APP REVIEW

Melissa Michael July 27, 2014

App Review

Subject Area: Content Area App: Mathematics
App Title: Math Training for Kids
App Price: Free on Android; $0.99 on iPhone, iPad
Languages: English
Rationale: Three difficulty levels and the four basic concepts (addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division) in this simple app that teaches solid math fundamentals will help
your child become more skilled.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Operations & Algebraic Thinking 2.OA
Grade: 2
Topic: Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.
Item number and statement: 1. Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-
step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart,
and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a
symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
New York State Learning Standards Mathematics
Standard- 3.PS.3: Operations & Algebraic Thinking: Students will build new mathematical
knowledge through problem solving and interpret information correctly, identify the problem,
and generate possible solutions.
Performance Indicator:
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Number Sense and Numeration
Overall Expectations:
APP REVIEW

-Solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of one- and two-digit whole numbers,
using a variety of strategies, and investigate multiplication and division

Specific Expectations:
Operational Sense
By the end of Grade 2, students will:
Solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of one- and two-digit whole numbers,
using a variety of strategies, and investigate multiplication and division.



Subject Area: Content Area App: Science
App Title: Wander, Root, & Grow
Languages:50+
Rationale: Unearth the secrets of the green kingdom and investigate an interactive diorama of
the worlds biomes. Begin in the forest and the desert: burrow with badgers, spark a wildfire, and
spin through seasons and time. See how flora and fungi germinate, pollinate, and decompose.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard 4- The living environment
Standard Strand: Science Standards
Grade: 2
Topic: Key Idea 1:Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from
nonliving things
Item number and statement:
1.1a Animals need air, water, and food in order to live and thrive.
1.1b Plants require air, water, nutrients, and light in order to live and thrive

New York State Learning Science Standards
APP REVIEW

Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories
pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical
development of ideas in science.

Performance Indicator: 1.1 Describe the characteristics of and variations between living and
nonliving things
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Understanding Life Systems Growth and Changes in Animals
Overall Expectations:
1. Assess ways in which animals have an impact on society and the environment, and ways
in which humans have an impact upon animals and the places where they live;

Specific Expectations:

By the end of Grade 2 students will:
3.2 Describe an adaptation as a characteristic body part, shape, or behaviour that helps a plant or
animal survive in its environment



Subject Area: ELA Writing App- Language
App Title: Sentence Builder
App Price: $4.99
Languages: English
Rationale: The Sentence Builder App helps students develop word recognition, listening, and
sentence skills. It presents words in random order, then asks players to drag the words into place
to make the narrated sentence.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Grade: 1
Topic: Language Standards K-5: Conventions of Standard English
APP REVIEW

Item number and statement: 2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
b.Use end punctuation for sentences.
c.Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a
series.
d.Use conventional spelling for words with common
spelling patterns and

New York State Learning Language Standards
Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships,
concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and
electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to
acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information

Ontario Curriculum Language Standards
Overall Expectations:
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
-Generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose
and audience;

Specific Expectations:
Sentence Fluency
2.4 write simple but complete sentences that make sense
Punctuation
3.4 Use punctuation to help communicate their intended meaning, with a focus on the use of: a
capital letter at the beginning of a sentence; a period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the
end

ELL App

Subject Area: Language
App Title: Bug Brained Phonics Awareness
APP REVIEW

App Price: Free
Languages: English
Rationale: This app helps students work on blending, segmenting, and vowels. It offers
feedback for students immediately. Phonemic awareness is necessary for EL students in order to
demonstrate an understanding for the linguistic characteristics of English. This supports ELD
standards as well as builds foundational reading skills.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Grade: 1
Topic: Print Concept: Phonological Awareness
Item number and statement: 2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and
sounds (phonemes).
a. Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
b. Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant
blends.
c. Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in
spoken single-syllable words.
d. Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds
(phonemes).

New York State Learning Language Standards
Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships,
concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and
electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to
acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information

Ontario Curriculum Language Standards
Reading
Overall Expectations:
By the end of grade 2, students will:
-Recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and
demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;

Specific Expectations:
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2. Understanding Form and Style
2.1 Textforms- identify and describe the characteristics of a few simple text forms, identify
graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., blending and segmenting of individual
sounds in words)


App Title: Storia
App Price: Free.
Subject Area: ELA reading app
Rationale for Curriculum Use: This Scholastic e-reader app is designed just for kids. Books
are embedded with questions, learning activities, and pop-up dictionary definitions. The app
download comes with five free books; additional books can be purchased and added to a
students bookshelf.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Reading Standards for Informational Text K5 [RI]
Grade: 2
Topic: Key Ideas and Details
Item number and statement: 1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when,
why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Grade 2: Language
Overall expectation:
- listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a
variety of purposes
APP REVIEW

Specific Expectation:
1.4 demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in oral texts by retelling the story
or restating the information, including the main idea and several interesting details (e.g., restate a
partner's reflections after a think-pairshare activity; identify the important ideas in a group
presentation; carry on a sustained conversation on a topic)
1.5 use stated and implied information and ideas in oral texts to make simple inferences and
reasonable predictions, and support the inferences with evidence from the text
1.6 extend understanding of oral texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge
and experience; to other familiar texts, including print and visual texts; and to the world around
them


App Title: Learn the World
App Price: $0.99.
Subject Area: Social Studies (choice)
Rationale for Curriculum Use: No passport required to take this global trek. Learn the World
tests students knowledge of countries, capitals, and continents. By completing multiple-choice
quizzes, they can earn flags of countries from around the globe.
New York State Learning Standards Social Studies
Standard - SS2: World History: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate
their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world
history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Performance Indicator - SS2.E.1C: Students study about different world cultures and
civilizations focusing on their accomplishments, contributions, values, beliefs, and traditions.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations
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CWC: Features of Communities Around the World
Overall Expectation:
2z16 demonstrate an understanding that the world is made up of countries, continents, and
regions and that people's lifestyles may differ from country to country;
Specific Expectation:
2z22 identify similarities and differences (e.g., in food, clothing, homes, recreation, land use,
transportation, language) between their community and a community in another part of the
world.


App Title: BrainPOP: Featured Movie
App Price: Free app; $6.99 for full-access subscription
Subject Area: Science (choice)
Rationale for Curriculum Use: Access BrainPOPs huge library of videos, spanning all
content areas. Science videos address topics in earth, life, and physical sciences, including
weather, space, and physics.
NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard:
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Elementary science
Grade: 2
Topic: The Physical Setting

Standard Number(s) and Statement(s):
3.2a Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid and gas.
Solids have a definite shape and volume
APP REVIEW

Liquids do not have a definite shape but have a definite volume
Gases do not hold their shape or volume
3.2b Temperature can affect the state of matter of a substance.
3.2c Changes in the properties or materials of objects can be observed and described
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR: Observe and describe properties of materials, using appropriate
tools
Ontario curriculum expectations:
Overall Expectations:
By the end of Grade 2, students will:
2. Investigate the properties of and interactions among liquids and solids;
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the properties of liquids and solids.
Specific Expectations:
2.3 Investigate, through experimentation, interactions that occur as a result of mixing
and/dissolving liquids and solids (e.g., half and half cream and sugar), liquids and liquids (e.g.
oil and water), and solids and solids (e.g. salt and sugar).
2.6 Use appropriate Science and Technology vocabulary including freezing, prediction, definite
shape, indefinite shape and solution in written and oral communication
3.4 identify conditions in which the states of liquids and solids remain constant (e.g., solids
remain solid when broken; liquids remain liquid when poured) and conditions that can cause
their states to change (e.g., liquids may freeze when the temperature drops; solids may melt when
heated)


App Title: Sono Flex
App Price: $99.99.
Subject Area: Elementary Language (choice)
APP REVIEW

Rationale for Curriculum Use: Sono Flex is for students who are nonverbal or have
communication difficulties. It allows them to express themselves with the touch of a finger.
Students can tap words and pictures from the apps glossary, and the tablet will say their
selections out loud.

New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Elementary science: core curriculum K4 [RI]
Grade: 2
Topic: information systems
Item number and statement: STANDARD 2Key Idea 1:
Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool
to enhance learning. Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using
appropriate technologies.
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Overall Expectations:
By the end of grade 2, students will:
- listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a
variety of purposes
Specific Expectations:
Active Listening Strategies
1.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by using active listening
strategies in a variety of situations






APP REVIEW