Today let’s try to spice up summer school with some fun and engaging math apps. All of the iPad apps that I’m sharing here have a free version. Some of them have in app purchases and others do not. When I look at apps for my classroom, I tend to categorize them based on what part of learning they support. Some apps work for practice or application, and some as manipulatives. Read on to see apps for each of those categories!
Practice
Kahoot
Student can use a computer or an iPad to play Kahoot. The teacher presents the game and questions onto the screen in front of the classroom and students participate through their own devices. They can use their phones, an iPad, or a computer. They are a ton of premade games or you can make your own. You can use this with any math concept. It’s a winner for getting students very engaged in reviewing math content.
Quizizz
This app is similar to Kahoot but students can play this game at their own pace. You can make your own Quizizz, or you can borrow from other educators. I have made copies of a lot of Quizziz written by other teachers and then taken advantage of the editing options to change them a little bit to suit my needs. Quizizzis a competitive way for students to practice any content that you want them to work on. You can use this for whole class review, or start every day with a Quizizz for a warm-up during summer school.
SumDog
With SumDog students work on grade level skills and math facts. With the free version students cannot play every game. Even when limited to a few games in the free version, students love this app and it’s like they don’t even know that they are practicing math. They have the opportunity to play the games against each other (which some of them get super excited about!). They also earn coins that they can spend on buying virtual items for their virtual house.
Prodigy
Prodigy’s free version does not limit content for teachers to assign. It only limits the powers and potions and stuff for the students. I used the free version all year and most of my students were very engaged when practicing in Prodigy. It’s a game where they are trying to win math battles and earn prizes that give their avatar power and move up levels. You can assign specific topics to students and see how they are progressing really easily.
Lobster Diver
I love the game Lobster Diver. I’m so happy that there’s still a free version of it. This game embeds number line concepts into a game. One of the best parts is the trial and error nature of the game. I use this game as a challenge and give prizes for the top 5 scores of the day. It’s a fun way to add a little competition to the day. Kids love it and get really excited when their scores go up. Plus, it’s great at developing overall number sense with mixed numbers, decimals, and more.
Manipulatives
Undecided Lite
Desmos
Desmos will make your graphing calculator from high school feel very inferior. It can do everything the TI-84 can do and so much more. You can use this to show how equations become lines and so many other Algebra concepts. Also, you can have students draw pictures with it and practice with coordinate graphs. This is a great, well-rounded tool to use in any math summer school program.
Geoboard
Lastly, with this Geoboard app your students can practice with geoboards without the rubber bands flying across the room. There are a few different settings with this geoboard and it’s a great way to practice basic geometry or coordinate graphing skills. All of your students can have a geoboard on their phones or iPads.
Try one thing..
I hope that you can find at least one app on here that will make your summer school math class awesome. Try one of them and see how your students react when they get to do some practice on their phone or on an iPad. These apps will surprise you and your students. Thanks for reading! Until next time 🙂
