Running head: APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571 1

App Review Assignment

Marcia Santen

Medaille College

EDU 571-S45

Mrs. Mary Beth Sumaci

August 5, 2017
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

1.

Subject Area: ELA Reading and multicultural education

Title: RyeBooks: The Tale of the White Snake

App Price: Free

Languages: English and Chinese

Rationale for curriculum use: RyeBooks makes various eBooks, but I particularly like the
traditional books from around the world. The Tale of the White Snake is a traditional Chinese
story. It comes with gorgeous pictures and can be read in different languages, including English,
Chinese and Japanese. What a wonderful way for students to practice reading while being
exposed to another culture!

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues
and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

a. articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve
them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade: 4

Topic: Reading Standards for Literature K-5

APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

Item number and statement: 7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a
visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific
descriptions and directions in the text.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Reading, Grade: 4

Topic: 1. Reading for Meaning

Item Number and Statement: Variety of Texts 1.1 read a variety of texts from diverse cultures,
including literary texts (e.g., myths, plays, short stories, chapter books, letters, diaries, poetry),
graphic texts (e.g., graphic novels, diagrams, brochures, graphs and graphic organizers, charts
and tables, maps), and informational texts (e.g., textbooks, non-fiction books on a range of
topics, print and online newspaper and magazine articles or reviews, print and online
encyclopaedias and atlases, electronic texts such as e-mails or e-zines)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

2.

2. Subject Area: ELA writing

Title: Grid Diary - Simple way to journal

App Price: Free

Languages: English

Rationale for curriculum use: The Grid Diary App is a structured way of writing a journal.
There are template questions, but the teacher can also add and modify questions to prompt her
students to write about something appropriate for their age and writing level. What a great
addition to an ELA class!

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students diverse learning styles,
working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

a. articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve
them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade: 4

Topic: Writing Standards K-5

APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

Item number and statement: 10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
discipline specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Writing, Grade: 4

Topic: 2. Using Knowledge of Form and Style in Writing

Item Number and Statement: Sentence Fluency 2.4 use sentences of different lengths and
structures (e.g., complex sentences incorporating conjunctions such as because, so, if)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

3.

Subject Area: English Language Learners and ELA

Title: Lingvo Dictionary Translator for 20 languages

App Price: Free

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and more

Rationale for curriculum use: English Language Learners and learners of any new language
can use this dictionary app to look up words without having to interrupt the class, or without
necessarily being online. The free app is not as comprehensive as the one that you pay for. There
are also other Lingvo apps to connect with other language lovers or to get instant translations of
movies and the like.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their
individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals,
managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade: 4

Topic: Reading Standards for Informational Text

Item number and statement: 4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain
specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Writing, Grade: 4

Topic: 3. Applying Knowledge of Language Conventions and Presenting Written Work

Effectively

Item Number and Statement: Vocabulary 3.3 confirm spellings and word meanings or word
choice using different types of resources appropriate for the purpose (e.g., locate words in online
and print dictionaries using alphabetical order, entry words, guide words, pronunciation, and
homographs; use a variety of dictionaries such as a dictionary of idioms or homonyms; use a
thesaurus to find alternative words)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

4.

Subject Area: Students with Disabilities

Title: VoiceDream Reader

App Price: $14.99

Languages: English

Rationale for curriculum use: VoiceDream Reader is a text-to-speech app. It has very well
thought-out layouts and the voice is of higher quality. Upgrades may be purchased. It can be
personalized to suit various needs and synchronized with different devices. VoiceDream Reader
is uniquely suited to students with dyslexia, students with hearing and visual impairments and
students who have trouble reading or absorbing written text, but it can be used by all.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students diverse learning styles,
working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

New York State Common Core Standards, Application to Students with Disabilities:

In order for students with disabilities to meet high academic standards and to fully demonstrate
their conceptual and procedural knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading, writing, speaking
and listening (English language arts), their instruction must incorporate supports and
accommodations, including: supports and related services designed to meet the unique needs of
these students and to enable their access to the general education curriculum.

