dictionary, thesaurus and word of the day feature. It offers example sentences, audio pronunciations, and word origins. Best of all, you do not even need to be connected to the Internet to use the dictionary and thesaurus features. It truly is one of the best apps for education.

2. Miss Spell, is another app from Dictionary.com. This one will test the spelling ability of your students by offering up a variety of words that the students need to decide whether they are spelled correctly or not. Speed and accuracy score the best points as you decipher the 20 words on offer for each level. American English is the standard spelling format, and there are over 10,000 words tested.

3. Amazon's Kindle app will turn your iPod Touch into an e-reader for your classroom. To accompany this free app, you will be able to find several free e-books to download from Amazon.com. Flip through the pages by swiping the screen, re-size text, add bookmarks, and always be sure that you can start from the page you last looked at, even if you close the app. The Kindle app is a worthwhile addition for any Language Arts class.

*4. Story Kit is the International Children's Digital Library App. It allows you to create your own stories, complete with pictures. Add text boxes, images and sound clips. Record sounds for your stories, and add, reorder or delete your pages. Add pictures by drawing on the screen, taking a picture of something, or drawing something on paper and taking a picture of it! There are lots of great creative options here to allow your students to create stories right on their iPod Touch.

5. Exam Vocabulary Builder (Free Edition) is a great way to keep vocabulary skills fresh in the minds of your students. This is the free version of a full price app, but still has a hundred words that students can practice to improve vocabulary. Each word has synonyms and two example sentences that can be read aloud. Words are grouped as nouns, verbs and adjectives, and there is a quiz mode that has easy and challenging levels. You can search for words, or swipe through some flashcards. This app has some limitations due to the number of tested words, but for a free app, it is still useful for the classroom.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/62720.aspx#ixzz19ztDoWyt

6. Grammar Up (Free Edition) has over 50 multiple choice questions, over 10 categories, to provide a quick test of your student's grammar abilities. Adjectives, adverbs, verb tenses, prepositions, and conjunctions are just some of the categories covered with this handy app. Choose a timer mode, shake the Touch to skip a question, and enjoy the progress bars that show you how well you are doing with each category.

7. Paper Hangman (Lite) is the first of three word games on this list. Guess letters to complete the words or phrases on this timeless, classic word game. Shake the Touch to start a new puzzle and keep track of the highest scores in your class with the high score table. There are over 2500 words on a variety of topics for you try to guess, plus the option to disable sound effects, (always a plus for the classroom!).

8. Madlibs is another game that makes the leap from your childhood to the iPod Touch. Choose nouns, verbs and adjectives to complete the craziest stories that you will have heard in a long time! Only four stories are available in this free version, but that could still be enough to pass some time with your fast finishers, or those students with some extra time to fill.

9. Chicktionary (Lite) is one of the best free apps for education users. It was a popular online word game that effortlessly made the leap to the Touch. Each chicken has a letter on it and you use these letters to make a combination of 3, 4, 5 or more letter words. The more words you can make the better your score. Don't like the order your letters are in? Shake the iPod Touch to shuffle the chickens/letters. The Lite version has 12 levels to try, so enough to keep the students happy for a good length of time.

10. iTalk Recorder is a voice recording app. Use this to record readers theater groups, or to record and playback readers to help them improve their fluency. Why not record a lecture for a student who is absent? The iTalk Recorder is a versatile tool that could have many uses in the classroom. If you are a fan of Vocaroo, and other online recording apps, then this could be just what you need for you iPod Touch.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/62720.aspx?p=2#ixzz19ztQNUwY

APP DEALS

I felt as though I was a kid in a candy store yesterday while app shopping. Many of the apps that I have wanting all went to $0.99. I blogged about Need for Speed Hot Pursuit a few days ago. I paid $9.99 for it (which really wasn't worth that much) but it is now $0.99. If you are a sports fan...here are some that I found last night:

Madden 11 - $0.99 in HD on ipad

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit - $0.99

Need for Speed Shift - $0.99

NBA Elite (for iphone) -$0.99

Fifa 11 (for iphone) - $0.99...watch out because it is $9.99 in HD for the ipad

NHL2K11 (for iphone) - $0.99

Tiger Woods PGA Tour (for iphone) - $0.99

Reckless Racing - $0.99 in HD on ipad

Drift Mania - $0.99 in HD (one of the only games I have tried and the graphics aren't good)

Deer Hunter 3D - $0.99 for ipad or iphone

Deer Hunter African Safari for ipad - $0.99

2XL Trophylite rally - $0.99 for ipad or iphone (off road truck racing)

Boggle for ipad - $0.99

Sim City Delux for ipadin HD or iphone - $0.99

Game of Life $0.99 for iphone...here is another one to watch out for because it is $6.99 for ipad

Just a quick list of apps I will probably do a little blog about in the near future. Enjoy the list.

Grinchmas!

I have not tried this one yet but it came highly recommended. After reading about the app, it was supposedly the #1 kids game in 2009.

★ 2009 Best App Ever Awards nominee - Best Just for Kids App
★ Top-8 Paid App and #1 Kids Game - Dec 2009
★ "Grinchmas is highly recommended for kids of all ages." - AppModo
★ "A fun and graphically beautiful game" (5 out of 5 stars) - TouchReviews
★ "You probably can’t go far wrong with this!" - IntoMobile.com
★ "Highly recommended" - FamilyGamerOnline

Grinchmas is a fun, casual game of skill and accuracy. Assume the role of The Grinch perched on Mt. Crumpit. Swipe the screen to throw either snowballs or presents down to Who-ville, depending on whether you feel “mean” or “merry.” Accuracy and speed determine your score.

Features two gameplay modes:
"Mean Grinch" - The Whos down in "Who-ville" are making too much Christmas NOISE, NOISE, NOISE! Splat each noisy Who house with snowballs to silence them. How long can you last before the noise overwhelms you?

"Merry Grinch" - The Grinch has had a change of heart and must deliver matching colored presents to the Who houses. How many presents can you deliver, to grow the Grinch's heart bigger, before time runs out?

Link to App info above

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Dictionary.com

This app was highly recommended by a teacher in my school.

"Features:
• Dictionary and Thesaurus
• English and Spanish Word of the Day
• Nearly 1,000,000 words and definitions in our Dictionary
• More than 90,000 synonyms and antonyms in our Thesaurus
• Alphabetical indexing
• Similarly spelled words
• Phonetic and audio pronunciation
• Example sentences
• Non-standard uses
• Word origin and history
• Editable recent word look-up
• Shake device to see a randomly-selected word
• No Internet connection required for Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Internet connection required for Word of the Day, audio pronunciations and similarly spelled words"

Link to app info

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