Being the History lover I claim to be, I found it very useful to look through most of these apps located under the Social Studies tab. I reviewed a couple of them and saw how I will and will not be able to use these apps in the classroom.
Google Earth:
This is one of my favorite apps for a couple of reasons. I have quite the fascination of maps and really enjoy the subject of geography. Another reason I love this app is because it is such a good tool to use in the classroom. One way Google Earth can be used in the History classroom, or other classes as desired is for comparison purposes. It provides great opportunity to compare urban and rural life. For example, I grew up in very rural Southern Indiana, the google earth image of my hometown compared to Knoxville is tremendously different. I know it is a standard to be used in upper elementary grades, but this comparison activity can also be used in middle school and even high school! Another use for this app could be for the learning of longitude and latitude. This is a concept taught at the middle school grade level and would be easy to incorporate into a lesson.
Stack the States:
I have personally used this application as a study tool, and just to use for fun, because I get so much enjoyment out of geography games. I used this in a fifth grade classroom during one of their TCAP study days. The students rotated at stations and I remember using and watching students play this game to learn their states. This app allows for many different games to be played along with quizzes to take. I think the graphics are wonderful and appealing to specifically 4-8 students. Sure there will be some students who think they are too cool for games, but this game in particular is a great way to learn the states and there is even an app for the all the countries! That is a way to incorporate this game for the older middle school grades. It does cost to purchase the game, but I believe it is well worth the $1.99.
http://youtu.be/UhBJHcJ7sW0
http://youtu.be/FZzzw4ohq-o
Civil War Today:
This application for the iPad is a little more expensive than most apps. It is 7.99, and I have not had a lot of experience with it, but it is put on by the History Channel, which is a wonderful educational source. Their other resources and applications are great and from what I have been able to mess around with, this application looks just as good! It is very applicable to a unit on the Civil War and it can be used for more than one aspect of it. That is what I love about it. The application really lets the student get a good understanding of what it was like in the mid 1800's. It is great for older middle school students, I probably wouldn't use it in 4th or 5th grade but definitely 7th or 8th.
USA Factbook:
I love love love this application! And it's free! This application provided so many learning tools. It offered states facts, meaning of important documents, maps, quizzes, and quite possibly my favorite part... The National Anthem! You would be surprised at how many Americans don't know the National Anthem. I'm a huge advocate of patriotism and I think everyone should know what our country stands for. I would definitely get this application for my students to use. Especially since in every state, US History is offered as a social studies class in middle school. Each state differs as to which grade it is, but I have a good feeling this app could be applied to 4th through 8th grade!
History Today/ This day in History:
This is a really cool app that recognizes what the current day is that the application is viewed and tells the viewer what happened on that specific day whenever it may be in history. This can easily be incorporated into the classroom for any grade 4th through 8th. There is just something fascinating about what happened on this day years ago, For this same reason the application TimeHop was created in order for social media users to see what they posted on that exact day several years ago. This app could be used as an opening activity and doesn't necessarily just need to be viewed on the application. Say the teacher looked on it every morning and was able to open class with letting the students know what happened on this day in history. I think that is a pretty cool way to A.) start off the class period noting the date to the class B.) learning parts off history that don't have to be tied to the lesson or unit and provides a chance to branch out and talk about something else for five minutes.
Nice work!
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