Best of the Best Lists

Advanced Math Apps, Tools, and Resources for That We Love

Are you looking for advanced math apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

PhET Interactive Simulations: Math– This is a math learning tool created by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman in 2002. It helps students learn advanced math concepts using free, interactive math, and science simulations. PhET Interactive Simulations is a project developed at the University of Colorado Boulder; it interacts with students through responsive, simulated environments in which they learn by exploring.

Khan Academy– Khan Academy has more than 40,000 interactive Common Core-aligned practice questions and above 10,000 videos and explanations in economics, history, math, and more. This is the best study app and tutoring app for students of all ages who are struggling in science and other subjects. You can easily bookmark your best content to “Your List,” which can be used offline when you’re not connected to the Internet.

Figure This!– Figure This! is a math site supported by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. It uses real-life experiences to teach children to apply math concepts. It covers a wide range of topics and challenges, including algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability. Children can access the topics in PDF format or on the website. Each exercise includes hints, the correct answer with explanations, additional questions, and reading suggestions.

Algebrator– Algebrator is one of the leading math tutoring apps available. Using Algebrator’s step-by-step explanations of the answers to even the most difficult math problems, students can learn to solve homework problems in a way that is easy to understand. Algebrator can be used by parents, adult learners, and homeschoolers to improving their math skills.

AC Math– This is a complete math guide for middle and high school students available in one resource. It uses focused areas called activity objects (which include videos, animations, problems, assessments, and printable worksheets) to foster academic development in specific areas. Materials from external sources can easily be added to existing lessons. Library resources can be accessed by both teachers and students from their dashboard.

Beast Academy – developed by Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), is a comprehensive math curriculum for grades 2-5 designed by its creators as “the math curriculum we wish we had when we were kids.” It teaches kids how to think critically and understand the foundational concepts behind the math calculations they’re performing. Engaging, comic-book style illustrations keep kids coming back for more, even as they grapple with some of the most rigorous math problems available anywhere. Beast Academy teaches students to embrace math as a problem-solving tool they’ll use for the rest of their life.

Brilliant – This website represents an online community of scholars who share and solve problems in subjects such as computer science, math, and science. The goal is to help students build quantitative skills in math, science, and computer science by using fun and challenging interactive explorations. Brilliant guides students through problem-solving strategies and challenges them to think outside the box.

Curriculum Engine – This is a revolutionary intelligent curriculum editing and design platform initially developed for high school mathematics. The Curriculum Engine platform automates the process of tailoring resources to meet the specific needs of teachers, classes, and students and allows an educator to easily define and build coherent standards-aligned courses. The platform works with leading learning management and student information systems or on a standalone basis to edit, author, and deliver rich, personalized mathematics content. It has an unlimited capacity to build courses that any district or teacher needs, from core instruction and credit or content recovery to test preparation.

Edgenuity’s UpSmart – Combining adaptive assessments with targeted instruction grounded in rigorous academic standards, UpSmart gives every student the specific instruction, practice, and support needed to master standards; and every teacher an opportunity to extend classroom instruction to meet the individual needs of each student, without adding time to their busy days. UpSmart is a student-centered, supplemental program for grades 6-8 in math and English language arts designed to prepare students for high-stakes tests, reinforce state standards with personalized and adaptive practice, assessments, and instruction, and provide ongoing data and analytics for educators, with standards-based reports that pinpoint specific skills.

Knowre – This is an interactive math learning app, which includes lessons on pre-algebra, algebra 1, and algebra 2. Some lessons are designed with comical introductions to improve the fun experience for the kids. There are also instructional videos and opportunities for kids to practice their skills. As kids progress, they earn a coin for correct answers; these coins can be used to unlock more lessons.

Mathalicious –  Mathalicious is designed to help middle and high school teachers address the Common Core Standards while challenging students to think critically about the world. This app uses real-world scenarios to teach students, and it provides ample materials such as worksheets and teaching guides to help students and teachers. 

Graspable Math – This is a browser-based platform designed to move solving algebra equations away from pen and paper. It uses a few easy-to-learn gestures, together with its simple interface, to teach math to kids. Graspable Math seems to work best on the Chrome browser and can be used without signing into an account though it requires a Google login to save, load, and collaborate with peers and teachers.

Adaptive Learning Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for adaptive learning apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

ALEKS– Assessment, and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) is a web-based AI learning and assessment system that uses adaptive questioning to determine the level of a student’s knowledge in a course. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained.

Dreambox Learning– Help your child learn mathematics in an enabling environment. This app provides a nurturing environment using its intelligent adaptive learning technology to foster critical thinking relating to math. It also features an extensive math syllabus that leaves students with better knowledge and fluency in math.

FastBridge Learning– FastBridge Learning is a formative assessment system for teachers (FAST) designed to transform the way teachers identify and monitor a student’s progress to deliver faster and more effective results. It uses a combination of computer-adaptive testing

McGraw-Hill Connect – The tool is made to help students improve their results with the use of homework and learning management solutions that incorporate learning and adaptive tools. Some of the resources available to students include SmartBook Adaptive Learning—a platform that gives students adaptive mobile study resources to work with. Other resources include flexible and mobile course materials, grading and insights system, lecture caption, LMS integration, and accessibility.

MobyMax – MobyMax is a free web-based learning tool that uses artificial intelligence to create a complete K-8 differentiated and adaptive curriculum for Math, Language, Vocab, and Fact Fluency. With the help of machine learning algorithms, MobyMax provides personalized lessons for each student based on their individual needs. Machine learning helps MobyMax to pinpoint and fix learning gaps with adaptive, differentiated learning materials for all K-8 subjects. Students can learn at their own pace with lesson plans and practice sheets that are automatically generated for them. MobyMax goes one step further and includes contests, certificates, badges, games, and daily smiles to motivate students and keep them engaged. The multi-award-winning platform is the most widely adopted edtech platform in the U.S.

Newsela– Newsela provides a personalized approach to learning, using different assessments, annotated documents, and writing prompts throughout. This approach can be applied to different subjects because of their adaptive readability. Teachers can easily access learning analytics to assess the level of each student’s progression and task completion.

No Red Ink– This platform uses student self-assessments to construct sentences that pretest, practice, and evaluate students’ grammatical prowess and acquired learning. The app helps build stronger writers through interest-based curriculums, adaptive exercises, and actionable data. With the authentic assessment feature, students can rephrase sentences, modify and mark up texts, organize ideas into outlines, and manipulate multi-paragraph documents. The unlimited, adaptive practice feature personalizes instructions to meet each user’s needs and includes support for learners when they get confused. To make learning fun and interesting, lesson content is generated from topics that interest the user, such as popular celebrities, friends, and hobbies.

Redbird Language Arts & WritingRedbird Language Arts & Writing provides students in grades 2-7 with a personalized language art and writing learning path by leveraging adaptive instruction and practice. This allows the platform to deliver precisely what each student needs to become a fluent writer and master communicator. Each grade level of material contains 9–10 units that focus on writing or reading skills. The architecture of each lesson was developed to provide students with instruction and practice on reading, parts of speech, paragraph analysis, sentence composition, and sentence structures. All lessons cover new concepts or provide practice with concepts that have already been introduced. In our highly competitive economy, employers seek candidates that have strong written communication skills. Although educators know that mastering language arts and writing is essential for future success in college and the workplace, a troubling number of students across K-12 struggle with acquiring these vital skills. Enter Redbird Language Arts & Writing. After demoing this product, I was impressed by its nuances and advanced features, which work together to help students develop superior written communication skills. I wholeheartedly recommend this platform to all classroom teachers, administrators, math coaches, etc., who are striving to increase their student’s language and writing skills. You won’t be disappointed.

Redbird MathematicsRedbird Mathematics provides students in grades K-7 with a personalized mathematics learning path by leveraging adaptive instruction, gamification, and digital project-based learning. This allows the platform to deliver precisely what each student needs to develop math fluency and aptitude. Every unit of Redbird Mathematics is integrated with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) theme. The student can select units, which are highlighted in red, and finish each unit with a digital project-based learning activity focused on the unit’s topic. It’s no secret that students regularly struggle with math. However, most education experts feel the issue is more about motivation and engagement than ability and aptitude. Enter Redbird Mathematics. After demoing this product, I was impressed by its nuances and advanced features, which work together to help students in grades 2-7 develop math fluency and conceptual understanding. Also, it can motivate students with math anxiety to face their fears and frustrations. As students reflect on their mistakes, they will start to see them as a necessary stop on the road to math fluency. I wholeheartedly recommend this platform to all classroom teachers, administrators, math coaches, etc., who are striving to increase their student’s math fluency and aptitude. You won’t be disappointed.

Reflex– This app offers a potent, adaptive, individualized solution to help a student increase their fluency in math facts, and it includes powerful reporting capability. It is easy to use for educators to use, and it helps them monitor each student’s performance to create the optimal experience for every child.

Sumdog – Aligned to the Common Core and key state standards, Sumdog provides K-8 learning in math, spelling, and grammar. With an adaptive learning engine, questions are targeted to everyone’s academic learning level providing automatic differentiation in the classroom. Questions are purposefully designed to blend new learning and review. Sumdog is full of engaging activities and games designed to keep students motivated through a focus on game-based learning. With a subscription, teachers have access to detailed reports providing information on progress, effort, skills, and growth against the standards for each student. Sumdog uses a positive reward system to help ensure continued student engagement. For correct answers, students earn gold coins which can be “spent” in Sumdog’s in-app store. There is also an optional pet reward program where each student has a virtual pet that learns one new trick for each new skill the student masters.

Trivie – Using adaptive learning and brain science, Trivie helps reduce the natural forgetting of information after any training event. Trivie’s adaptive learning platform measures and improves memory and retention so teams can reach their full potential. This app focuses on the how of learning, not just the what to help learners retain information longer and better.

Vantage Fusion – This app creates adaptive learning environments to foster meaningful interactions among students, parents, and teachers. It works with standard learning management systems to provide an instructional framework that guides the learner through the instructional content based on proven theories about how people learn effectively.

Vocabulary.com – A combination dictionary and adaptive learning game, Vocabulary.com, will help students master new words. The website doesn’t use flashcards or rote memorization. Instead, it exposes students to a variety of questions and activities to help them understand the meaning of the word. Vocabulary.com has over 500 ready-to-learn vocabulary lists for things like the SAT or TOEFL, or a user can enter their own list of words to master. Teachers can also automatically create a learning activity based on the text they will be teaching in class by simply pasting the text onto the Vocabulary.com website.

Wake the Rooster by Telling Time – To help an elderly rooster wake up in time to greet the dawn, Tiny the chicken buys an alarm clock. Children must help Tiny set the analog clock correctly to wake up the rooster. Adaptively designed, Wake the Rooster by Telling Time will progressively get more challenging. It includes fun animations as a reward for each time the alarm is set correctly.

Zapzapmath – Zapzapmath includes a suite of games for students in K-6 to complement a classroom mathematics curriculum. All games are tied to specific Common Core State Standards and encourage students to move beyond simply memorizing facts or formulas to thinking critically and analyzing math concepts. Teachers and parents can track student progress and learning outcomes from any device by accessing the learning analytics dashboard. All Zapzapmath games apply adaptive learning to ensure that students are appropriately challenged at their current mathematics level. To help them understand their learning, students are asked to take a pre- and post-assessment and reflect on their scores.

8th Grade Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your 8th-grade students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

7 Speed Reading– This app can help you become a proficient reader in the English language while eliminating old habits that hold you back. With 7 Speed Reading, students can learn to recognize large clusters of words and read without first vocalizing in their heads

StudySync – StudySync offers a comprehensive, technology-driven English Language Arts curriculum for grades 6-12. The curriculum integrates reading and writing with embedded skill lessons to build foundational knowledge and improve critical thinking, comprehension, and inquiry skills. Teachers have the option to use StudySync as a completely digital curriculum or turn to the printable options. With the belief that all students deserve equal access to education, StudySync offers tons of differentiation options for various student needs, including English Language Learner segments, extensive use of video and audio components, and repeated readings. Extended writing projects use explicit instruction along with self, peer, and teacher assessment to encourage deep understanding and future skill application.

Study Island – Study Island is an all-in-one practice website for students to work on literacy, math, science, and social studies skills. It is built specifically around state standards, so regardless of your school’s location, you can rest assured that the content and practice provided on the website will align with your classroom teaching. Study Island is a great tool to use for high stakes testing preparation and provides real-time progress monitoring for teachers and parents. Beyond simple practice, Study Island can also be incorporated into classroom lessons for formative assessment and differentiation. It even allows teachers to import NWEA MAP assessment information for individual students and calculates a targeted learning path to fill in knowledge gaps!

Vocab Ahead – Vocab Ahead is available as a website or an app. It is designed to help students in middle school and up to develop their vocabulary using vocabulary videos and flashcards. Each vocabulary word is linked to a picture and a specific definition. Vocab Ahead also has specific categories for SAT words, GRE words, and more.

Grammarly– Grammarly is your personal grammar coach and an automated proofreader that helps students get better in the proper use of grammar and gain confidence in their writing ability. Grammarly helps correct about 10 times more mistakes than common word processors, and it corrects more than 150 types of grammatical errors and does a plagiarism check.

Quick Fractions– The goal of this app is to make fractions-related problems easy for anyone willing to solve them. This app is suitable for kids just starting with fractions, advanced students, and even adults looking for a challenge. The game uses four modes to keep users occupied and entertained as they try to solve the problems. The first mode is Equivalence in which users solve equivalence problems using fractions, percentages, and decimals. The second is Compare in which players compare fractions, percentages, and decimals. The third is Addition and subtraction, which involve proper and improper fractions as well as mixed numbers using mental arithmetic. The fourth mode is Multiplications and Division in which mental arithmetic is used to multiply and divide all forms of fractions.

Khan Academy– Khan Academy has more than 40,000 interactive Common Core-aligned practice questions and above 10,000 videos and explanations in economics, history, math, and more. This is the best study app and tutoring app for students of all ages who are struggling in science and other subjects. You can easily bookmark your best content to “Your List,”  which can be used offline when you’re not connected to the Internet. 

Marble Math– With Marble Math, children aged nine through twelve will learn mental math and solve math problems. With mazes, marbles, and math, your child can have hours of fun and become a math genius at the same time. There are puzzles and fun around each turn in the maze, so never be afraid to forge ahead. The app also allows you to go back to previous problems and redo them if needed. 

GameStar Mechanic– GameStar Mechanic, which was created for seven- to fourteen-year-olds, can be used by anyone. It is a community and a game developed to introduce principles of game design and systems in a highly interactive environment. The features included in this app makes it easier for kids to play it alone or with their parents.

Smiling Mind– Developed by educators and psychologists, Smiling Mind is a mindfulness meditation program. It has both a web and app-based interface dedicated to helping people deal with the pressure and stress of everyday life. There are a variety of tailored programs for different age groups and challenges, including sports, mindfulness in the classroom, 7-9-year olds, 10-12 year olds, 13-15 year olds, and 16-18 year olds. Smiling Mind’s app allows you to track progress and offers a variety of different meditation lengths to meet your students’ individual needs.

Quandary– Welcome to the world of Planet Braxos, a science fiction, narrative-driven game for mobile devices. Users play as the captain of the new human settlement on planet Braxos, shaping the direction of modern civilization and developing ethical reasoning skills. This educational game involves many diverse characters with differing perspectives designed to make the game challenging and enlightening. Users learn to solve conflicts by exploring different facts, options, and opinions as a means of solving the colony’s problems. Quantary is designed for kids age 8 to 16 years old; however, it is a game that can be played by anyone.

Co-ordinates– This app incorporates practical tasks with the teacher’s participation and can be used for children between ages 5 and 14. It introduces five key areas that are needed to read maps; these skills are intended to acquaint students with the prerequisites for map reading. The app also serves as an introduction to linear equations.

7th Grade Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your 7th-grade students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

7 Speed Reading– This app can help you become a proficient reader in the English language while eliminating old habits that hold you back. With 7 Speed Reading, students can learn to recognize large clusters of words and read without first vocalizing in their heads

StudySync – StudySync offers a comprehensive, technology-driven English Language Arts curriculum for grades 6-12. The curriculum integrates reading and writing with embedded skill lessons to build foundational knowledge and improve critical thinking, comprehension, and inquiry skills. Teachers have the option to use StudySync as a completely digital curriculum or turn to the printable options. With the belief that all students deserve equal access to education, StudySync offers tons of differentiation options for various student needs, including English Language Learner segments, extensive use of video and audio components, and repeated readings. Extended writing projects use explicit instruction along with self, peer, and teacher assessment to encourage deep understanding and future skill application.

Study Island – Study Island is an all-in-one practice website for students to work on literacy, math, science, and social studies skills. It is built specifically around state standards, so regardless of your school’s location, you can rest assured that the content and practice provided on the website will align with your classroom teaching. Study Island is a great tool to use for high stakes testing preparation and provides real-time progress monitoring for teachers and parents. Beyond simple practice, Study Island can also be incorporated into classroom lessons for formative assessment and differentiation. It even allows teachers to import NWEA MAP assessment information for individual students and calculates a targeted learning path to fill in knowledge gaps!

Vocab Ahead – Vocab Ahead is available as a website or an app. It is designed to help students in middle school and up to develop their vocabulary using vocabulary videos and flashcards. Each vocabulary word is linked to a picture and a specific definition. Vocab Ahead also has specific categories for SAT words, GRE words, and more.

Grammarly– Grammarly is your personal grammar coach and an automated proofreader that helps students get better in the proper use of grammar and gain confidence in their writing ability. Grammarly helps correct about 10 times more mistakes than common word processors, and it corrects more than 150 types of grammatical errors and does a plagiarism check.

Quick Fractions– The goal of this app is to make fractions-related problems easy for anyone willing to solve them. This app is suitable for kids just starting with fractions, advanced students, and even adults looking for a challenge. The game uses four modes to keep users occupied and entertained as they try to solve the problems. The first mode is Equivalence in which users solve equivalence problems using fractions, percentages, and decimals. The second is Compare in which players compare fractions, percentages, and decimals. The third is Addition and subtraction, which involve proper and improper fractions as well as mixed numbers using mental arithmetic. The fourth mode is Multiplications and Division in which mental arithmetic is used to multiply and divide all forms of fractions.

Khan Academy– Khan Academy has more than 40,000 interactive Common Core-aligned practice questions and above 10,000 videos and explanations in economics, history, math, and more. This is the best study app and tutoring app for students of all ages who are struggling in science and other subjects. You can easily bookmark your best content to “Your List,”  which can be used offline when you’re not connected to the Internet. 

Marble Math– With Marble Math, children aged nine through twelve will learn mental math and solve math problems. With mazes, marbles, and math, your child can have hours of fun and become a math genius at the same time. There are puzzles and fun around each turn in the maze, so never be afraid to forge ahead. The app also allows you to go back to previous problems and redo them if needed. 

GameStar Mechanic– GameStar Mechanic, which was created for seven- to fourteen-year-olds, can be used by anyone. It is a community and a game developed to introduce principles of game design and systems in a highly interactive environment. The features included in this app makes it easier for kids to play it alone or with their parents.

Smiling Mind– Developed by educators and psychologists, Smiling Mind is a mindfulness meditation program. It has both a web and app-based interface dedicated to helping people deal with the pressure and stress of everyday life. There are a variety of tailored programs for different age groups and challenges, including sports, mindfulness in the classroom, 7-9-year olds, 10-12 year olds, 13-15 year olds, and 16-18 year olds. Smiling Mind’s app allows you to track progress and offers a variety of different meditation lengths to meet your students’ individual needs.

Quandary– Welcome to the world of Planet Braxos, a science fiction, narrative-driven game for mobile devices. Users play as the captain of the new human settlement on planet Braxos, shaping the direction of modern civilization and developing ethical reasoning skills. This educational game involves many diverse characters with differing perspectives designed to make the game challenging and enlightening. Users learn to solve conflicts by exploring different facts, options, and opinions as a means of solving the colony’s problems. Quantary is designed for kids age 8 to 16 years old; however, it is a game that can be played by anyone.

Co-ordinates– This app incorporates practical tasks with the teacher’s participation and can be used for children between ages 5 and 14. It introduces five key areas that are needed to read maps; these skills are intended to acquaint students with the prerequisites for map reading. The app also serves as an introduction to linear equations.

6th Grade Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your 6th-grade students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

7 Speed Reading– This app can help you become a proficient reader in the English language while eliminating old habits that hold you back. With 7 Speed Reading, students can learn to recognize large clusters of words and read without first vocalizing in their heads

StudySync – StudySync offers a comprehensive, technology-driven English Language Arts curriculum for grades 6-12. The curriculum integrates reading and writing with embedded skill lessons to build foundational knowledge and improve critical thinking, comprehension, and inquiry skills. Teachers have the option to use StudySync as a completely digital curriculum or turn to the printable options. With the belief that all students deserve equal access to education, StudySync offers tons of differentiation options for various student needs, including English Language Learner segments, extensive use of video and audio components, and repeated readings. Extended writing projects use explicit instruction along with self, peer, and teacher assessment to encourage deep understanding and future skill application.

Whooo’s Reading – The goal of Whooo’s Reading is accelerated reading comprehension and improved writing skills. By using open-ended questions instead of the standard true/false and multiple-choice style, students are required to think independently about texts. The Whooo’s Reading program automatically reminds students to improve their writing by asking them to cite evidence or answer all the parts of a question. Teachers can monitor student’s reading with automatic quiz results, graded by the Whooo’s Reading app, available in the teacher dashboard. To increase student motivation, students earn Wisdom Coins for reading and writing. These can be spent on accessories and items for their Owlvatars (owl avatars).

Word Hippo – Word Hippo is a one-stop website for all your word needs. It includes a dictionary, thesaurus, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, example sentences, translations into over 80 languages, the ability to find words of different lengths based on specific letters or blends, the ability to find words in different forms (plural, past tense, present tense, etc.), and the ability to hear pronunciations. Word Hippo is particularly useful for ELL students, during writing or literacy classes, or while playing a Scrabble-type game.

Study Island – Study Island is an all-in-one practice website for students to work on literacy, math, science, and social studies skills. It is built specifically around state standards, so regardless of your school’s location, you can rest assured that the content and practice provided on the website will align with your classroom teaching. Study Island is a great tool to use for high stakes testing preparation and provides real-time progress monitoring for teachers and parents. Beyond simple practice, Study Island can also be incorporated into classroom lessons for formative assessment and differentiation. It even allows teachers to import NWEA MAP assessment information for individual students and calculates a targeted learning path to fill in knowledge gaps!

Power Math– Power Math is a perfect way to master elementary mathematics skills. Through digital flashcards, students will learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They can customize and edit these; however, they want to help them best learn. All flashcards will then be generated in random order for an extra challenge in studying. You can even zero in on a specific skill, such as dividing by three or subtracting by five. Parents and educators are encouraged to assist children with this app to promote learning, increase motivation, and praise correct answers.

Vocab Ahead – Vocab Ahead is available as a website or an app. It is designed to help students in middle school and up to develop their vocabulary through the use of videos and flashcards. Each vocabulary word is linked to a picture and a specific definition. Vocab Ahead also has specific categories for SAT words, GRE words, and more.

Quick Fractions– The goal of this app is to make fractions-related problems easy for anyone willing to solve them. This app is suitable for kids just starting with fractions, advanced students, and even adults looking for a challenge. The game uses four modes to keep users occupied and entertained as they try to solve the problems. The first mode is Equivalence in which users solve equivalence problems using fractions, percentages, and decimals. The second is Compare in which players compare fractions, percentages, and decimals. The third is Addition and subtraction, which involve proper and improper fractions as well as mixed numbers using mental arithmetic. The fourth mode is Multiplications and Division in which mental arithmetic is used to multiply and divide all forms of fractions.

Khan Academy– Khan Academy has more than 40,000 interactive Common Core-aligned practice questions and above 10,000 videos and explanations in economics, history, math, and more. This is the best study app and tutoring app for students of all ages who are struggling in science and other subjects. You can easily bookmark your best content to “Your List,”  which can be used offline when you’re not connected to the Internet. 

Marble Math With Marble Math, children aged nine through twelve will learn mental math and solve math problems. With mazes, marbles, and math, your child can have hours of fun and become a math genius at the same time. There are puzzles and fun around each turn in the maze, so never be afraid to forge ahead. The app also allows you to go back to previous problems and redo them if needed. 

GameStar Mechanic– GameStar Mechanic, which was created for seven- to fourteen-year-olds, can be used by anyone. It is a community and a game developed to introduce principles of game design and systems in a highly interactive environment. The features included in this app makes it easier for kids to play it alone or with their parents.

Smiling Mind– Developed by educators and psychologists, Smiling Mind is a mindfulness meditation program. It has both a web and app-based interface dedicated to helping people deal with the pressure and stress of everyday life. There are a variety of tailored programs for different age groups and challenges, including sports, mindfulness in the classroom, 7-9-year olds, 10-12 year olds, 13-15 year olds, and 16-18 year olds. Smiling Mind’s app allows you to track progress and offers a variety of different meditation lengths to meet your students’ individual needs.

Quandary– Welcome to the world of Planet Braxos, a science fiction, narrative-driven game for mobile devices. Users play as the captain of the new human settlement on planet Braxos, shaping the direction of modern civilization and developing ethical reasoning skills. This educational game involves many diverse characters with differing perspectives designed to make the game challenging and enlightening. Users learn to solve conflicts by exploring different facts, options, and opinions as a means of solving the colony’s problems. Quantary is designed for kids age 8 to 16 years old; however, it is a game that can be played by anyone.

Co-ordinates– This app incorporates practical tasks with the teacher’s participation and can be used for children between ages 5 and 14. It introduces five key areas that are needed to read maps; these skills are intended to acquaint students with the prerequisites for map reading. The app also serves as an introduction to linear equations.

5th Grade Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

Are you looking for apps, tools, and resources that you can use with your 5th-grade students? If so, we have you covered. Check out our list below. Let us know if there are any that we missed.

Splash Math – Good for catching up, regular practice, or enrichment, Splash Math uses games and a built-in reward system to make math fun. Real time progress reports are available for teachers and parents to pinpoint areas of concern or celebrate improvements. The app also has an option to email weekly progress reports. With three themes, space, candy, and jungle, Splash Math is customizable to students’ interests and includes all major math skills from Kindergarten through 5th grade.

7 Speed Reading– This app can help you become a proficient reader in the English language while eliminating old habits that hold you back. With 7 Speed Reading, students can learn to recognize large clusters of words and read without first vocalizing in their heads

SpellingCity – SpellingCity is an app for vocabulary building, phonics instruction, and spelling practice. With over 40 games and activities, students are guided through customizable word lists to increase vocabulary or keep up with the weekly spelling words. Designed to be used independently, SpellingCity provides instant feedback for students and downloadable reports for teachers and parents. Boasting a 21.5% reading comprehension increase for native English speakers, SpellingCity is research proven and effective. With their focus on reading, hearing, speaking, writing, breaking down, and playing with words, students learn new words across all the language domains and have fun while doing it.

Whooo’s Reading – The goal of Whooo’s Reading is accelerated reading comprehension and improved writing skills. By using open-ended questions instead of the standard true/false and multiple-choice style, students are required to think independently about texts. The Whooo’s Reading program automatically reminds students to improve their writing by asking them to cite evidence or answer all the parts of a question. Teachers can monitor student’s reading with automatic quiz results, graded by the Whooo’s Reading app, available in the teacher dashboard. To increase student motivation, students earn Wisdom Coins for reading and writing. These can be spent on accessories and items for their Owlvatars (owl avatars).

