Free Civil War apps!

Who likes free? 

Me! Me! :) 

I was doing some research last night... my 5th graders are learning about the Civil War. It has been

 A LONG time 

since I learned about the Civil War. We also happen to live in a state that has some Civil War history - which makes this ten times cooler {for me anyway.... }

I was planning on using Google Earth to zoom into some of the battlefield sites so they could gain some  perspective.... where the battles happened... terrain... proximity to important cities or military outposts...

since we can't actually go and see any of these things IRL...

I started looking through the app store...

there are a heck of a lot of games about the civil war - which might be interesting to play after we have done some research....

But. Then. I. Found. Free. Apps!

Free battlefield apps - 

with maps 

lists of generals and militia

timelines

AND

videos and photographs!

JACKPOT!

These apps are all affiliated with civilwar.org 

This is a Civil War Trust trying to preserve acres of battlefields. 

I went a *little* crazy. Here is a picture of my phone after downloading - oh.... 15 apps or so... 

:D

I was up until at least midnight last night touring Gettysburg. 

Warning - Some of the pictures are graphic - they show dead soldiers on the battlefields, horses, houses that had been attacked... full of primary sources!

{interviews, first hand accounts, pictures}

SO PLEASE - PREVIEW!

Okay - Ready for the bad news? 

They are only on the iPhone right now. 

:(

BUT - if you have a VGA cable - you can hook your iPhone to your projector... and TADA - everyone can see! :) 

There is ONE app for the iPad... I am in the process of downloading and installing now. 

The Gettysburg app had a tour that needed to be downloaded (these are originally meant to be walking tour guides...) 

But I went ahead and downloaded all the information so that I could wander blissfully through the app. 

{DORK}

Okay - so - if you grab these - let me know what you think! So far I am pretty amazed at the quality since it is free.... jus' my two cents. :) 

What other resources do I NEED for teaching Civil War? Anything you use and love? Help a girl out! I've spent most of my teaching career in first and second - so I'm at the edge of my comfort zone here! :) 

OH MAN - 

I almost posted without including links! Whew, so happy I caught that! :) 

YES  - I am missing a few battles... I am working on adding those now! :) 

There is one I would really like - Love Letters from the Civil War - could it be any more romantic! :) 

Maybe another day! ;)

Have a great night!

apps i love... for free

I've been frequenting the app store again... :) I thought I'd share a few of my favorites today. My dd is home sick, so we are currently watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, while lounging on the couch... nice to be at home every once in awhile.

so - back to some apps that I like
One of my favorites - The Opposites by Mindshapes. I paid full price for this app - and it was worth it, but if you can snag it for free... Awesome! This app starts out very easy, and says the word as it tosses it out. My ell kids love playing this one to see how many levels they can climb. My dd also enjoys playing it... there are some difficult matches, but that is a good opportunity to mention them.

The next app I have to share is from National Geographic. I have a few of their apps, so whenever I see a free one, I grab it. It has some pretty awesome little facts in it! I can definitely see using this to spark some writing, or as enrichment! Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy them - which apps are your favorite? Any free ones I need to add to my collection? Thanks :)

Lakeshore apps for ipad

I got so excited I had to rush back to my blog to post this... I just downloaded 2 FREE lakeshore apps for my iphone. They are so much fun - my dd has taken over my phone! Guess now I can buy an ipad and not feel SO guilty about it. :)


Here is the link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beginning-sounds-interactive/id465479183?mt=8

But you can also go into the itunes store and search for lakeshore... I think there are 3 free apps in all. :)

Playing with the hipstamatic

FALL BREAK! we left Friday at 2 pm and got here (mtns) around 9. It's so beautiful! Big step for me, I left my teacher bags at the house... Didn't even bring my plan book. It's only for a few days but it's a step.



Conferences went well. I ended up talking to 90% of my parents in person! And now I am officially not a teacher for one week- yeah right... Come tuesday I'll probably be back in my classroom! :) this is my favorite time of the year to teach about though. I love all the history/social studies that I get to bring into the curriculum.

I'll post a freebie when I get back to reality... But for now- I am going to eat some of the beautiful apples we just picked!





I think I finally found a lens and film that I like!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone