MAT Collaboration

1. There’s an App for That
Becky Simon
and
Christian Williams

2. Educational App Evaluation
1. Name – What is the app called?
2. Grade level and content area
3. Specific uses in the classroom
4. Does it provide student feedback?
5. What kind of higher learning thinking skills does the
app encourage?
6. Ease of use...is it intuitive
7. What kind of privacy does it offer
8. Are the skills reinforced connected to your curriculum
standards/student outcomes?
9. Does the app provide easy to follow and
comprehensive instructions?

3. Rubric Criteria
1. Description
2. Authenticity
3. Feedback
4. Differentiation
5. User Friendliness
6. Instructions
7. Higher Order Thinking
8. Student Motivation

4. Edmodo
Educational App Evaluation:
1. Edmodo
2. K-12
3. Used for classroom communication and building
community
4. It does provide student feedback by way of the teacher
5. Creating, Analyzing, Evaluating
6. There is a learning curve, but once it is surpassed, the app
is easy to use
7. Privacy is a pinnacle
8. It is CCCS friendly
9. It has easy to follow instructions

5. Edmodo
Rubric Criteria
1. Description – Edmodo is like FaceBook but it has an educational
push. You share assignments, questions, ideas etc. with students
and they respond. It also has a lot more privacy than FB
2. Authenticity – This is up to the teacher
3. Feedback – Again, this is up to the teacher
4. Differentiation – Teacher driven
5. User Friendliness – very easy to use once you get the hang of it
6. Instructions – one can post assignments, questions, have learning
folders etc. The students create their accounts and go from there.
7. Higher Order Thinking – creating, analyzing, evaluating
8. Student Motivation – they love doing it because it’s a way to
connect with their friends and teachers! The motivation is high.

6. Sentence Maker
Educational App Evaluation
1. Sentence Maker
2. K-5 (with the older grades using it for strugglers)
3. Help students form quality sentences
4. It does provide feedback
5. Applying, organizing, constructing
6. It seems easy to use
7. You have to have an account to sign in
8. CCCS aligned
9. The app seems to provide very easy instructions. It
also offers feedback so the students know that they
are doing it correctly. It offers praise as well.

7. Sentence Maker
Rubric Criteria
1. Description – Students make sentences within the app. If the
sentence is not correct, they student has to fix it. Also, if the sentence
is a fragment, they have to fix it. Once the student gets it right, they
can transfer it to their paper.
2. Authenticity – Writing sentences correctly is an integral part of the
writing process.
3. Feedback – Feedback is immediate and also helps them fix their
errors
4. Differentiation – Yes
5. User Friendliness – It is supposedly very user friendly for even the
smallest folks.
6. Instructions – Shows a picture, a list of words in random order and
blank spaces for placing the words. The student has to figure out the
correct order.
7. Higher Order Thinking - creating, analyzing, evaluating
8. Student Motivation – They are supposed to enjoy it because they are
engaged in the process and it has immediate feedback.

8. Dragon Dictation
Educational App Evaluation:
1. Dragon Dictation
2. K-12
3. This app allows students to dictate and then it
transcribes their words onto the written page.
4. It provides student feedback
5. Recalling, Summarizing, Explaining, Comparing
6. It is very easy to use
7. You have to have your own account
8. It is CCCS friendly
9. It has easy to follow instructions

9. Dragon Dictation
Rubric Criteria
1. Description – Dragon Dictation is a voice recognition dictation app
that records what the children say
2. Authenticity – The skills practiced are used in a classroom
environment, especially for those who struggle with dysgraphia
and other OT issues
3. Feedback – The feedback is immediate
4. Differentiation – This app is often used soley for the purpose of
differentiation
5. User Friendliness – so simple
6. Instructions – Enter app, tap and dictate
7. Higher Order Thinking – recalling, summarizing, explaining,
comparing
8. Student Motivation – Student’s who have used it enjoy it. Those
who NEED it select it every time!

10. Mathmateer
Educational App Evaluation
1. Mathmateer (Used to be Rocket Math
2. 3-5
3. To boost math skills
4. It does provide feedback and cheering 
5. classifying, creating, differentiation, executing,
checking, comparing It seems easy to use
6. It takes a bit to learn it, but once you have it, it’s very
easy to use.
7. You have to have an account to sign in
8. CCCS aligned
9. The app provides feedback by getting the levels.

