Literacy



Here are some apps that are available for the iPad and iPod and examples of how I have used them in the classroom.

Reading:

There are heaps of free and paid for ebooks available for the iPad. These range from picture books, such as the **Wonky Donkey** to chapter books like **Percy Jackson.**



Apps like **iBrainstorm** and **iCardSort** (both free) are great for using on the iPad when working with a reading group. I have used these for out notetaking, sorting, brainstorming etc. Students can easily add notes using stickies or draw using their finger.

For higher reading groups the **Stuff** and **NZ Herald** are great for finding articles and research.

For a few reluctant readers from my class last year it became really easy to get them to want to read when using comics on the iPads. There are plenty of free and paid apps such as **Marvel Comics**, **Archie Comics** and **DC Comics.**

__Podcasting__

Using voice recorder app such as the built in **Voice Recorder** or free apps like **QuickVoice** students can record their voice anywhere and then sync or email back to a computer to edit in GarageBand.



__Blogging__

There are apps such as **BlogWriter** which allow you to easily add and edit posts on your blog with your iPod. Using an iPad I have found it easier to just use Safari. If you are wanting to add photos make sure that you have already synced them to you device. Adding videos and embedding other content is not very easy from the iPad or iPod, best to do it form a computer.



__Story Kit__

Story Kit is a cool app that lets students create their own eBooks. They can choose to edit the stories already there or create their own from scratch. Then can record sound and draw pictures.



__Pages__

Just like pages on your computer. Can be used for word processing, creating posters etc. I have found it is great for kids that struggle with typing as their text and keyboard are on the same screen so they do not have to look up and down all the time. You can also open documents created on the desktop version of pages and save your work back to a network or email it. With a recent update you can also print directly from the iPad.



__Fotobabble__

If you have used the fotobabble website before then this is just the same but works from the iPod. Fotobabble lets you create a talking photos. I have got students to add a photo of themselves and them record their goals for the term. These can then be embedded into wikis.



__Comic Touch__

Great app for reluctant writers. They can use photos to create their own comic.



__Dictionary/Thesaurus__

Before getting iPods students in my class liked to use dictionary on the computer as they said they found it easier and quicker to find the word they wanted, but there were not always computers available for them to use so having the iPods was great for them to be able just grab one and quickly look up a word.

__Camera__

The newer iPods (and possibly the soon to be released iPad 2) have built in cameras. These are great because students can then take photos or video directly onto the iPod and use them with almost any app without having to sync back to a computer first.