Digital Tools to Strut Your Stuff
Janet Corder & Joan Gore
Giving Students Choices
Today's technology tools can provide teachers with the ability to give their students choices when assigning projects. Every student may not have the same apps as their classmates, so instead of requiring the students to use a particular app or website, why not give them a choice? You will find that student engagement and creativity will increase when students are given the freedom to use different tools to deliver content.
Here are two examples of a project about President John F. Kennedy. The examples contain the same content, however, the information is presented in a different format in each project.
Sources for JFK Presentations
Tutorials:
Examples of assignments that give students choices:
- Tic Tac Techo
- Choice Board
- Science Tic Tech Toe Board 1 - by Misty Whitworth & Julie Lyle, Argyle ISD
- Digital Choice Board Reading
Interactive Learning Menus (Choice Boards) with G Suite – FREE Templates by Kasey Bell
Video Tools
Animoto for Education allows you to create videos from your photos, videos, and audio files. Your students will find many creative ways to use this program! Make sure you go to Animoto education because teachers don’t have to pay to use Animoto! If you work with students under the age of 13, make sure you read the Animoto Education Terms.
(WEB or APP)
- Vocabulary
- Meet Mr. Clark
- Careers - Journalist
- Careers - Flight Attendant
- Global Connections in the Classroom
- Robotics in the Classroom
- I Survived the Attack of September 11 Book Report
- Foreign Language
- Where Are You Going?
- Making Ammonia
- Invitation to High School Open House
The Screencastify Chrome Extension is a great way to allow students the ability to demonstrate and create visually with their voice. Stella Pollard wrote this blog post about using Screencastify in different subject areas.
- Directions for finding and adding Chrome Extensions can be found here.
- This one-hour video course by Matt Miller (Ditch That Textbook), will show you ins and outs of Screencastify and some of Matt’s favorite ways to screencast in the classroom.
- Alice Keeler has created a 45-minute Screencastify Genius Course
- 3 Screencastify Features You Probably Didn't Know About by Jake Miller
- Using Screencastify to Improve Student Annotations by Kristi Moore
- How to Use Screencastify to Grade Student Papers by Casey Clark
Examples:
Flipgrid is a video response tool that is used to create discussions among all students within your classroom. Teachers post a topic or question via text or video and the students respond to the prompt. Flipgrid also gives students the ability to comment on their classmates' responses.
Key Features:
- All of your videos are located in one location.
- You can Freeze a Topic to continue sharing the videos but prevent new recordings.
- Student comments can be turned on or off.
Flipgrid Examples:
Flipgrid Certified Grid (password is Flipgrid)
Ideas/Tutorials/Blog Posts:
- Have students draw pictures of characters in a book or story then create a talking picture of their character in ChatterPix. Upload the ChatterPix file to Flipgrid.
- Use the filters in Snapchat to create a video to upload into Flipgrid.
- Explain a science experiment.
- Tell how to solve a math equation step-by-step.
- Have teachers create a video introducing themselves and their class to new students.
- Have students welcome new students to their school.
- Exit Tickets
- Book Talks
- Padlet of Flipgrid ideas
- 15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid in Your Class
- Tony Vincent's Review of Flipgrid - with helpful tips
- Flipgrid Unplugged #2: AppSmashing with Jornea Erwin
- Using @Flipgrid in Online #APCalculus to Allow Students to Verbalize Their Thinking Process
- Teacher and Student Guides
- Searchable Help Center
- Flipgrid Blog
- Flipgrid on Twitter
- Flipgrid on Facebook
- Flipgrid help for Students & Parents
- Flipgrid YouTube Channel
- Flipgrid Response Cheat Sheet
Create a QR Code that links to your Grid or Topic! Click the Share option and choose QR Code.
Topic Discovery Library - Share and find Topic templates that have been submitted by educators from around the world. All subject areas and grade levels are included. You can find these under Discovery in the Menu Bar.
Other Video Creation Tools:
Soapbox (Chrome Extension)
TYPITO - (Website)
Clips - iOS App
Resources:
10 Ways to Use Video in Your Classroom by Animoto
Teaching Strategies: Benefits of Student Video Creation by Teach Hub
Student-Created Videos in the Classroom by edutopia
Audio Tools
- Vocaroo allows you to create voice recordings and send them through email. No need to install any software! (WEB)
- SpeakPipe
- AudioBoom (formerly Audio Boo) is a great tool for creating your own radio show, podcast, etc. (APP and WEB)
- Voice Recorder - This Chrome Extension allows you to record your voice and save the file to your computer.
Comic Tools
- Toontastic (APP) allows kids to write and publish stories in a creative way! Each story consists of:
- Conflict
- Challenge
- Climax
- Resolution
Animation Tools
- Blabberize - Upload a picture, create a mouth, on the photo and then record your voice to make your character speak. (WEB)
- Caesars
- Teacher
- ChatterPix Kids - Make your photos, friends, pets, or drawings talk. Take a photo, draw a line to make a mouth, record your voice, and then share it with your friends and family. This app provides a very creative way for students to introduce themselves. (APP)
- I am a Triangle
- Spanish, Grade 3, Adjectives
- George Washington
Presentation Tools
- emaze allows you to easily create a presentation that includes interactive activities.
