Apps+for+Math

Thanks to Heather Matthews and Kari James for road-testing these apps with their 2nd-grade students at McCarty-Towne School. They recommend each of them highly for student engagement and building math fluency.
 * 3 Great Math Apps for Early Elementary **

**[|Math Slide 100]** is a free app that provides a multiplayer game designed to help students understand numbers up to 100. Up to 4 students can play at the same time, sliding tiles to the center to match an answer, equation, or image. The student who is the first to slide the tile with the correct answer scores a point. Heather says students love this one!

[|The **Math Drills** app] provides a fun, interactive environment for students to learn basic math skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. A Lite version of the app is free, but the McT teachers find the $1.99 version to be a worthwhile investment, as it allows them to track up to data for up to 50 students.

Although designed for grade 3, Heather and Kari find **[|Z Math]** to be well-suited for helping their 2nd-grade students build number sense and place value skils with a fee app that is fun, simple, and interactive.

The success of the **Hour of Cod**e initiative, and ongoing efforts by www.code.org have encouraged students of all ages to explore computer programming. Several **apps designed to teaching coding** have been used with great success and enthusiasm by Blanchard students. Here are two of our favorites:
 * Apps for Programming and Engineering **
 * [[image:kodable.jpg width="63" height="63" align="left"]] Kodable** is the first step in early programming education, ideally suited for students in grades K through 2. This free app introduces programming language with fun, sequential activities. Young Blanchard students really loved working with partners to solve the challenge of moving the "fuzz balls" along a path to collect gold coins.

** Daisy the Dino** is a free app that teaches the basics of programming with an interface that students of all ages can use. With drag and drop block programming, students can make Daisy, move, turn, jump, and dance.

= Apps for Learning Math =

**[|Thinking Blocks]** is a web tool and a series of iPad apps (currently free) developed by the founder of the popular math website, Math Playground. Thinking Blocks employs the Singapore model drawing approach. Teachers can use Thinking Blocks to integrate model drawing with any math program, and allow students to explore and demonstrate understanding of word problems. There are currently different four Thinking Blocks apps, including Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division, Fractions, and Ratio and Proportion.

**Math Splat** is a fun app that encourages students to develop fluency in math operations with an engaging game. The app typically costs 99 cents, but was downloaded to Blanchard student iPads during a limited free offer.


 * Virtual Manipulatives** is a free app from the developers of the website ABCya is rated by Ap ple as one of the top 50 free educational apps. Students can use the app independently to learn and practice working with fractions, decimals, and percents. It would also work well displayed through a projector for whole-class instruction.

**Mathmateer (f**ormerly Rocket Math Free) is a free, highly-praised app for practicing math skills. Students can play individually or with up to 5 players. After choosing an avatar, players solve math problems (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) available in Easy, Medium, or Hard levels to earn virtual money that they can use to build, and then fly a rocket. This app is a bit complicated to learn how to use, but could be highly motivating for the right student.

Thanks to Mrs. Crockett for recommending**[| Flash to Pass]**, a free app for practicing math skills that offers a clean, simple interface including a timer and six levels of difficulty for all four mathematical operations. She uses this app with small groups of students, and with the iPad connected to her interactive whiteboard for whole class instruction.

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multiplication skills i n a fun way...  by feeding numbered sushi to a hungry monster in the middle of the sushi table. Correct answers earn points, stars, and trophies. The game is timed, and becomes more challenging as the student progresses through the levels. One downside is that Sushi Monster is designed for a single user, so the game does not save profiles for multiple students. Nonetheless, it provides a fun and motivating interface for practicing math.
 * Sushi Monster** is an entertaining educational app from Scholastic that allows students to practice addition and

**Lobster Diver**is a free app offered by the University of Maine Extension with a lobster theme (what else?) that would be ideal for students in Kindergarten and grade 1. Students move the fisherman's boat and select from the number line to find the number and collect lobsters from a trap. If the wrong place on the number line is chosen, the trap release an old boot. The graphics make this game especially fun, and the electric eel and timed mode add to the challenge. multiplayer game helping children understand tens and ones; numbers up to 100. Players learn by sliding tiles into the center to match an answer, equation or image. The player who slides their tiles first wins.