Word Hippo – Word Hippo is a one-stop website for all your word needs. It includes a dictionary, thesaurus, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, example sentences, translations into over 80 languages, the ability to find words of different lengths based on specific letters or blends, the ability to find words in different forms (plural, past tense, present tense, etc.), and the ability to hear pronunciations. Word Hippo is particularly useful for ELL students, during writing or literacy classes, or while playing a Scrabble-type game.

Study Island – Study Island is an all-in-one practice website for students to work on literacy, math, science, and social studies skills. It is built specifically around state standards, so regardless of your school’s location, you can rest assured that the content and practice provided on the website will align with your classroom teaching. Study Island is a great tool to use for high stakes testing preparation and provides real-time progress monitoring for teachers and parents. Beyond simple practice, Study Island can also be incorporated into classroom lessons for formative assessment and differentiation. It even allows teachers to import NWEA MAP assessment information for individual students and calculates a targeted learning path to fill in knowledge gaps!

Power Math– Power Math is a perfect way to master elementary mathematics skills. Through digital flashcards, students will learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They can customize and edit these; however, they want to help them best learn. All flashcards will then be generated in random order for an extra challenge in studying. You can even zero in on a specific skill, such as dividing by three or subtracting by five. Parents and educators are encouraged to assist children with this app to promote learning, increase motivation, and praise correct answers.

Quick Fractions– The goal of this app is to make fractions-related problems easy for anyone willing to solve them. This app is suitable for kids just starting with fractions, advanced students, and even adults looking for a challenge. The game uses four modes to keep users occupied and entertained as they try to solve the problems. The first mode is Equivalence in which users solve equivalence problems using fractions, percentages, and decimals. The second is Compare in which players compare fractions, percentages, and decimals. The third is Addition and subtraction, which involve proper and improper fractions as well as mixed numbers using mental arithmetic. The fourth mode is Multiplications and Division in which mental arithmetic is used to multiply and divide all forms of fractions.

Marble Math– With Marble Math, children aged nine through twelve will learn mental math and solve math problems. With mazes, marbles, and math, your child can have hours of fun and become a math genius at the same time. There are puzzles and fun around each turn in the maze, so never be afraid to forge ahead. The app also allows you to go back to previous problems and redo them if needed. 

GameStar Mechanic– GameStar Mechanic, which was created for seven- to fourteen-year-olds, can be used by anyone. It is a community and a game developed to introduce principles of game design and systems in a highly interactive environment. The features included in this app makes it easier for kids to play it alone or with their parents.

iTalk2Learn– iTalk2Learn is a math tutoring app that uses cutting-edge technology to ensure that students learn more naturally. This app is the result of a three-year collaborative European project to create an open-source intelligent tutoring platform that reinforces math learning for 5- to 11-year-old students. This will enable educators to deliver the correct lesson at the right time. 

Smiling Mind– Developed by educators and psychologists, Smiling Mind is a mindfulness meditation program. It has both a web and app-based interface dedicated to helping people deal with the pressure and stress of everyday life. There are a variety of tailored programs for different age groups and challenges, including sports, mindfulness in the classroom, 7-9-year olds, 10-12 year olds, 13-15 year olds, and 16-18 year olds. Smiling Mind’s app allows you to track progress and offers a variety of different meditation lengths to meet your students’ individual needs.

Quandary– Welcome to the world of Planet Braxos, a science fiction, narrative-driven game for mobile devices. Users play as the captain of the new human settlement on planet Braxos, shaping the direction of modern civilization and developing ethical reasoning skills. This educational game involves many diverse characters with differing perspectives designed to make the game challenging and enlightening. Users learn to solve conflicts by exploring different facts, options, and opinions as a means of solving the colony’s problems. Quantary is designed for kids age 8 to 16 years old; however, it is a game that can be played by anyone.

Co-ordinates– This app incorporates practical tasks with the teacher’s participation and can be used for children between ages 5 and 14. It introduces five key areas that are needed to read maps; these skills are intended to acquaint students with the prerequisites for map reading. The app also serves as an introduction to linear equations.

Parent-Teacher/School Communication Apps, Tools, and Resources That I Would Use If I Were Still in the Classroom

Back in 2001, when I started as a teacher, the technology boom was in its nascent stage. I remember toting a large bag filled with papers home most nights and going to sleep drowning under a vast sea of student homework that needed grading. My classroom was even worse, cluttered with books, manipulatives, globes, maps, and learning stations that left little room for anything else. However, as I write this in 2018, things have changed dramatically. Today’s teachers have edtech in their corners.

Digital teaching and learning tools have streamlined education processes and provide learning experiences that stretch far beyond the materials that were available for me back in 2001. For example, when I wanted to contact all of my student’s parents, I had to send notes home individually or give each parent a call. Now, with the proliferation of edtech and cell phones, I can use a parent/school communication app to send a mass text or email to all of my student’s parents. Instead of hoping that most of the parents received my communication, I can be assured that they all will receive it instantaneously. This saves today’s teacher hundreds of hours per school year.  If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these parent/school communication apps, tools, and resources:

ClassDojo: ClassDojo is making it easier than ever before for parents to stay in the loop with what goes on in the classroom. Educators can upload pictures taken throughout the school day, share notes with students and parents, and make major announcements to the class. Students can even personalize their portfolio with work that they are particularly proud of.

Bloomz: This simple app is revolutionizing the way that teachers and parents can communicate. Teachers can quickly upload short announcements or pictures into the app to share with parents on a daily basis. It also sends custom calendar reminders, helps schedule conferences, and allows teachers to request volunteers for class events.

Talking Points for Parents: This app is a translator tool for parents for whom English is not their native language; the app can be used to bridge the language gap between parents and teachers. Send and receive messages to your children’s teachers using your native language, and your messages are translated into English language.

