Scootpad: Great Common Core Practice Site!

Today's blog is about a new website that has been flying under the radar!

Edit (7-6-16): This blog post was written in 2012 and the Scootpad site has changed significantly since then.

1)  It's free.

2)  There are no ads {this is a huge plus for any site I use with my class!!}

3)  Students can sign on from school or home!

Have you heard of it?  It was created last December and I started using it in March. I first heard about Scootpad from an administrator in my district who emailed us all the info.  I think you will love it!  

Basically, Scootpad is a site where students can go to practice all of the Common Core standards for math and reading.  The site is adaptive, so students can move through the standards at their own pace.  You can also modify the content to meet the needs of specific students!  As a teacher, you will be able to see data {a lot of graphs!!} about how each student is performing and can also get detailed email updates about students' progress.  Before you get too excited, let me mention one quick thing:

Good News: Common Core math and reading practice is available for grades 1-3

Bad News: Practice is not available for grades K or 4-5, but the site says it's coming soon!!  (Update: K, 4, and 5 will be available by August 15!!)

So that was the basic info, but let me tell you why my students love Scootpad...

1) Rewards... of course!  I am typically not a big fan of having a lot of incentives for students {in my opinion, intrinsic motivation is always the best}, but they sure were a great motivator on Scootpad.  As students complete practices on Scootpad, they earn coins.  In your teacher account, you can create rewards and specify the amount of coins that each reward is worth.  You can use tangible items like candy or a pencil, or set other rewards like lunch with the teacher or show and tell {I do not do show and tell in second grade, so this was a highly coveted prize!}  Parents can also set rewards for their child to earn at home.  Here is a screenshot of my rewards page:



2)  Social media... students love being able to connect with their friends on Scootpad!  They can send messages to each other, choose a smiley face to indicate how they are feeling for the day, pick out their own avatar, check out their news feed (updates about messages from friends and coins they have earned), look at the class wall (with posts from the teacher), and check out the leader boards.

One nice feature is that the messages are pre-selected, so students can't actually type anything to each other {otherwise, they'd spend all day sending messages instead of practicing!}.  As the teacher, you CAN type messages to students, which is great for encouragement.  Here is a screen shot of the cute messages students can send to friends:

3) Badges:  Students can earn badges to show off their hard work!  I love the 100% Ninja badge :)



So far, I've only discovered one con to Scootpad:

It can be very challenging!  {Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to consider!}  I showed Scootpad to my whole class, but I noticed that my average and higher level students played much more often than my lower level students.  I'm not very familiar with the first grade content, but for the second grade content, students need to be able to read what's on the screen {perhaps they will add a read aloud feature in the future??} and also spell correctly {I had a little math wizard who became very frustrated when he had to spell all of the 3-D shapes correctly... I ended up giving him a resource to use while he played!}  On the plus side, you could always give your lower level students a buddy while they play.  Also, don't forget that you can lower the content if needed... I had a second grade student who was on an IEP and I was able to set her content to first grade and her mom played at home with her all the time!  

Here is how I used Scootpad in my classroom last year:

1) Fast finishers logged on when their work was complete {I am blessed to have 4 desktop computers.  I also house our level's laptop cart in my room, so I have a lot of computers available!}

2) Students chose to use Scootpad during centers while I worked with guided reading groups.

3) Homework!  I was amazed by the amount of students who used Scootpad at home for fun!  I think that says a lot about a website when students choose to use it at home.

I definitely think that Scootpad is a site you will want to check out!  Click on the button below to be taken to the website so you can explore more and create your own account!

***Update:  The ScootPad team commented on the post!  Check out their response!  They also emailed me some more of their upcoming updates.  I highly recommend contacting Scootpad if you have any questions or comments.  They have been very responsive.  Here is the info they sent me:

Two major features we are also working on right now to release by mid-end of Aug 2012 are:

1) Assignments module - teachers can assign homework (Math practice, Reading practice, Reading Log, Spelling Words etc.), students can complete assignments, teachers can review & grade/correct assignments. This is in response to a significant number of requests from teachers who are considering switching from paper based homework packets to ScootPad (saving over $10,000/year/classroom).

2) Free ScootPad App on all tablets (iPad, Android Tablets and Kindle Fire). Teachers, Students and Parents can ALL use the app to access all features currently available online.

How could you use Scootpad in your classroom?  

What are some fun rewards you would set up for your students?