- BlendSpace by TES can be used to differentiate instruction because it allows you to create personalized lessons with different online materials and assessments.
- Canva is known for being a great tool for creating graphics, but the presentation design is excellent!
- Spiral is a new suite of 4 tech tools that includes Team Up, a collaborative presentation piece.
Google Slides/PowerPoint Templates
Examples:
- Template for School Assignments using Slides from Slides Mania
- Doodles for Slides or PPT from Slides Mania
- Beaker (Science) for Slides or PPT from Slides Mania
- Math Lesson from SlidesGo
- Sign Language from SlidesGo
- Vintage Maps from Slides Carnival
Bookmaking Tools
WriteReader increases students' digital writing skills and creativity. Students can use tablets, Chromebooks or computers. Teachers quickly set up their classes and give students the code. Best of all books can be emailed to parents.
Examples:
- Walt Disney
- Harley
Affirming Individuality and Identity Through Picture Books and Storytelling - several books by high school students telling their immigrant stories
The Quick Start Guide under the Help menu will help you create your account and get your students creating books! Six Ways That Teachers are Using WriteReader blog post can be found at tinyurl.com/writereader.
Book Creator for iPad ($4.99) - Create ebooks on your iPad that you can easily share with others. (APP)
Book Creator is now available for Chrome.
StoryJumper - Create, share and read books online on StoryJumper. There's no cost to use StoryJumper at school or at home.
They also offer publishing options so that parents can purchase the books their child has written. StoryJumper also has fundraising options.
Check out the Translate option!
Seesaw
Seesaw allows students to document their learning as it occurs, reflect on the learning and evaluate their progress. Seesaw is free, but there are paid options available.
Google Drawings
Speech Bubbles in Google Drawings
Google Drawings has so many classroom applications and this is one idea that can be used in any subject area and grade level.
The following directions are for creating a picture of yourself with 3 different callouts containing a fact about yourself.
1. Open Drive.
2. Select New, More, and choose Google Drawing.
3. Change the title from untitled drawing to your first and last name.
4. Go to Insert → Image and find the picture you want to use.
5. Select Insert → Shape → Callouts.
6. Choose one of the callouts.
7. Drag the callout to the desired location and type in your first fact.
8. Drag the yellow dot (located at the tip of the point) to move the point of the callout.
9. While the callout is selected, click on the Fill tool and change the color.
10. Create 2 more callouts for the other facts.
11. You can change the alignment, font, font size, and color, etc. of the text if desired.
12. Click Insert →Text Box to add your name to your picture. Drag your text box to the desired location. Change the font and the font size and color so that it is clearly visible.
13. Go to File and select Download As → JPEG.
Examples:
Ideas:
Describe yourself at the beginning of the year.
What was Washington thinking when he crossed the Delaware?
How would you describe a parallelogram?
What are five important facts about an animal cell?
Thinglink - Putting It All Together
- Class Reflection
- Graphing Linear Inequalities
- ThingLink: Non-Fiction Book Report - Midway ISD
- Algebra Problem
- Peter and the Wolf
- Google Docs for Learning
- Bloom's Digital Taxonomy & Web 2.0 Tools
- Virtual Manipulatives for the iPad
- My Texas
- Sewing Machine
- School Map
- Keyboarding Activities
- The Balance Sheet
- Favorite Chrome Extensions
- Organization of Living Things
- Google Drive
- 500+ ThinkLink Educational Examples
Screencastify
The Screencastify Chrome Extension is a great way to allow students the ability to demonstrate and create visually with their voice. Stella Pollard wrote this blog post about using Screencastify in different subject areas.
- Directions for finding and adding Chrome Extensions can be found here.
- This one-hour video course by Matt Miller (Ditch That Textbook), will show you ins and outs of Screencastify and some of Matt’s favorite ways to screencast in the classroom.
- Alice Keeler has created a 45-minute Screencastify Genius Course
- 3 Screencastify Features You Probably Didn't Know About by Jake Miller
- Using Screencastify to Improve Student Annotations by Kristi Moore
3 Assignment Ideas for Screencastify Submit by Laura Litton
Super Screencastify Activities for Schools by Eric Curts
Examples:
Other Screencasting Tools:
- Screencast-O-Matic - This screencasting tool is available on Chromebook, Mac, and Windows and has free and paid versions.
- Loom - Works on Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks and has free and paid versions. More about Loom: Info and Tutorials for Educators
- Soapbox (Chrome Extension)
iOS Options:
- Clips by Apple
- Explain Everything
- Educreations
- Screen Chomp
Website Creation Tools
Google, Google, Google!
Connect with Janet & Joan
Email: janet.corder@gmail.com
Email: joangore@yahoo.com
Twitter: @joangore
Website: www.j2training.org