Talking Points for Teachers: This version works for teachers to communicate to parents via text without language acting as a barrier. This app includes more than 20 languages. Both human and machine translators are employed so that the output is as smooth as possible. You can also create broadcast messages to a group of parents.

Daycare Works – DayCare Works is a web-based solution for managing before/after-school programs, community education centers, and childcare operations. The software delivers everything you need including registrations, secure payments, staff and student schedules, attendance, billing, third-party subsidy payments, lead management, meal tracking, class ratios, family and staff portals, mobile apps, parent communications, assessments and more.

Hello Parent – This system provides schools with an easy solution for parent communication and allows parents to pay online. The system is parent-friendly. It has automated fee reminders with digitized fee receipts, which removes all manual intervention.  The system is hosted on a reliable cloud server on the cloud, and data is 128-bit SSL secured (bank-level security).

Appademic – Appademic is a school communication solution based in Australia that delivers notices, forms, communications, and more to mobile devices. It includes apps can be deployed to communicate efficiently with parents; data collected by the app is stored securely.

KigaRoo – KigaRoo is a cloud-based daycare solution designed to help with administrative tasks and organization. The platform helps to perform tasks related to parent communication, billing, statistics, and any form of analysis. KigaRoo is designed with a simple interface to ensure that using the smartphone app and the parent portal is as seamless as possible. The software can handle group and staff management, central file storage, remote access.

Moment – Moment app was created for childcare school administrators to communicate with parents effectively, manage day-to-day activities, accept online signups, and collect payments. The app helps users build communities around its classes and enhance the communication channel with parents while handling the day-to-day events, staff, and families. The app has sections devoted to parent communication, class management, and online signups.

SimplyCircle: This is the app for parent communication that can do it all. Add people into your circle and share files, announcements, events, and tasks with them exclusively. Information is received only by the members of the circle.

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Assessment Apps, Tools, and Resources That I Would Use If I Were Still in the Classroom

Back in 2001, when I started as a teacher, the technology boom was in its nascent stage. I remember toting a large bag filled with papers home most nights and going to sleep drowning under a vast sea of student homework that needed grading. My classroom was even worse, cluttered with books, manipulatives, globes, maps, and learning stations that left little room for anything else. However, as I write this in 2018, things have changed dramatically. Today’s teachers have edtech in their corners.

Digital teaching and learning tools have streamlined education processes and provide learning experiences that stretch far beyond the materials that were available for me back in 2001. I remember creating and administering assessments to students by hand, and then taking them all back home to grade at night.

Fast forward to today, and teachers can use assessment apps to create, deliver and grade their student’s learning activities. All they have to do is enter the questions or in some instances choose the questions that they want to use, and the app delivers the assessment, grades its, and alerts the student when their score has been posted. If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these assessment apps, tools and resources:

Socrative: Socrative is an easy-to-use program for educators who need to design several types of assessments. You can save and edit them all on your library. The student answers pop up onto the teacher’s screen in real time to ensure that there is time for instant feedback.

LightSail Education –  Teachers can use LightSail Education to monitor their students’ reading in real-time and in great detail. Teachers and students can monitor students’ per-page progress through books in addition to their performance on Common Core-aligned assessment tasks. This tool also provides students with access to books in the school’s digital library, which can be downloaded for later use. Teachers can also make use of testing results to track student progress over time.

Edulastic: This platform is filled with thirty different question types so that not all formative assessments have to be the same. You can choose from premade questions and answers in their 20,000-question certified item bank. The highlights are the reports that can be generated to show real-time data, student growth, and standards mastery.

EDaura – It is a mobile skill-based learning environment focused on improving learners’ skills through robust formative and summative assessments. EDaura allows educators to measure learning outcomes and abilities to help learners develop and improve throughout the course. It provides complete assignment management from the creation process to the correction and results publishing final stage.

FlinnPREP– Using a blended learning approach, The FlinnPREP allows science teachers to personalize learning and empower students to learn critical concepts and skills. Each course features content that is easy to understand, curated OER, videos, games, formative and summative assessments as well as full-length practice exams aligned with the learning objectives. Students also have access to practice and review exercises, and they can prepare for AP exams without anyone’s help and at their pace.

Smart Sparrow: This platform was designed as a tool for teachers to create materials and give assessments. The learning experience is highly individualized, and as such, it is different for everybody since no two individuals are the same.

Quizalize: Turn your formative assessments into a fun game to play as a class or for homework. Teachers can get instant insights into who needs help and who is doing well. Quizalize is a great way to get kids excited to take these assessments and give you the best results.

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Professional Development Apps, Tools, and Resources That I Would Use If I Were Still in the Classroom

Back in 2001, when I started as a teacher, the technology boom was in its nascent stage. I remember toting a large bag filled with papers home most nights and going to sleep drowning under a vast sea of student homework that needed grading. My classroom was even worse, cluttered with books, manipulatives, globes, maps, and learning stations that left little room for anything else. However, as I write this in 2018, things have changed dramatically. Today’s teachers have edtech in their corners.

When it comes to professional development, teachers don’t have to attend boring lectures given by guest speakers who are out of touch with the classroom, and who have nothing of value to add to the participant. Nowadays you can engage in professional development anywhere, by using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to log in to your choice of providers. You can find enriching professional development sessions on every topic from classroom management to pedagogy to mindfulness. If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these professional development apps, tools, and resources:

EdWeb Webinars: Teachers never stop learning, but many of them lack the time and resources to attend a college course. With the webinars offered by EdWeb, educators can take advantage of free continuing education credits from the comfort and convenience of their own home. Even better, a large percentage of their topics pertain to edtech and building digital skills in the classroom.

