ELA Reading

App Title: Short Vowel Word Study

App Price: $2.99
Subject Area: ELA
Languages: English
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
Word Study is developmentally appropriate because it takes into consideration what the student
understands or does not yet understand about spellings and word meanings to discover where
spelling instruction should start. This is accomplished by looking at the students misspellings of
certain word patterns (from simple words like man to more complex words such as multitude). It
is hands-on in that it requires students to analyze, manipulate, and create meaningful and logical
generalizations of how word spellings work.
NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard:
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Reading Standards: Foundational Skills (K5)
Grade: 1
Topic: Reading Standards: Foundational Skills
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 singlesyllable words.
d. Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds
(phonemes).
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Language Grades 1-8
Grade: 1
Topic: Reading With Fluency
Item number and statement: 3.2 graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., blending
and segmenting of individual sounds in words; visual features of words such as shape and
orientation; sound-letter relationships for initial, final, and medial sounds; onsent and rime,
common spelling patterns; words within words)
ELA Writing
App Title: Sentence Builder
App Price: $4.99
Subject Area: ELA
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
SentenceBuilder is designed to help elementary aged children learn how to build
grammatically correct sentences. Explicit attention is paid to the connector words
that make up over 80% of the english language. Sentence Builder offers a rich and fun
environment for improving the grammar of all children.

Sentencebuilder uses animations, audio content, levels of difficulty, and progress tracking to
help encourage and build up student experience and increase comfort and competence with the
sentence construction.

New York State P-12 Common Core Standards

Standard Strand: Language Standard K-5
Grade: 2
Topic: Conventions of Standard English
Item number and statement: 1.f Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound
sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie
was watched by the little boy).
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Language Grades 1-8
Grade: 1
Topic: Applying Knowledge of Language Conventions and Presenting Written Work Effectively
Item number and statement: 3.5 Use parts of speech appropriately to communicate their meaning
clearly, with a focus on the use of: nouns for names of people, places, and things; the personal
subject pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, they; verbs to tell what they do and feel; some adjectives;
and simple prepositions of place (e.g., in, on, at, to)
http://bestappsforkids.com/2014/sentence-builder/
English Language Learners (ELL)
App Title: Kidioms
App Price: $1.99
Subject Area: ELL
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
The Kidioms iPad app makes learning idioms fun for children, ELL students, or
anyone wishing to improve their understanding of English. The app uses an
interactive notebook to present an idiom, it's meaning and an example showing the
idiom used in context. Each page of the notebook also has a graphic to help illustrate
the idioms meaning.
In addition to the lessons, Kidioms offers three interactive activities to help reinforce the
concepts and provide practice using and understanding the idioms. Word Drop challenges the
learner to complete the idiom by choosing the correct missing word. Missing Word asks the user
to spell the missing word. In Match-Up the player selects the correct idiom to fill in the blank in
a larger block of text.

NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard:

New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Language Standard K-5
Grade: 4
Topic: Vocabulary acquisition and use
Item number and statement: 5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

 a. Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context.
b. Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.
c. Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to
words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Language Grades 1-8
Grade: 5
Topic: Understanding Form and Style
Item number and statement: 2.4 identify various elements of style - including word choice and
the use of similes, personification, comparative adjectives and sentence of different types,
lengths, and structures - and explain how they help communicate meaning
Students with Disabilities (SWD)
App Title: Voice Dream Reader
App Price: $9.99
Languages: English, Arabic, Bokml, Norwegian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish,
Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian,
Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Subject Area: ELA
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
A highly advanced text-to-speech program, Voice Dream Reader can translate text into audio in a
number of languages and allows students with vision impairments easy access to the same
material as their classmates. Students may also highlight and select different voices and reading
speeds depending on listener preferences. The application is easy to navigate, is accessible with
numerous file formats, and even comes with a dictionary function to help students.

NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard: Areas not covered by the standard include point 5, it
is also beyond the scope of the Standards to define the full range of supports appropriate for
English language learners and
for students with special needs (4). However it also notes that students with disabilities reading
should allow for
the use of Braille, screen-reader technology, or other assistive devices, while writing should
include the use of a scribe, computer, or speech-to-text technology (4). To this end this app is
applicable to the following standard:
Standard Strand: Common Core Standards K-5
Grade: 3
Topic: Reading Standards for Literature K5
Item number and statement: 1 & 3, Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a
text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. And Describe characters in a
story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the
sequence of events.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations:

Standard Strand: Language Grades 1-8
Grade: 3

 Topic: Reading for Meaning

Item number and statement: 1.4 Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying
important ideas and some supporting details
http://bestappsforkids.com/2014/voice-dream-reader/
Content Area
App Title: iBiome-Wetlands
App Price: $2.99
Languages: English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional
Chinese, Turkish
Subject Area: Science
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
iBiome Wetlands allows students to construct and observe a simulated wetland habitat. They can
watch and interact with their creation as life cycles unfold within the digital, curriculum-based
program. Students can observe a huge range of wildlife and engage in problem solving activies
as events unfold.

NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard:

Standard Strand: Elementary Science Grades K-4
Grade: 3
Topic: The Living Environment
Item number and statement: 1.2a Living things grow, take in nutrients, breathe, reproduce,
eliminate waste, and die.
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Science and Technology Grades 1-8
Grade: 3
Topic: Understanding Basic Concepts
Item number and statement: 3.3 describe the changes that different plants undergo into their life
cycles.
Content Area
App Title: Quick Fractions
App Price: $1.99
Languages: English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish
Subject Area: Mathematics
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
Operations games scaffold the process for adding, subtracting, multiplying and
dividing fractions, and the new help section gives some handy reminders if you get stuck!
Practise creating equivalence with and comparing fractions, decimals and percentages, enhancing
understanding of how the three relate. Handwriting answers means students work out the answer
instead of guessing from a range of presented options. Track student progress in each mode and
difficulty level. Keep practicing to improve your score and unlock new avatars.
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards

Standard Strand: P-12 Common Core Standards for Mathematics

Grade: 4
Topic: Numbers and Operations - Fractions
Item number and statement: 2. Compare two fractions with different numerators and different
denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a
benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two
fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and
justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Grades 1-8 Mathematics
Grade: 4
Topic: Quantity Relationships
Item Number and statement: compare and order fractions (i.e., halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, tenths)
by considering the size and the number of fractional compare fractions to the benchmarks of 0,
is more than parts
Choice Apps

App Title: Telling Time with the Smurfs

App Price: $2.99
Subject Area: Mathematics
Languages: English
Rationale for Curriculum Use: Telling time is a smurftastic skill to have! Learn,
practice, read, and play with the Smurfs in the new deluxe storybook experience with fun
activities that offers a unique and easy way to teach young learners how to read a clock face,
understand the difference between analog and digital clocks and tell time!
New York State P-12 Common Core Standards
Standard Strand: Measurement and Data
Grade: 1
Topic: Tell and write time and money
Item number and statement: 3. Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and
digital clocks.
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Language Grades 1-8
Grade: 1
Topic: Reading With Fluency
Item number and statement: 3.2 graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., blending
and segmenting of individual sounds in words; visual features of words such as shape and
orientation; sound-letter relationships for initial, final, and medial sounds; onsent and rime,
common spelling patterns; words within words)
Choice Apps
App Title: Dino Digger

App Price: $1.99

Subject Area: Science
Rationale for Curriculum Use:
This app is significantly more useful when incorporated into an overall lesson or
discussion, but in that regard it is very engaging and helpful. Students are able to discuss
extinction and fossils in class and then interact with these remnants digitally. Reconstructing
fossils and uncovering them through the app can give students a sense of the range of animals
that lived in the past. Students can also examine the different bones and parts of extincts species
and identify different adaptational characteristics evident in the surviving remnants.

NYS P-12 Common Core/NYS Standard:

Standard Strand: Intermediate Level Science Grades 5-8
Grade: 5
Topic: The Living Environment
Item number and statement: 3.2b Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes
and adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to permit its survival. Extinction of a
species is common. Fossils are evidence that a great variety of species existed in the past.
Ontario Curriculum Expectations:
Standard Strand: Science and Technology Grades 1-8
Grade: 4
Topic: Relating Science and Technology to Society and the Environment
Item number and statement: 1.2 Identify reasons for the depletion or extinction of a plant or
animal species, evaluate the impacts on the rest of the natural community, and propose possible
actions for preventing such depletions or extinctions from happening