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade: 4

Topic: Reading Standards for Literature

Item number and statement: 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g.,
Herculean).

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Reading, Grade: 4

Topic: 3. Reading With Fluency 2. Understanding Form and Style

Item Number and Statement: Reading Unfamiliar Words 3.2 predict the meaning of and
rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including: semantic (meaning)
cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, base words, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing
knowledge of oral and written language); syntactic (language structure) cues (e.g., word order;
language patterns such as those for regular and irregular plurals, possessives, and contractions;
punctuation); graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., familiar words within larger
words: highlight, enlighten; recognizable sequences of letters within long words: spacious,
conscious, delicious)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

5.

Subject Area: Social Studies, geography

Title: World Heritage - The UNESCO World Heritage sites

App Price: free

Languages: English and French

Rationale for curriculum use: With this app, students can access over 1000 Unesco World
Heritage sites to explore natural and man-made wonders of the world. It comes with a
description of each site and a world map of Unesco Heritage sites. Perfect for geography lesson!

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students diverse learning styles,
working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

New York State Social Studies Framework K-8: Social Studies Practices, Grade 4

Topic: Geographic Reasoning

Item number and statement:

D. 2. Distinguish human activities and human-made features from environments (natural

events or physical featuresland, air, and waterthat are not directly made by humans).

D. 3. Identify how environments affect human activities and how human activities affect
physical environments

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Social Studies, History and Geography, Grade: 4

Topic: Inquiry: Balancing Human Needs and Environmental Stewardship

Item Number and Statement: B2.3 analyse and construct print and/or digital maps, including
thematic maps, as part of their investigations into balancing human needs/ wants and activities
with environmental stewardship in Canada (e.g., analyse population settlement maps; construct
natural resource maps, using symbols to represent different resources; construct physical region
maps, using shading to represent elevation change)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

6.

Subject Area: Science and technology

Title: Scratch

App Price: $0.99 (used to be free)

Languages: English and programming language

Rationale for curriculum use: With the Scratch App students can be introduced to coding
language. Coding can be compared with learning another language, in this case, a programming
language. Computer Technology is not included in the elementary Ontario Curriculum, but it
seems to be in the New York State standards. This app could be used for ELA classes as well.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers:

1. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their
individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals,
managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

ISTE for Students:

5. Computational Thinker Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving
problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
Students:
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

d. understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps
to create and test automated solutions.

New York State Standard: Technology

Topic: Computer Technology

Item number and statement: 3. Computers, as tools for design, modeling, information
processing, communication, and system control, have greatly increased human productivity and
knowledge.

Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Science and Technology

Topic: Developing Investigation and Communication Skills

Item number and statement: (not quite equivalent to New York Standard)

2.6 use a variety of forms (e.g., oral, written, graphic, multimedia) to communicate with different
audiences and for a variety of purposes (e.g., make an oral presentation explaining the techniques
they used to build a model of a bridge that can withstand vibrations from a train)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

7.

Subject Area: French Vocabulary Building.

Title: Learn French - Vocabulary

App Price: free

Languages: French

Rationale for curriculum use: This app is designed to efficiently and effectively help build
vocabulary in French. Students rarely go home and memorize words, but with this app it will be
a breeze. The order and layout are specially suited to the way the brain absorbs information and
retains it. With guidance, it could be introduced to younger elementary students.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital
tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade 4

Topic: Languages other than English

APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

Item number and statement: Modern Languages

select vocabulary appropriate to a range of topics, employ simple and complex sentences in
present, past, and future time frames, and express details and nuances by using appropriate
modifiers

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: French as a Second Language

Grade: 4

Topic: Reading.