Teach Boost – Teach Boost is a platform for teachers and administrators to assist with providing feedback and teacher evaluations. It is designed to foster effective educators and improve student outcomes. There are three segments in the Teach Boost program: Observations and Evaluations, Coaching and Mentorship, and Professional Development. Observations and Evaluations allow administrators to customize forms, rubrics, and observation cycles and streamline the overall evaluation process to fit the needs of the school. Coaching and Mentorship help develop sustainable coaching and mentoring programs through customized coaching engagements. It helps eliminate paperwork and simplifies scheduling. The Professional Development segment is a hub for schools to manage, document, and share professional development resources.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development: Do you need more help on a handful of topics, but you don’t have the time to read a book? The ASCD webinar archive can be a powerful resource with an ever-growing list of previous topics. It’s a convenient way for teachers to access material they need at the perfect time.

Teacher Vision: Teacher Vision® helps you become a more efficient teacher. It includes lesson outlines and worksheet templates that you can use in your classes. The content is both flexible and relevant to your needs as an educator. With this app, you can spend less time preparing for class and more time teaching.

Discovery Education – Discovery Education is a big player in EdTech. The company has established itself as the leading provider of digital curriculum resources, digital content, and professional development for K-12 classrooms. Around 5.6 million students across all 50 states and Canada are currently using Discovery Education. Discovery Education Streaming Plus, the comprehensive digital service supplementing instruction across all K-12 curricular areas, was recently the winner of the EdTech Digest’s Cool Tool Award in the Content Provider Solution category. Discovery Education Streaming Plus supplements instruction materials for all K–12 curricular areas. The supplemental materials include lesson plans, instructional strategies, and other content. Every possible source of content is available to students, including primary source documents, books, tapes, audio files, videos, podcasts, interviews, images and more.

EzTraxx – This software is designed to offer professional development, graduate study/tuition reimbursement and online training and teacher evaluation processes. This app saves time, slashes costs, and enables data-driven decision-making.

PebblePad– PebblePad is designed to act as an electronic portfolio (e-portfolio). It is a Personal Learning Space used in diverse learning contexts such as schools, colleges, universities, and professional bodies. It is useful for students, teachers, and testers for personal development planning; continuing professional development; and learning, teaching, and assessment. PebblePad was created with everything set to revolve around the student. It provides a framework to help users save records of learning, achievement, and goals. It also has a reflective structure underlining all its core elements.

BetterLesson: Are you hoping for more a class to push your career further along? BetterLesson offers live one-on-one coaching with their unique methodology that encourages teachers to make classroom changes. They help to make sure that all new strategies get implemented in the classroom and help evaluate the results.

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Project-Based Learning Apps, Tools, and Resources That I Would Use If I Were Still in the Classroom

Back in 2001, when I started as a teacher, the technology boom was in its nascent stage. I remember toting a large bag filled with papers home most nights and going to sleep drowning under a vast sea of student homework that needed grading. My classroom was even worse, cluttered with books, manipulatives, globes, maps, and learning stations that left little room for anything else. However, as I write this in 2018, things have changed dramatically. Today’s teachers have edtech in their corners.

When I was in the classroom, project-based learning was becoming popular among educators looking to encourage student engagement with the curriculum. If you are new to the term, it just means focusing learning around a specific question or challenge, to help students drive their learning – it’s a great way to encourage exploration and keep active minds motivated.

Today, teachers have it made, as edtech is well positioned to enhance project-based learning’s positive impact while also increasing classroom efficiency. I didn’t have this privilege. Edtech can get students interested in project-based learning, empowers them to direct their own work, and helps educators by providing valuable frameworks for large projects. If I were still in the classroom today, I’d use these professional development apps, tools, and resources:

MindMeister– MindMeister is an app available for both Apple and Android devices. It is geared toward dyslexic students, who typically have a difficult time reading the board, listening to the teacher, and taking notes. Using MindMeister to make mind maps and collaboratively create digital notes, students can get creative, keep up, and learn much easier. This app is useful in any classroom or school scenario, as you can analyze papers, notes, projects, or whatever you need with mind maps and graphic organizers.

Toontastic 3Ds: This is a tool for creating 3-D cartoons that can be animated and narrated. It is an app for kids who want to develop their characters. It is operated by moving characters around on screen and performing different operations on them, such as telling a story by recording a voice or a sound and using different animations. The whole project can be saved on your device as a 3-D video.

Mathalicious. This uses real-world lessons in support of project-based learning, with a focus on encouraging critical and independent thought.

Novare PBL Platform. Novare is an excellent project management tool which uses narratives, portfolios and learning goals to structure project-based learning.

Boxlight MimioFrameThis combined system creates a virtual work area spanning about 11 feet by 4 feet where students collaborate and learn together at the front of the classroom. The MimioStudio classroom software makes it easy to use other classroom products and enables teachers to create lessons and joint projects. Files can be saved in the MimioStudio files format and accessed on any device using the MimioMobile app.

Edmodo– While social networking has received its fair share of criticism about the bad influence it tolerates, this app is unlike all that. Edmodo is a powerful tool that can be used to pool the creative thinking of students. It helps them think critically while fostering student-teacher partnerships to create projects.

gTasks– No excuse for lateness or sloppy timelines with gTasks! One of the difficulties of a challenging project is organization and time management, especially for students who haven’t practiced skills in projects of such magnitude. gTasks remind students of the deadlines they’ve set for the projects they have by syncing tasks with Google Tasks and adding reminders to their Google Calendars.

Strip Designer: Create comic strips using an existing camera photo from your gallery or social media profile. Then, choose from the many page templates available and create your comic strip. Fill text balloons with conversations and include sound effects to spice it up. When you are satisfied with your creation, you can share it with your friends and family. Available on iPad, iPhone or iPod.

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