Create-A-Monster App Giveaway!!!

Believing that learning should always be fun and spark creativity, the team at Just Fun has reduced the price of their wacky, wild iPad app, Create-A-Monster to celebrate the start of a new school year.  The app is on sale for $1.99 ffrom 9/1-9/6.  To double the fun, I have FIVE, count them, FIVE promo codes to give away!!  

This art app allows children (or parents!!) to create, manipulate and personalize their own monster. There are great tutorials that take you through all of the various features, such as how to rotate and scale various body parts.  Upon finishing their creations, kids can share their monsters with the world via Facebook , Twitter or email. 

So, here's the scoop! My mind is exploding with possibilities of how to integrate Create-A-Monster in the learning environment.  In an earlier post, I gave a few suggestions for lesson starters and have been bouncing around ideas since.  I would LOVE to hear from you! The new year is just beginning and Halloween is around the corner, what are your ideas?

Contest Details: Create an original lesson idea for integrating Create-A-Monster in the classroom.  Be creative! Have fun! Then, submit your ideas in the comments section.  From the entries, I will choose five people to receive the promo codes.  Hurry! The deadline for entry is Wednesday, September 7th.  After the contest is over, I will publish the ideas in a post for everyone to share.  It's a win-win situation!

Resources: 

• Just for Fun 
• YouTube Channel
• iTunes

BEWARE: You are headed for MONSTER size fun!

Journey Into the Cell

School is back in session!  For teachers and students this looks to be an exciting year filled with technological adventures.  Classrooms are transforming as we discover the need to keep up with the changing landscape of our society.  The team at Emantras recently launched an amazing app for the iPad: Cell and Cell Structure.  This app brings technology to the head of the class and allows for many exciting explorations on the cellular level.

Aimed at middle school students, the Cell and Cell Structure app takes students on a journey into the cell as they explore the basic building block of life.  Upon launching the app, you have three options from which to choose: All About Cells, Videos, or Interactive Activities.  The All About Cells section provides the "notes" for the journey.  Students explore a sideshow of three-dimensional images and can read information about topics such as "What is a cell?" or "Benefits of a Multicellular Organism." The videos provide an in-depth exploration of specific topics such as an explanation of mitosis in both plant and animal cells.  Currently there are only four videos, but more are planned to be included in future updates.  The material presented in these sections complement any middle-school life science course by providing visually stunning 2-D and 3-D imagery, using accurate vocabulary and presenting information beyond the standard course of study.  Finally, the interactive activities provide students a chance to practice and apply the material through word searches, flashcards and quizzes.  Scores are recorded on the quizzes allowing teachers to measure student progress. 

Cell and Cell Structure should greatly enhance any biology course by providing students a fun and exciting way to learn about cells.  The interface is extremely user-friendly and kids should have zero trouble navigating through the various sections.  The images are absolutely amazing!  Our 9 year old was captivated and found himself lost in the cellular world for quite a while.   Our 11 year old really enjoyed the interactive flashcards and the slide showcasing the Venn diagram of the plants versus animals cells.  She told me she was "excited to use this in school this year."  That is every homeschoolers dream!  

As a homeschool mom and educator, this is by far one of my favorite educational apps.  It goes beyond the need of meaningfully integrating technology by showing a glimpse into the future as we shift to a more global, internet-based classroom.  Webinars, online textbooks, digital learning, and social media are reshaping the landscape of education.  The team at Emantras recognizes this trend.  Appropriate for middle through high school, this app provides not only an exciting journey into the cell, but an exciting journey into the future of education.

BEWARE: Create-A-Monster Sparks Creativity!

Create-A-Monster is wonderfully, wacky, wild fun!  The team at Just Fun has launched an iPad app that will spark creativity and bring your children hours of fun and unlimited possibilities!

Basically, this art app allows children (or parents!!) to create, manipulate and personalize their own monster. There is a great tutorial that takes you through all of the various features, such as how to rotate and scale various body parts.  Upon finishing their creations, kids can share their monsters with the world via email, Facebook or Twitter.  Aimed at grade school age children and up, Create-A-Monster provides wholesome entertainment while igniting the imagination.  It has entertained our five-year old on up to, well, me!  

As a homeschooling parent and educator, this app would serve as a great sounding board to a creative writing unit or as an activity to illustrate the mathematical concept of symmetry.  I have included suggestions on how to incorporate “monsters” in your learning environment.

Lesson Ideas:

• Math:
  • Have children create symmetrical monsters to add a fun twist to this geometric  concept. Save their masterpieces and create a digital presentation using  Google Docs, Animoto, or Glogster.

• Language Arts:
  • Creative writing:
    • Really get the creative juices flowing by using your students’ monsters as a story starters.  Then, publish their stories using Google Docs or on your class wiki.
    • Create a  fake Facebook or Twitter profile to correspond to your monster.
  • Descriptive writing:
  • Begin by creating your own monster.  Then, try to describe your monster in great detail using lots and lots of adjectives and excruciating detail!  Pair up with a friend and see how well you can recreate each other’s monsters.  Not only is this a great exercise in descriptive writing, but also in developing observation skills necessary for scientific inquiry.

BEWARE: You are headed for MONSTER size fun!

Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul is Tonka Size Fun!

Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul is the first storybook app release between Ruckus Media and Hasbro.  What a great success!  This interactive app will delight children with over 70 screens of entertainment including an engaging story, video and "tickle your brain" activities.  Not to mention, children will explore the meaning of hard work, honesty and true friendship.  

Chuck and Friends has many amazing features.  First, you can choose to have the story read to you, read alone or to read and record your voice providing young children with a mobile story time they can take anywhere.  As an educator, I love the read and record feature! This can serve as a great tool for documenting a child's reading ability and fluency.  Secondly, throughout the story, children are presented puzzles to solve.  These activities teach letter recognition, problem solving and picture/word association.  In addition, these activities are randomized making each experience unique.  Finally, upon completion of the story and activities, children are provided the opportunity to make a customizable story using words they have collected throughout the games.  Amazingly fun!

The Digital Age has revolutionized how parents and teachers approach learning.  Look at story apps as positive "screen time."  Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul, along with the many other apps by Ruckus Media, offer children exciting opportunities to develop literacy, enhance creativity and gain confidence in reading.  As an educator, homeschooler, and mommy, I highly recommend this wonderful app and look forward to what Hasbro and Ruckus have planned for the future.

Head to the Lab with Virtual Rat Dissection!

Last year, our kids were totally grossed out by Frog Dissection!  To quote our second-grader, "Mom, it's totally gross, but so cool!"  Our kids were enthralled by this app and were able to successfully complete a frog dissection flying solo.  Not too bad considering they ranged in age from 4-10!  Thanks to the creators at Punflay, they have another opportunity to be "grossed out" with their new app, Rat Dissection.  Aimed at middle-schoolers, this app allows students to dissect a rat in school or on the go using virtual tools and without all of the mess. Using beautiful, 3-D imagery and voice-over instruction, students are guided through a sequence of steps to complete the dissection process.  Along the way, you can tap on an organ to learn more details about its function. 

As an educator and homeschooling mom, I love that this app provides our children with quality educational materials at a fraction of the cost of a real lab.  In addition, the creators did not "dumb down" the material in order to reach a wider audience.  Real science is taught using real vocabulary.  The scientific minds at our home greatly appreciate this and I am not talking about mom and dad!  Rat Dissection provides a wonderful introduction to organs, organ systems and their functions.  Teachers and parents can feel confident that children are learning and engaged.  The smell of formaldehyde does have its place in the Biology classroom, however, for those seeking an alternative experience or a supplement to their existing curriculum, this app is the way to go!  Rat Dissection is available for download at iTunes for $3.99.  

Check out other amazing apps by the genius minds at Punflay!

• Frog Dissection
• My Word Wall
• Number Sense HD