The iPads Have Arrived!!!

The iPads Have Arrived!!!

The year has been flying by and my blogging has been non-existent.  With the start of a new year, I'm hoping to do better in this department.

The iPads have arrived in my classroom.  The red tape of volume purchase pricing has caused a delay in starting this endeavor, but we are soon ready to be up and rolling.  Free apps are loaded and paid apps are on their way.

We explored the iPads using free apps before break.  Here are some of my students' favorites:

Singing Fingers

 

This cool app allows students to draw and sing or make noise.  The singing/noise is recorded.  Then, when you run your finger over the drawing, the sound is replayed at the speed your finger travels.  We used this to do vocal exploration and warm-ups!  This free app is a hit!

Sound Drop

This free app was a hit with all ages, but especially my older students who emailed me to find out how to load it on their iPod touches at home.  Though more of a fluff app, it does delve into the world of chance music composition.  Small balls drop on the screen, and students draw lines for the balls to bounce off of making pitch.  Balls can disappear off of the screen or be trapped in a bouncing labyrinth.  The more balls that stay on the screen, the greater the sound potential.

Conga Drum Free

This app allows you to use three or four conga drums to perform rhythms and beats.  I lined my students up in 6 rows, with each row behind one iPad.  Each iPad was plugged into a small  Honeytone Amp which helped provide us increased sound.  Then, each iPad had a rhythm card that they were to perform.  We layered in the rhythms, as we would have in a drumming ensemble.  It was more challenging for some students to keep a rhythm in this setting than on the drums, getting used to tapping their finger in tempo, but they loved the opportunity to make real music via the iPads.