Author: admin

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Memes With a Purpose

Have you ever thought about using memes as a fun and creative tool in education?

Memes are everywhere… in educational games, social media, and in advertising.  Most often, memes portrait a sense of humor that fits right in line with the image chosen.  Memes are pictures with text imposed to relay a message. Examples of how you could have your students create memes with a purpose are:

  • quote a person in history
  • define a vocabulary word
  • explain a science fact
  • prove a math concept
  • redesign a book cover
  • create a word wall
  • tie it into a QR code activity

Memes can be made in many ways such as with Word and Google Docs/Drawings or you can use websites like imgflip.com or memegenerator.net.  Having students create their own memes allows them to show what they have learned and how they chose to communicate their ideas.

 

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Mystery Animal in 20 Questions

Mystery Animal is a new spin on the classic 20-questions game. The computer pretends to be an animal and you have to guess what it is using your voice. Ask any yes-or-no question you want, like “Do you have feathers?” or “Do you sleep at night?” Play it on a Google Home by saying “Hey Google, talk to Mystery Animal,” or try it on your PC or laptop with access to the microphone.

 

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Boom Cards – Your Next Interactive Tool

Boom Cards are interactive lessons created by teachers for teachers. Think of them as a cross between flashcards and quizzes.  While free, other memberships range from basic to power to ultimate and are very reasonable.

  • INTERACTIVE – game feature keeps students engaged and asking for more.
  • SELF-GRADING – easily assign lessons to students which are self-grading.
  • PAPERLESS – no printing, photocopying, cutting, or laminating.

Boom Cards are perfect for mobile devices with apps for iOS, Android, and the Kindle.  They can also be used on a Chromebook.

Please follow the links in my post to take a look around and sign up for your free or basic account today.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The gallery below is Mrs. Howard’s 3rd graders using Boom Cards for the first time. Students were given an activity on an author’s purpose. Then they read an article printed by the teacher and commented in their See Saw digital journal. Lastly, students watched a video as an intro to the next lesson on Rome.

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Story Speaker With Google Home

Encourage students to write a story in a Google Doc that includes twists and turns for an exciting story. Stories lead down one path or another where outcomes vary based on prompts you write in your story. Story Speaker lets anyone create talking, interactive stories with no coding required. You just write your story in a Google Doc with a basic template, add your directives for making it interactive, then play your story with Google Home.

If you have a Google Home device, you will want to add the Story Speaker extension! Storytelling has never been more fun.  Watch this short video to see how easy it is to use Story Speaker.