Educational Apps

1. App reviews for 1st grade and 6th
grade mathematics.
Delisa Barwick
& Lisa Jordan

2. Criterion: First grade reading skills: CCSS.RF.1.2
Authenticity: Reading skills are practiced with linking the word being said,
the letters in the word, and a picture representing the word.
Feedback: When student chooses the correct letter, the letter looks like it
shakes a ‘yes’ and goes in the correct space. If the letter is incorrect, the letter
looks as if it is saying ‘no’ and goes back to original position. This encourages
the student to keep going.
Differentiation: Can be modified for specific needs of students by selecting
CVC words, CCVC and CVCC words, words with diagraphs, complex words,
and clusters.
User friendliness: Students open up directly to menu and can easily select
what they want to do.
Instructions: There are arrows indicating what the student needs to do next, so
students never have to wonder what to do.
Higher Order Thinking: Students can challenge themselves by selecting the
next level into more complex words.
Student Motivation: Students enjoy the graphics and are rewarded with
interactive graphics when a set is completed.

3. Criterion: First grade reading and math: CCSS RF.1.2, 1.OA.A.1
Authenticity: Uses TeachTech that allows students to write on the app and
the app recognizes their writing. Children get to actually write their answers
rather than just clicking or dragging an answer.
Feedback: The app provides an achievement screen that motivates students
and also allows teachers to check student progress.
Differentiation: Learning can be easily customized in settings for
differentiated learning.
User Friendliness: Each student can be entered in and when they click on
their picture, their work comes up and is ready to begin.
Instructions: Instructions are clearly spoken by animated teacher so students
always know what to do.
Higher Order Thinking: The more questions the student gets correct, the
higher level work is introduced.
Student Motivation: Students are rewarded with coins that can be used to
purchase stretchable shapes, stickers, and other items.

4. Criterion: First grade addition and subtraction: 1.OA.A.1
Authenticity: This app offers a new take on flash cards. It can be used to study
math facts but can also be used to test math skills.
Feedback: In the challenge mode, students will know how long it took them
to answer the problems and will display exactly which ones were missed so
they can go back and study those particular ones.
Differentiation: Each student can have their own profile within the app. They
can go in and see what they’ve already done and what skills they need to
work on next.
User Friendliness: This app is easy to navigate by clicking on the student
profile as soon as the app opens up.
Instructions: Instructions are very clear as to how to navigate between
learning mode and challenge mode.
Higher Order Thinking: Students are able to challenge themselves in the
challenge mode which prompts higher order thinking skills.
Student Motivation: Students can make it a competition with themselves by
increasing their timing each time or increasing the number correct each time.

5. Criterion: First grade math: CCSS 1.OA.A.1
Authenticity: This app transforms basic math into a story with the basic
premise of defending a tree house by solving math equations.
Feedback: Feedback is given after each fact is answered, so there is no
question as to how the student is doing on the questions.
Differentiation: Levels can be chosen for differentiated instruction.
User Friendliness: Students can launch and navigate the app by themselves
with no problems.
Instructions: Students can navigate through the app by listening to the
instructions or reading the written instructions that are written on their level.
Higher Order Thinking: There are different levels that can be chosen, so the
higher the level, the more the student has to use higher order thinking skills.
Student Motivation: Students love this app because they really want to
protect their tree house and know that the more problems they get correct and
the faster they answer, the better off they are and the more money they earn.
The game is so engaging that they, at times, seem to forget they are working
on math skills.

6. Criterion: First grade reading: CCSS RF.1.2
Authenticity: This app allows the user to choose which particular sound or
skill they need to work on, and then gives several activity options for that
choice.
Feedback: If student misses something, they are given the chance to try again,
so there is immediate feedback.
Differentiation: This app covers CVC words, VCV words, long e, vowel
teams, and ‘r’ controlled words. Instruction can be differentiated depending on
student’s current need.
User Friendliness: Students can launch and select the skill they want to work
on with ease. The app works like the Starfall website that most students are
already familiar with.
Instructions: The app is laid out to give the student choices on what they want
to learn, and the home screen option is always available so they can return
home if they need to.
Higher Order Thinking: Students are prompted to use higher order thinking
skills by using sounds or blends that they are learning in more complex words.
Student Motivation: There are lots of interactive features that make students
want to play. There are movies, songs, and games as rewards for learning.
Graphics are well done and voice over is easy to understand.

