SMART Techniques
Heather Rollins
Now that you know the basics of your SMART board, we can put it to good use with a few simple techniques.
Drag to Sort
- The most common technique used on the SMART board is drag to sort.
- Once you have taught the concept, students can demonstrate their knowledge using a SMART board
- You could also use drag to sort to begin a lesson to see where students are at and allow them to demonstrate background knowledge
Eraser Magic
- In this technique, you create a question and answer and hide the answer.
- Then use the eraser to reveal the answer.
Now when we erase...
How to do it:
- Choose a solid color for your background. White will work just as well.
- Type your question. The color of the text should be in high contrast to the background.
- Type your answer. The color of the text can be any color but should also be in contrast to the background.
- Pick up a pen tool. Change the properties so that the pen color matches the background color. You may also want to change the thickness to the thickest.
- Scribble over the answer. The answer is now hidden.
- Save your document. When you erase, the answer appears.
The Magical Magnifying Glass
In this technique, a picture is used to reveal answers
- The trick here is that the circles match the background color.
- The magnifying glass can be any picture that is a contrasting color.
- Then the picture is Sent to the Back so that when it is moved over the sentence, the circles appear.
- Type your sentence with directions.
- Draw the circles (or boxes or arrows or whatever the answer will be).
- Insert an image. Make sure the color contrasts with the text and background colors.
- Click the arrow next to the image and choose Send to Back.
You might want to LOCK the text before using this technique. Otherwise, students may accidentally move the text rather than the magnifying glass. **Remember, any image will work
The Magic Tunnel
The Magic Tunnel effect allows you to transform a word into a different word as you drag it across the page.
- Here, the goal is to have students guess at the capital.
- Then drag the state name through the tunnel to the other side.
- Color is used to make the magic work.
How to Create it:
- Split the screen into two parts. We do this by creating a rectangle
- Color the rectangle something that contrasts nicely with the background
- Lock the rectangle down before continuing
- Add titles
- Lock the text boxes before continuing
- Now add text boxes applicable to your titles
- For the “magic” to work, the word on the left needs to be visible on the left but invisible on the right. We color it white. The word on the right needs to be invisible on the left and visible on the right. We leave it black, and drag the text box to the left (this is if you have black and white backgrounds)
- When you drag it to the other side, you should only see “kitten.”
- Create as many text boxes as you would like. The last thing you may want to do is add a “tunnel” to cover up the “magic.” Some people like the tunnel to cover the entire vertical line
- Of course, you will want to lock it down when you are finished. Do NOT lock the text boxes that you will be dragging