Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- Ten Frame Mania

Title: Ten Frame Mania by Greg Tang

Description: Ten Frame Mania is a great app for young mathematicians! Reminiscent of the old Pac Man game, students must represent numbers traveling through a maze on a ten frame before the number gets to the end of the maze. As the students master each level, more tools are unlocked, the mazes change, and the numbers move faster.  

Advantages: At first glance, the game seems very simple; however, after students have had an opportunity to successfully play the game past the first round or two, they will unlock tools to fill the tens frame in groups of five. This is where the real thinking happens. Some students will begin to see that they can obtain the correct amount in the ten frame by filling it with groups of five objects using the filling tool and subtracting the unnecessary objects. See the picture to the right. (The filling tool is to the right of the ten frame below the maze.) 

Disadvantages: After playing the first three levels, the only real disadvantage I see is that students could potentially "luck up" and illustrate the ten frame correctly. For example, a student is trying to make three but is accidentally planning to show four. Once the third object is present, the attempt is counted as correct. It may be more beneficial to have players press a button in order to submit their answer. (I know that is really knit-picky; the game is pretty awesome as is!)  

Cost: At the time of this post, this app was 100% free!

Note: A web version of this game can be found at http://gregtangmath.com/games. 

Check out the app here!

Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- Wings by Motion Math

Title: Wings by Motion Math

Description: Wings is a multiplication game where players compare two amounts and fly through the larger quantity. While the game may seem very simplistic and best suited for younger students, this game is appropriate for a variety of age and ability levels as the quantities are represented as numerical products, arrays, or multiplication facts. There are multiple levels of both play and difficulty, including pre-multiplication, basic multiplication, and advanced multiplication. See the picture below. 

Advantages: This is a very simple game, but it's a great way to reinforce early multiplication skills. Besides the variety of levels of play and difficulty, the best feature of the app is the way the multiplication problems are represented. After the first few games, the multiplication problems are presented in two different forms, i.e. a product and an array, a product and a multiplication fact, or an array and a multiplication fact. See the picture below. The game becomes more challenging as the student moves through the levels. Additionally, with the full package, students can customize their bird's colors and increase the forms of multiplication included. 

This image shows the representations used to  represent the multiplication problems. 

Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage is the lack of learning tutorials when students make a mistake. With the free version, when a mistake is made, the bird get pushed down and the representations switch places to allow the student a second try. If the student continues to respond incorrectly, the game flashes the word "More" above the larger quantity. 

Cost: The free version appears to include several levels of play, or islands, for the pre-multiplication, basic multiplication, and advanced multiplication levels of the game. Additional levels of play, or islands, range from $2.99 to $3.99. A full package is available for $6.99.   

Check out the app here!

Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- Zoom by Motion Math

Title: Zoom by Motion Math

Description: Zoom is a fun and interactive app that gives students the opportunity to explore the number line. Beginning with simple whole numbers, student progress to numbers 1 - 1,000, negative numbers, and decimals. In addition, as the numbers change in magnitude, the animals representing the numbers change too. For example, basic counting numbers are represented with frogs, but the thousands are represented with dinosaurs. In the same way, the decimals are represented with hornets, ants, and amoebas. 

Advantages: The best aspect of this game is the zooming feature. With it, students really get to "see" how our number system works. The "zoom" part refers to the students' ability to zoom into a range, such as 10 - 20 in order to place the number 19 on the number line. This helps students "see" that even when numbers are not represented on a number line, they are still there between the anchor values. Students can "zoom" out or "zoom" in making the number line very interactive and engaging.

Disadvantages: The only real disadvantage I can see is that students progress through the number lines based on what they are able to successfully complete. Therefore, an older student who has experience with smaller numbers would have to complete all of the whole number focused number lines in order to get to the negative numbers or decimals. On the other hand, a younger student may not get to use the app much before reaching frustration; however, this situation provides a great opportunity for further exploration. 

This is the view students see when they begin with the tens number line. It is at Level 2. 

This is the view students see when they begin with the hundredths number line. It is at Level 15. 

Cost: While there appears to be a free "Lite" version that is available or was available at some time, for full access, the cost is $2.99.

Check out the app here!

Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- 5 Dice: Order of Operations Game

Title: 5 Dice: Order of Operations

Description: The "5 Dice" game requires students to roll a set of five dice and create an expression that simplifies to a target number after the order of operations are applied. There are five games of play available: addition/ subtraction, multiplication/ division, all four operations, all four operations with parenthesis, and all four operations with parenthesis and exponents. The game can be played by a single player or multiple players on different devices.

Advantages: This app is both fun and challenging! Being able to choose the type of game makes the game adaptable to individual student needs. It also allows beginners to get the hang of the game before moving on and using more operations. In addition, the interface allows players to remove and replace dice and operations as needed until they get it right. The whiteboard tool provides students with a work space to record the expression and simplify it there before submitting the final expression for official checking. 

The 5 Dice Game in action.

Disadvantages: While this game is a good challenge for students, depending on whether only a few operations are available or the size of the target number is incredibly large, like 1,440, the task can be hard. This can most definitely be discouraging to some players and make them want to give up. (In this case, it might be worth it to click the home button and start again to get a different set of dice and target number.)

