I don't know about you, but when I actually take the opportunity to sit down and color, it is one of the most relaxing activities. The thought of spreadsheets probably evokes an opposite emotion for most people. This activity combined Google Sheets, coloring, and identifying text structure to create an engaging activity for 7th grade language arts students. A colleague shared this site with me that provides a few templates for creating color by number activities with Google Sheets as well as a tutorial in how to re-create it yourself. The templates serve as an answer checker and the picture only colors in if you enter the correct answer. My 7th grade ILA team had a paper activity that students shaded different colors based on their answer. They could color the image in incorrectly if they selected the wrong text structure. With a bit of conditional formatting, we were able to make this digital and the picture shaded different colors based on the answer selected. This provided an excellent opportunity for students to identify text structure to complete the picture, then compare their masterpiece with peers to check for accuracy and revise if needed. Face-to-face students were able to physically compare. Virtual students were pushed into Zoom breakout rooms to have the conversation. I had a blast making this one and the students asked when they can color by number again! I'd say it was a hit! I can't wait for the next one and I'm starting to wonder what other cool things I could do with Google Sheets!
0 Comments
HyperDocs are defined as "a transformative, interactive Google Doc replacing the worksheet method of delivering instruction." You can find lots of information, templates, and examples at Hyperdocs.co. While traditionally created using Google Docs, I'm quickly starting to prefer Google Slides. Slides naturally creates chunks for breaking up lessons, there is so much possibility in the gray space around the Slide canvas, and editing the master make it possible to lock things in place. Plus, you still get all of the great collaboration and sharing features of the G Suite applications.
7th Grade Language Arts students were studying author’s tone and mood by reading and listening to “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury with this HyperDoc as their guide!
I chunked content into three steps.
I used the gray space to provide annotation directions and a suggested paragraph structure to assist students in their analysis and application.
In addition, editing the master slide makes it possible for things that I don't want to be moved or edited to be "fixed" in the background of the slide. If you're not familiar with "editing the master," Meredith Akers provides an easy to follow tutorial.
You can grab a copy of this HyperDoc here! What's your experience with HyperDocs? Have you tried using Google Slides instead of Docs? If so, what's your preference? Ms. Roberts, an 8th Grade GT Language Arts teacher, reached out to me about a different way to introduce the dystopian literature genre before her students started their next round of literature circles.
Because I'm such a fan girl of Amanda Sandoval and and her awesome HyperDocs, I immediately knew I wanted to use Google Slides to create a HyperDoc. This lesson includes students brainstorming a perfect society, defining key terms, identifying types of dystopian control, listing traits of dystopian literature, a compare and contrast drag-and-drop activity, research, and reflection. You can grab a copy here! When Ms. Maricle mentioned taking her reading logs online, I was excited to offer blogging as an option. We decided to use Blogger because we are a Google Apps for Education school district and it's absolutely free. Blogging also offered an excellent opportunity to engage students in practical digital citizenship discussions and practice. Take a look at Ms. Maricle's experience here: You can read Ms. Maricle's students' blogs here. They would love for you to leave comments! You may think that blogging with students only lends itself to the language arts classroom. Writing in any content area is essential, so why not take it online. Check out this post via Edublogger with 100+ Ideas and Prompts for Student Blogging. Ready to get you students blogging? Check out this presentation and here are some quick steps to get you started. After collecting all student's blog links, we compiled them in a Google site called Blogging Cougars so that their peers had easy access to their classmates' blogs. In addition, we had each student add their teacher as an author for safety and content moderation if needed.
Have you blogged with students in the classroom? Tell me about your experience in the comments. Interested in blogging with students for the first time? Let me know your ideas in the comments or shoot me an email. I'd love to help you implement this experience in your classroom. |
Categories
All
Archives
January 2022
Tweet! |