You Oughta Know About…The Best iPad Apps for Content Creation

I’m linking up with Mrs. McClain to share ideas that teachers “oughta know” about.  This month I’m sharing some iPad apps that are just awesome for the primary classroom.  

What is it?
Basically it is a recordable interactive whiteboard that you can use to record your voice and writing/drawing to produce sharable video lessons. The lessons can be replayed by students, teachers, parents, etc.

How can I use it with primary students?
You can create lessons for your students about specific concepts. They can play these lessons at their own pace, as homework in a flipped classroom or they can view them while you are working with other students.
Here is an example of a comparing numbers lesson:

You can also have students use the app to create lessons. Students can create videos to teach their classmates about a topic, share what they have learned, and it can even be used as an assessment tool.
Here is an example of a student’s teaching video about counting to 100 by 10s:

I love that this student made groups of real objects, photographed them, created the content on the page and then recorded her video and highlighted each group while counting. So much learning going on here!

I also used educreations daily with my class to record their math journals. I gave them the prompt and they could solve and record on the app. It was awesome for me to have a record of all their math journals for the year along with their thinking.

What is it?
An amazing storytelling app that guides students through the process of creating and telling their stories.

How can I use it with primary students?
Students can create their own stories or retell stories using this app. 

Then students are guided through a story arc to create each part of their story from setting and characters to adding animation, music, and dialogue.  
Here is an example that a student made called “How the Tiger Got Its Stripes”

The value in this app is definitely in the planning and creating a story.  I love that this app uses the vocabulary for the parts of a story and has many option for adding settings, characters, music, etc.

What is it?
A quick and easy way to turn videos and photos into presentations that can be shared.
How can I use it with primary students?
Students can create presentations for any content or project you are working on.  It can be used for a simple math lesson in which students find examples of arrays in the classroom/school, photograph them, and describe them to show their understanding.  The app can also be used to record video segments for presenting a longer term research project.  It is SO simple to use! First you select the videos/photos you want to use from your camera roll on your device.

Then you record your voice.

Finally you can select music.

Teachers could also use this app in a similar manner to Educreations to create content for students to watch and learn from.  Maybe you aren’t able to take a field trip to an aquarium as a class.  As a teacher you can go, record videos, narrate the information that you would like students to learn. And BAM, it’s like a create your own virtual field trip.  So fun and easy! Let’s say you are teaching about patterns. You could also use photos or videos of this, or any other, math concept in the real world to bring relevance to a topic. Won’t your principal be so impressed when he/she sees that little beauty of a lesson!

Of course with little ones introduce these apps s-l-o-w-l-y and show them different features and possibilities bit by bit as well. If you don’t take your time, you will likely be pulling your hair out thinking that your students aren’t capable of creating amazing things without constant guidance. I have learned that patience is definitely key when it comes to technology (and most things in the primary classroom!) but you will be amazed at the things your students can do if you take the time to learn and use these great apps with your class! I’d also love to hear about some of the amazing ideas you have for using these apps for creating content as a teacher.