Your school has purchased a class set of iPads or implemented a 1-1/BYOD structure, so which apps should you deploy or ask your students to purchase?
The following 21 apps are the ones that I have found over the past 4 years to be of great value in my classroom (Kinder-Grade 7) and is my current app deployment list for 2016. This list varies from year to year depending on my program.
Dr. Seuss Band by Oceanhouse Media $1.49
Used for: practicing playing rhythms along with music
Real Xylophone by Gismart (google and app store adds) – free
Real Xylophone by Gismart without adds $2.99
Used for: exploring all the different types of xylophones, also is an inter-app audio app for Garage Band
Percussions by CRIMSON TECHNOLOGY, Inc $5.99
Used for: virtual percussion instruments that can be played multiple different ways
Rainbow Music Notes by Tie Zhong $1.49
Used for: learning note names
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten by The Britten-Pears Foundation – free
Used for: information instrument families and the orchestra
MadPad HD – Remix Your Life by Smule $ 4.49
Used for: creating your own live and recorded loop music
GarageBand – free
Used for: playing and recording music
Check out these blog posts for some of the projects I have done
- Part 2: Planning IB PYP in the Specialist / Single Subject Classroom 2014 Overview
- Digital Portfolios: Assessment in the iPad Classroom
- Combining Garage Band & iMovie in the Music Classroom
Novation Launchpad by Novation – free
Used for: creating loop music and record directly into GarageBand via inter-app audio
Figure by Propellerhead Software AB – free
Used for: creating loop music and record directly into GarageBand via inter-app audio
GrooveMaker 2 FREE by IK Multimedia – free
Used for: creating loop music and record directly into GarageBand
Yellofier by Boris Blank $4.49
Used for: creating music using matrix format is also an inter-app audio app.
The following apps are generic education apps. I use then to techify my music activities and to display work samples, research and project work and sharing/gathering files. The best part about using generic education apps is that often the classroom teacher has already taught the students how to use these apps so you don’t have to do this, saving you time!
Showbie – Paperless Classroom by Showbie Inc. – free or purchase upgrade for extra tools
Used for: gathering student work, assessing work, providing resources to the students, communicating with students.
Pages – free
Used for: presenting research and projects
iMovie – free
Used for: recording soundscapes, presenting music, filmscoring
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Explain Everything™ Interactive 
Whiteboard by Explain Everything – $5.99
Used for: digital portfolios, gathering student work, assessing work, providing resources to the students
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Book Creator by Red Jumper Limited – $7.99
Used for: digital portfolios, gathering student work, assessing work, providing resources to the students
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Popplet Lite by Notion – free
Popplet by Notion – $7.99
Used for: brainstorm presentation
i-nigma QR Code, Data Matrix and 1D barcode reader by 3GVision – free
Used for: scanning QR Codes
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Dropbox by Dropbox – free
Used for: providing students with files, students uploading files for assessment
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Photo Dice by MachWerx – free or $1.49 no adds
Used for: creating your own dice using music or notation images in your photo roll. A roll the dice to create rhythm patterns to compose or to play games like yahtzee, bingo etc.
Check out this blog post for some of the projects I have done
Hopscotch: by Hopscotch Technologies – free
Used for: coding virtual instruments, simple composing with Code.
I would love to hear about the apps you have found to be essential in your classroom
Teach to transform!
Cheryl
If you like my work, please support me by buying me a coffee. thank you for your support.
mrsbmusicroom.com 