The Shmoop Essay lab is an online, interactive app that guides students through the process of writing different styles of essays. It includes sections for brainstorming, forming a thesis, and editing essays. Students can choose from argumentative essays, literary analysis, and even college application essays, and they recieve tips and step-by-step help in creating their papers. The Shmoop Essay Lab can be found at the link below.
http://www.shmoop.com/essay-lab/
Poems by heart is a free app in the iTunes store that assists you in memorizing poems. Poetry is studied in every Language Arts classroom in nearly every grade level. This app can be adopted by students in the classroom who need a little extra help in memorizing poetry or who just enjoy learning classic poems.
How it works:
When you first open the app, you can choose between “new” poems and “suggestions.” When you click on “suggestions,” the app puts the poems in order from the easiest to the most difficult. However, these poems cost 99 cents. This may well be worth it in some classrooms. The poems under the “new” section are free. When you click on the poem, you can choose to have it read to you in either a male or a female voice. Underneath each stanza is a bar that says “learn this.” It then prompts you to fill in the missing words in the poem. It gives you a score, which makes learning the poem feel like a game. There is also a section called “Poetry Shop” where you can purchase more poems. They are organized by poet or by topic.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poems-by-heart-from-penguin/id577789325?mt=8