7. Criterion: Sixth grade math skills: CCSS.6.RP, 6.NS, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.SP
Authenticity: Allows for a variety of answer inputs and students are able to see a detailed
example of the current problem if they answer incorrectly then try again with different
numbers.
Feedback: Gives on-demand examples and instant feedback to assist students and provides
detailed reporting tools and admin account with access to all reports for teachers.
Differentiation: Options for Single-Click Activity Assignments to support differentiated
instruction, provides a variety of answer inputs, and audio reading of text to aid English-
Language Learners and/or low-performing learners.
User Friendliness: This app provides easy navigation. The student’s start screen shows the
number of hours logged and number of gold stars collected. Once the student clicks “Start
Practice,” the top activity is highlighted in gold with an “Activity of the Day” marquee
assigned by the teacher.
Instructions: Instructions are very clear as to how the student should answer the problem. If
a student needs more assistance, an icon at the bottom of the problem screen will provide a
detailed example of how the problem is solved.
Higher Order Thinking: Options for Challenging Missions to provide opportunities for
small group problem solving for lower ability students and challenging for higher ability
students.
Student Motivation: Students collect gold stars as they complete and master the activities.
They get to choose a personalized avatar for their account and are also able to connect online.

8. Criterion: Sixth grade math skills: CCSS.6.RP, 6.NS, 6.EE
Authenticity: This app allows students to learn the basic principles of algebra by using
objects that are gradually replaced by numbers and mathematical expressions similar
to equations on paper.
Feedback: The reporting tool gives the teacher an overview of how the class and each
student progresses while playing the game. It provides information on how well the
students solved the different levels and reveals if any students have difficulties
learning new rules and strategies.
Differentiation: The student is able to learn as his/her own pace, and the app can be
played with a partner. The individual progress information from reporting tool allows
the teacher to customize instruction accordingly.
User Friendliness: Students can easily navigate through the app by clicking “play.”
From there, the chapter they simply click on the current chapter, which brings them to
the individual levels. The displayed levels let the student know if it’s completed if a
gold star is present.
Instructions: This app provides clear, step-by-step instructions with animations to
show the student what to do.
Higher Order Thinking: As opposed to instructional-based teaching, this app allows
for discovery and experiential learning. As the chapters progress, so does the level of
thinking.
Student Motivation: Progress is illustrated with the birth and growth of a dragon for
each new chapter. This app can be used in group sessions to encourage engagement.

9. Criterion: Sixth grade math skills: CCSS.6.RP, 6.NS, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.SP
Authenticity: Math Writing Recognition allows students to naturally write their work step-by-
step to every problem and the app will recognize the handwriting to be able to mark the
student’s answers on the spot.
Feedback: Guided feedback is provided to students as they work through the problems.
Differentiation: This app has an adaptive learning engine to the students can work on the
right problems for their level. Problem explanations are also given in written form as well as
video.
User Friendliness: Easily navigated by the students by opening the app to their personal
home page where they click start. The current lesson appears and they can choose to review
the concepts or begin the lesson.
Instructions: Icons give the student choices to watch a video explanation, receive a hint for
the next step, or check their answer. The instructions are helpful for the student to progress
through the app.
Higher Order Thinking: Each lesson has an “investigation” icon that provides discussion
questions to promote higher order thinking.
Student Motivation: Students see their progress in real time. Achievements are rewarded
with shopping credits each time an adaptive or homework exercise is completed. Credits can
be spent in the digital store.

10. Criterion: Sixth grade math skills: CCSS.6.NS, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.SP
Authenticity: Math concepts that are aligned with CCSS are practiced
by completing exercises and progressing as each concept is mastered.
Feedback: Feedback is provided after an answer is given and the
students have the opportunity to review the lesson.
Differentiation: Lessons are multi-media and questions contain text,
images, sounds, hints, and detailed answers. Speech synthesis also
helps users with reading and text comprehension.
User Friendliness: Students easily navigate through this app by
selecting the concept to be practiced to begin the problems for that
concept. There is also an embedded blackboard and calculator for
students to write and calculate directly on the screen without having
to leave the app.
Instructions: Interactive instructions guide the student easily through
the app.
Higher Order Thinking: As the students master the concepts in a
lesson, they progress to more complex levels.
Student Motivation: Game dynamics and incentives motivate

11. Criterion: Sixth grade math skills: CCSS.6.RP, 6.NS, 6.EE, 6.G, 6.SP
Authenticity: Students solve problems using interactive visualizations allowing
them to manipulate key variables.
Feedback: This app provides immediate feedback in multiple ways using a
variety of visualizations.
Differentiation: Because this app provides a variety of visualizations, students
have multiple ways to understand a concept.
User Friendliness: Once the student is logged in, they will see the Gizmos the
teacher has selected for their class.
Instructions: Instructions are clear as to what is expected of the student to solve
the problem and is at the correct reading level.
Higher Order Thinking: Interactive visualizations allow students to
manipulate key variables, generate and text hypotheses, and engage in “what-if”
experimentation to develop a deep understanding for challenging concepts.
Student Motivation: This app makes student engagement easy due to the
multiple ways it can be used. Teachers can use it for small group, individual
exploration, and whole class instruction using an interactive whiteboard.
Gizmos is hands-on and the students enjoy the virtual simulations they create.