The "Must Have" Reading Apps for Kindergarten

With so many Apps out there, it is often overwhelming to search out and find good apps for your classroom. So I would like to start sharing some of the Apps that I think are "must have" reading apps for kindergarten.

Please look over this list and feel free to leave comments if you have found other apps that you think I should add to my "must have" list.

1. Montessori Crosswords - Spelling with Phonics
2. Beginning Sounds Interactive Game
3. Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic
4. Booksy SE
5. ABC Magic Reading Short Vowel Words
6. Letter of the Day Interactive Activities
7. ABC - Magnetic Alphabet HD
8. Jr. Bingo
9. Kids Learning to Read - Little Reader 3 Letter Words
10. AlphaTots

All of these apps can be found in the iTunes App Store.

Getting Started with iPads

I recently have decided to redefine what I will be blogging about for this class. Originally this blog was going to be mostly a place to chronicle new tools and systems that we are introducing into our district and a place where teachers inside our district could come for tips and tricks for using all of the available resources inside the school district. Now I would like to focus on iPads, and Apps for education.

So with that being said let me give you some links to help get you started if you are new to iPads in education.


photo by John.Karakatsanis on Flickr

Apple Volume Purchasing FAQs
http://www.apple.com/education/volume-purchase-program/faq.html

Apple has added a volume purchasing model for business and education. It allows schools and businesses to buy Apps in volume. There are a lot of rules to make sure you follow in order to be legal. This link answers some questions you may have.

Apple Education App Store
https://volume.itunes.apple.com/store
After you have read the FAQs above you can use this link to browse the apps available through the volume store. You can also see if the developer has decided to offer a discount for volume purchases. Apple allows developers to reduce the cost of an App by 50% after 20 licences of an app have been purchased in a single purchase. This is something the developer must choose to do.

iTunes
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
This is the link for the download page for iTunes. Get familiar with this software.

AppShopper
http://www.appshopper.com
This is a great site for discovering apps that have recently had price drops. I really like this site because it is updated regularly, but also because of the features it has for sorting. I have been able to save a lot of money personally, as well as for my district by checking this site regularly.

Otterbox Cases
http://www.otterbox.com/
If you are planning on using iPads in elementary setting, then you really should use a good case to increase the life of your iPad. I really like the cases that otterbox makes. They are sturdy, but not too bulky. I have had a lot of success with the defender cases. There are many other cases out there, so I would also recommend a search on amazon.com to find a case that best fits your needs.

Check out these links to get a little bit of a better idea of what it takes to start using iPads in a classroom. In the next post I will share with you my top 10 must have apps for a kindergarten classroom.

Signing In...

Hi- my name is Geoff and this is my blog. I am currently working on my M.E.T degree at Boise State University. As part of my degree, I am enrolled in edTech 597 - Blogging In The Classroom. The interesting thing about being in a class titled Blogging In The Classroom is that I am not a classroom teacher (though my wife is). I currently work for a school district as a Web Developer/Designer/System Specialist. In this role I get to help implement and create many different resources, tools, and technologies in our district. I am hoping that this blog becomes a place to chronicle new tools and systems that we are introducing into our district and a place where teachers inside our district can come for tips and tricks for using all of the available resources inside the school district. That being said, as the summer semester moves along it should become clearer what the exact focus of this blog is. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions that you have as you are reading through the blog.