11. Mathmateer
Rubric Criteria
1. Description – You build your own rocket ship and do all sorts of math.
But, half the time, the kids won’t even know that it’s math!
2. Authenticity – These are definitely authentic to education
3. Feedback – Feedback is immediate and entertaining
4. Differentiation – Yes in that you cannot proceed through the levels
until you have mastered them
5. User Friendliness – It takes some practice. However, as with most
apps, once you have it down, it’s easy
6. Instructions – Build a rocket ship, go on math missions, get cheered
on.
7. Higher Order Thinking – classifying, creating, differentiation,
executing, checking, comparing
8. Student Motivation – They love this game and go to it every time!

12. Montessori Approach to Geography:
United States of America
Educational App Evaluation:
1. Montessori Approach to Geography: United States of
America
2. Grades 3-6
3. Used to teach the students the names and locations
of the 50 states
4. It provides student feedback
5. Organizing, Differentiating, Checking
6. It is very easy to use
7. You have to have your own account
8. It is CCCS friendly
9. It has easy to follow instructions

13. Montessori Approach to Geography:
United States of America
Rubric Criteria
1. Description – Students learn the names, shapes and location of
the 50 states
2. Authenticity – Very important skills for geography
3. Feedback – The feedback is immediate
4. Differentiation – Yes, it is built on mastery
5. User Friendliness – Very easy
6. Instructions – Enter app, start with one of three things: Names
and Locations, Puzzle Maps – Shapes, Puzzle Maps - Names
7. Higher Order Thinking – Organizing, Differentiating, Checking
8. Student Motivation – Student’s will use this as a means to an end.
It may not be the most entertaining app, but in my opinion, it is
the most effective!

14. Reading Monster Town 1
Name of App: Reading Monster Town 1
Grade Level: K-5
Subject: Reading
Feedback: Provides Student Feedback
Description: Promotes reading comprehension by use of interactive word
games and sentence building
Functionality: User friendly with clear, simple instructions and graphics
Access: Private, non-public access
Standards: Common core
Authenticity: Important skills to develop text comprehension and fluency
Differentiation: Offers student level flexibility
Instructions: Enter App, select a unit
Higher Order Thinking: Formulating sentence structure and constructing
meaning
Student Motivation: This app is fun with cute graphics to keep elementary
children entertained

15. Kids World Map
Name of App: Kids World Map
Grade Level: K-4
Subject: Social Studies
Feedback: Minimum student feedback
Description: Engaging instruction on geography and world cultures
Functionality: User friendly with clear, simple instructions
Access: Public access
Standards: Common core
Authenticity: Important skills to identify geographical facts
Differentiation: Student flexibility to mastery is limited
Instructions: Enter App, select a map
Higher Order Thinking: Forming connections
Student Motivation: Visually stimulating to engage students

16. Math Evolve: A Fun Math Game
Name of App: Math Evolve: A Fun Math Game
Grade Level: 1-6
Subject: Math
Feedback: Positive student feedback
Description: Interactive instruction with story boards and video game
concept
Functionality: Fun, with an intermediate instruction level
Access: Public access
Standards: Common core
Authenticity: Important skills to build mental math, multitasking skills
Differentiation: Student flexibility to mastery
Instructions: Enter App, Select a level
Higher Order Thinking: Multitasking, making mental sense of numbers
Student Motivation: Does not feel like a math lesson because of the video
game format

17. K12 Timed Reading Practice
Name of App: K12 Timed Reading Practice
Grade Level: K-4
Subject: Reading
Feedback: Positive student feedback
Description: Promotes fluency and reading comprehension
Functionality: User friendly with easy to follow directions
Access: Private; teacher monitored
Standards: Common core
Authenticity: Important skills to build fluency and text comprehension
Differentiation: Student flexibility to mastery
Instructions: Enter app, select a level, select a text
Higher Order Thinking: Making meaning of words
Student Motivation: Not the most fun or visually entertaining of apps
but is effective with engaging text

18. Bluster!
Name of App: Bluster!
Grade Level: K-6
Subject: Language Arts
Feedback: Positive student feedback and student collaboration
Description: Promotes vocabulary and word building through games
Functionality: Intermediate level comprehensible instructions
Access: Public access
Standards: Common core standards
Authenticity: Skills to expand vocabulary for word meaning and
comprehensive reading strategies
Differentiation: Student flexibility to mastery
Instructions: Enter app, select a game
Higher Order Thinking: Vocabulary application for word, sentence building
Student Motivation: Effective app but lacks engaging style