Happy Thanksgiving

This week is all about my favorite Thanksgiving apps for school. Some of them are silly and some are stories but they are all entertaining.  You can make anything a learning opportunity if you just give it some thought.

 1.  A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving:  This is an expensive app at $5.99 but I am such a fan of the Peanuts apps that it was worth it to me.  It is filled with Charlie Brown’s antics and the usual troubles that the Peanut’s Gang encounters while sharing the true meaning of Thanksgiving.  There are hidden treasures that can be clicked on in each page.  It has the graphics and wording from the original   1973 TV special.  I use this app in a center.  When I assign an app as a center, I usually have a directions sheet that requires some type of accountability.  Click for the  document I’m using with this app. I also do something similar with the Berenstain Bears GiveThanks App.  It is another pricey app at  $3.99.

2.  Dress a Turkey:  In this free app students choose a turkey, add a shirt, pants, shoes, headgear, and accessories, and add frames and effects.  Students can save their pictures.  The picture can be the prompt for a writing activity.  They could write about their turkey and what the turkey is doing dressed in its outfit.  This is a fun activity for a reluctant writer. Although this is a free app, there are in app purchases available.

3.  Turkey Painting:  This free app is a coloring book for Thanksgiving.  It has preset colors and a chance to pick many other colors.  The brush size can change to fit the area you are coloring.  It has a puzzle feature that lets you turn your picture into a slider puzzle.  This can also turn into a fun writing prompt.  After students paint their picture they can save it and complete a writing piece to match their picture.

4.  Hand Turkey:  This is a fun free app for the younger crowd.  You place your hand on the ipad and it turns your hand into a turkey.  You can customize your turkey by changing its feathers and clothing.  You can also have your turkey rake a pile of leaves that you make or stampede the screen with other hand turkeys.  This is a great alternative to the Turkey in Disguise that many teachers do this time of year. I’ve seen several of the disguised turkey description forms that would be great to go with this app.(It’s even fun for the grown ups.)

5.  Just for Fun:  Here are two stress relief apps that can be for students or the teacher.  Turkey Talk is similar to the Talking Tom App that many have seen and used before.  It can be used to practice sight words and vocabulary or just to be silly.  Another stress reliever is the Turkey Rescue app.  You have to put the turkeys on the road to save them from the farmer, butcher, or bulldog.  How many Turkeys can you save?

Have a great week!