Our app list...

Here is the 2011-12 kindergarten list - some of the basic apps on my student iPads and couple of words on why (a great place to get started):

iStopMotion - even 5 year olds can create really cool "stories"  - read more here





 

 iPhoto - so we can edit our photos and create quick journals of field trips, activities, projects



 

 


iWriteWords - good for handwriting practice - read more here



 




Word Wizard - for building words, has many wonderful lists of words already built in (Dolch Sight words, numbers, animals, foods, CVC lists based on specific blends, letter sounds, etc) and lets you enter your own lists - read more here





Montessori Crosswords - fun reading/spelling practice - allows the selection of targeted sounds such as short vowel sound words, specific consonant sounds, digraphs, silent letters - read more here






Book Creator - to give the students the tool to be completely creative in telling a story - read more here






LetterSchool - fantastic handwriting practice - read more here










Motion Math Zoom - interactive number line - great for thinking about number relationships - bigger, smaller, number order - read more here

Motion Math Hungry Fish - fishy way of approaching number relationships/addition - read more here

Moofy Patterns - for practicing patterns







Motion Math Wings - new way to consider "which is more" using a little kinesthetic learning







Scribble Press - for letting the creativity flow (don't miss the outstanding marker wall!)





Big Seed - wonderful problem solving app which gets kids working together, having thinking conversations - read more here

KickBox - a great app for practicing persistence, problem solving, collaborative pairing - read more here







Strip Design - think wordless books in a storyboard format for 6 year olds - a great app for getting the creative juices flowing






StarWalk - because there are wonderful stories in the stars...and a little fun too!  read more here





Bumpling - more problem solving, logical thinking, and possibilities for collaborative efforts - read more here

 

Hungry Fish!

Motion Math Hungry Fish has made a big splash in kindergarten!

It's a simple concept - there is a hungry fish and he needs to be fed some bubbles that add up to, or are the same amount as, the number on hungry fish's belly.

Kindergarteners love this app! If you don't combine the bubbles (add the numbers) to equal the needed food number, the fish won't eat it and more bubbles will appear. If the fish doesn't get food, a hint will appear after some time. Eventually, without food, the fish dies and offers the student the chance to try again.

This is a Motion Math app so there are multiple levels and each level has varied degrees of difficulty. There are also some bells and whistles to make it fun - changing the color of the fish, creating new fish, and even caves and Mad Fish eating wrong answers!

This app fits nicely in our program - offering children a chance to explore numbers and an appealing way to practice addition.

I like this app "side by side" with:
* kindergarten addition using physical math manipulatives
* creative group thinking about a real world math application

What I might change... I would like to see the number sentence at the bottom of the screen each time I add bubbles together. Also, Hungry Fish only offers in-app upgrades which makes it difficult to manage bulk purchases in an education setting. (This is also true of Motion Math Zoom.)