One final note: When you first open the app, there is an option to receive a downloadable version of the game via email. This would be great for the classroom and make a fabulous fast finisher activity. Game scores can also be sent to parents and teachers via email. Score sheets include the expression created, the target number, time elapsed to complete the task, and the date of task completion.

Cost: Free

Check out the app here!

Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- Chicken Coop Fraction Game by Lumpty Learning

Title: Chicken Coop Fractions

Description: The Chicken Coop Fractions app is a series of fun and interactive games designed to help reinforce a variety of fraction skills. While there are several packs available, only the estimation pack is free; therefore, I will base my review on this pack. Each activity is similar to the one below. Students are presented with a problem, in this case an estimation problem, and are asked to select a location on a number line in order to estimate the solution. Students click "sensible estimates" on the number line and one of the chickens, Henriette or Gudhen, "fires" an egg towards the correct answer. If the estimate is good, the egg will land in the nest. If the estimate is not accurate, the egg splatters on the ground. (Note: Because I only played the games available in the free pack, I am unable to review the other packs. Based on their descriptions, each pack appears to be in a different context.)

This picture illustrates a game of estimating easy proper fractions. 

Advantages: The app has a fun interface. The idea of two hens shooting eggs from their rears will certainly amuse most students. For a free pack, there are a lot of games that are included (see the picture at the bottom). This provides students with multiple opportunities to review; the app labels the games so that students can choose one that is most appropriate for them. Because the first pack is about estimation, students only need to get a ballpark answer to be successful; they do not need to be specific. 

This picture illustrates a game of estimating easy proper fractions of numbers. 

Disadvantages: The only really disadvantage is that there is no opportunity to learn from mistakes made. If an incorrect answer is made, the egg misses the nest and the next question is populated. While the correct answer is shown on the number line when the egg is laid, there are no learning tutorials. 

One final note: When I first started using the game, I wondered if the facial expressions of the hens while they were laying eggs would be offensive to some, but that may just be my heightened sense of teacher awareness toward creating potential sticky situations with parents; I would encourage you to preview the game before use. 

This picture illustrates the games available in the free fraction pack. 

Cost: Currently, the free pack is the estimation game pack. There are 7 games within this pack. At the time of this post, there is one additional fraction pack available. It is $8.99 and includes 4 game packs: adding fractions, simplifying fractions, equivalent fractions, and comparing fractions. 

Check out the app here!

Thursday Tool School: iPad Apps for Kids- VersaMate by Hand2Mind

Thursday Tool School is back this week with a super exciting 6-week series highlighting iPad apps for kids. While I understand that many classrooms are not outfitted with a set of iPads, these apps make great intervention, tutoring, and summer practice tools for all students, inside or outside of the classroom setting.

During my research on the best math apps for kids, I discovered that while many apps are initially free, in order to progress through the various levels, you generally have to buy something in order to take full advantage of the app's features. While my goal here is to focus on free apps for kids, I will provide a disclaimer if the featured app falls into this category. 

This week's app is one of my personal favorites. I've used it endlessly with the students with whom I tutor. They love the opportunity to use the iPad during our sessions and it's a great way to infuse practice with essential fraction concepts and provides a brain break from our intensive work. 

Screenshot from "Identify Fractions"

Title: VersaMate Fractions

Description: The VersaMate app is created by the creators of VersaTiles, a series of self-checking activities reinforcing a variety of grade level content and skills. At the the time of this post, only two packs are available, the sampler freebie pack and the fractions pack. Each activity is similar to the one above. Students are presented with a solution, in this case a fraction, and are asked to choose the matching response from four choices. As a game, students match solutions and responses and uncover squares trying to collect more squares than his/ her opponent, the computer or another player. 

Advantages: This app is very engaging and students enjoy the colorful and interactive interface. In the fractions pack, there are a  variety of skills (games) from which to choose that not only provide variety but endless opportunities to reinforce grade level content and skills. As with many other games, players are provided with opportunities to play in bonus rounds when certain actions are taken or point levels obtained. Additionally, when students answer questions incorrectly, a tutorial provides support to help students understand their mistakes and redirects their path to one of success. 

Game in Action!

Disadvantages: The problems presented are mostly procedural in nature making the app very linear without much depth or complexity. In addition, the tutorials students receive when they answer incorrectly illustrate traditional methods for finding solutions to fraction algorithms with no accompanying written explanations. For example, the picture below shows a tutorial for understanding how to name a fractional part with a number line. If students are unable to name the fractional part comparing the shaded parts to the unshaded parts, they are not likely to be able to understand the connection to the number line. Note: While this is true of this game, the other tutorials seem to be more informative. 

Tutorial for an Incorrect Answer

One final note: At times, the computer opponent can seem quite aggressive and wins quickly preventing the human player from getting to fully engage in the game. Again, it does not happen all of the time, but my students have experienced this on occasion.   

Cost: Currently, the freebie sampler pack has two fraction activities. The full, 23-game Fraction pack is $4.99. 

Check out the app here!