Item Number and Statement: C.1.4 Developing Vocabulary: use a few vocabulary-acquisition
strategies before, during, and after reading to determine or confirm the meaning of new and
unfamiliar words (e.g., develop a bank of sight words using visual dictionaries; make word lists
of personally relevant vocabulary; use memorization and visualization strategies and verbal and
written repetition to consolidate learning of new words; develop lists of cognates to expand
vocabulary; identify the tense of familiar verbs in the present, past, and future by their suffixes)
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

8. 9.

Subject Area: Learning French Grammar.

Title: French Verbs Trainer and Learn French Trs Bien

App Price: Both free

Languages: French

Rationale for curriculum use: Learning French and being able to communicate effectively is
no easy task. Teaching students the basic grammar needed to achieve that is even harder! The
first app French Verb Trainer is excellent for students to help them get a grip on how French
verbs are conjugated. Then they are more quickly able to use them correctly in a sentence and
make themselves understood. The second app, Trs Bien, is pretty comprehensive and might get
your students to use this app to get small doses of French grammar in real-life contexts; perfect
for independent study or study groups or to supplement lessons.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital
tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.

New York State Common Core Standard for Languages other than English:

Topic: Modern Languages Listening and speaking

Item Number and Statement:

Students can: comprehend language consisting of simple vocabulary and structures in face-to-
face conversation with peers and familiar adults.

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: French as a Second Language, Grade 4

Topic: Listening

Item Number and Statement:

A1.2 Demonstrating Understanding: demonstrate an understanding of the purpose and meaning

of oral French texts containing familiar words and expressions about everyday topics and
situations, with contextual and visual support (e.g., follow classroom directions; follow a series
of Total Physical Response [TPR] commands; sequence a group of pictures or images for a
storyboard, based on a description; make drawings to illustrate objects in an oral description;
find a specific classroom object by following directions from the teacher and class; identify
refrains, rhyme schemes, and other word/sound patterns in songs, poems, read-alouds, chants,
and rhymes; listen to a description and identify the object described)

C1.2 Reading for Meaning: demonstrate an understanding of French texts containing visuals and
familiar names, words, and phrases, with teacher support as required (e.g., draw pictures to retell
a story; restate the main idea in a text using familiar vocabulary; create a tableau to dramatize a
scene from a story they have read; use drama, music, or visual arts to respond to an issue raised
in a text)
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10. 11.

Subject Area: Vocabulary building in various subject areas, for average or exceptional learners

Title: FlashCards ++, Vocab Genius

App Price: free

Languages: English

Rationale for curriculum use: FlashCard++ is a wonderful way to memorize special words for
science class and other classes. It can be particularly helpful to special needs students who need
extra help with memorizing. Special needs students who have trouble writing can benefit from
the Text-to-speech feature on this app.

Vocab Genius boasts that this app repeats flashcards in a particular order that helps the brain
absorb the words efficiently. This can be very helpful for any student, whether it be younger
children who have a vocabulary deficit or gifted students who need an extra challenge and want
to practice their memorization skills and build their vocabulary.

Standards

ISTE for Teachers: 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students diverse learning styles,
working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

ISTE for Students: 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active role
in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the
learning sciences. Students:
APP REVIEW ASSIGNMENT EDU 571

c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate
their learning in a variety of ways.

New York State Common Core Standard for ELA, Grade: 4

Topic: Reading Standards for Literature

Item number and statement: 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g.,
Herculean).

Ontario Curriculum Expectations: Reading, Grade: 4

Topic: 3. Reading With Fluency 2. Understanding Form and Style

Item Number and Statement: Reading Unfamiliar Words 3.2 predict the meaning of and
rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including: semantic (meaning)
cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, base words, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing
knowledge of oral and written language); syntactic (language structure) cues (e.g., word order;
language patterns such as those for regular and irregular plurals, possessives, and contractions;
punctuation); graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., familiar words within larger
words: highlight, enlighten; recognizable sequences of letters within long words: spacious,
conscious, delicious)