Literacy for Education

Preparations

1. My Spelling Test App - The Spelling Test app allows you to create your own list of spelling test apps.  In order to create tests you must spell in the words correctly and voice record saying the word as well as a sentence using the word.  It takes an average of 4 minutes to create a test.  The student can then play the words and use the keyboard on the iPad to spell the words that they are hearing.  The student presses "next", then the app tells them if they spelled the word correctly, then announces the next word in the test.  If it is incorrect, it will show how to spell the word correctly in red.  At the end of the test it will give a list of words, how they were spelled and how many were correct.  It can also be used on a Smart Board to involve the entire class in review of spelling words.
2. Dictionary.com App - The Dictionary app is a great tool for your tablet or phone.  Anytime you are unsure of a word's meaning, the definition is at your fingertips.  It also has the ability to playback the pronunciation of the word so you can actually hear the word spoken.  You can also search for a word with the voice command option.  This option allows you to speak the word and it will look up what it thinks you said.  There are other great features to a dictionary app as well.  One is the thesaurus to look up words that are similar.  This can be a great tool when writing a paper or just expressing a thought without using the same word over and over.  This app also has a "Word of the Day" feature, helping to build your vocabulary.  There is a playback for this word, which can be quite handy since many of these words you may never have heard before.  Overall, this is a very useful app for students, teachers, professionals or anyone.  I personally use this app on my phone on a regular basis.  It is wonderful for breaking a word down that may be familiar, to get a deeper meaning as well.

Presentations

• Educreations App -   This is an app that allows you to make an instructional video to help teach a concept.  To begin the video, press the record button and begin the instructions using your voice and the whiteboard on the screen.  The board has the option to use four different colors to write with, which can be useful in showing different steps of problem solving.  The undo and redo buttons can be a great tool for this as well.  By pressing the undo button you can go back to the beginning to explain the process again without having to rewrite it, or just back a couple of steps.  The redo button will rewrite the steps as you go forward through the problem.  You can also add additional pages to the video up to seven pages.  Images can also be added to the presentation.  Once added, there is a hand button that will allow you to manipulate the image such as zoom in or out and rotate.  You can also annotate the image by drawing right on the picture.  By underlining, circling or X-ing you can use this feature to further explain your solution.  Once your video is complete, stop the recording, save and then choose who you would like to see the video.  It can be seen by a specific person, a group of people or a whole school based on your selection. 

Stories

• Comic Life App - An app that allows you or your student to create their own comic stories.  It begins with choosing either a blank page or a template to write your story.  You can edit the template by tapping on the title to change the text.  Then tapping and adding pictures.  Once you have pictures you can use the draw feature to add shapes of your own to the page.  The shapes can be manipulated to change size and shape.  Thought bubbles can then be added with text to create the story.  Multiple pages can be added by choosing another template or adding a blank page with the same theme and creating your own layout.  If you choose a template, there are multiple layouts that can be added.  Once the comic is complete, you can save as a PDF and share it with others through email or social networks.  It can be opened in any program that can open a PDF document, such as Google Drive.  Once you have saved the comic, you can go back anytime to edit, make a copy or delete.  This could be a great way to get kids excited about writing their own stories.