If you are not using Jamboard yet, you are missing an amazing tool to create interactive activities. This tool has been a lifesaver with my online students. I really like that is simple to use and that everything gets saved onto your drive and the number of activities you can create are endless. This tool is not fancy which sometimes can make it limited. You only have one font that you can use and about six different colors which actually can save you time because there are not a lot of options. If you want more complex images and fonts you can create images on PowerPoint or Canva and then upload them to Jamboard. If you want to learn more about how to create activities on Jamboard, I highly recommend you stop by Profesora Delgadillo’s blog to find some awesome tutorials and more ideas.
How Have I Used Jamboard With My Students?
I have used Jamboard with my K-5 home learning students and I teach through Zoom. With my K-2 students I have created activities where they participate by telling me which pieces to move.
For my grade 3-5 students, I have made the activities more interactive. I share the link with them in the chat on Zoom. Make sure that when you share the link you are giving them editor privileges for the Jamboard. I have small groups so I am able to duplicate the slides on Jamboard and assign slides for them to work on, but if you prepare in advance you can make the slides you need and assign a number to each of your students.
Activities That Have Worked Well in My Classes
¿Qué es?: I use this activity with my kindergarten and first-grade students. I create different slides with different pictures, and they seem to have fun knowing what’s being discovered. They tell me the numbers that I should move, and then I start taking guesses anytime I move a number.
2. Relaciona la palabra: I share the link in the Zoom chat and give different students turns to match the word with the picture.
3. Rompecabezas: I have used this with grades 2 and up! With my grade 2 students, I give them control by using the remote tool on Zoom. This gives access to the control one student at a time. Click here to watch a quick tutorial to learn how to use remote access during live classes. With older students, I share the link on the chat. You can ask them a question related to something they are learning in your class and give them turns if they answer correctly or try. You can also make multiple copies of this slide. Assign a slide to each student in your class and have them put the puzzle together as a brain break. You can find different digital puzzles on Teachers Pay Teachers. Busy Bee Studios has great ones on TpT.
4. Crea una flor: You can use this slide to ask questions, and anytime students get the correct answer you move a part of the flower to put it together.
5. ¿Dónde está el perrito?: My kindergarten students really love this activity. I make different slides and hide pictures of animals or fruit, and they need to find it. They just say the number, and I move the tile with that number.
6. Lee y relaciona: This activity works great with students in grades 3 and up! You can prepare different slides, share the link, and give turns to different students.
7. ¿Cómo estás?: This is a simple activity to check on your students and talk about emotions. Students need to use the pencil tool to complete the face. They can also use the typing tool to write the word next to it.
8. ¿Qué hiciste durante las vacaciones?: This is by far one of the activities my 4th and 5th graders enjoy. We use the laser tool to circle and talk about what we did during the break and sometimes over the weekend.
9. Tic-Tac-Toe known as triqui in some parts of Colombia, it’s always fun to play it in class!
Overall I love using Jamboard. I wish they had more choices of fonts, colors for the pencil, and the ability to lock the images so students can’t move them around. Sometimes the images get moved by accident.
Are you ready to explore Jamboard with your classes? Click here to grab all the activities above!
Adding extra things to spice up your choice boards is definitely not necessary. In fact, I don’t do it every time a create one because it can be time consuming.There is no need to worry if you haven’t added Bitmojis, GiF’s or other things to your boards. Sometimes I feel like adding a little fun since right now I am not seeing my students, I am just creating asynchronous lessons.
In my recent board I added my dog Macondo as a helper to give instructions to my kinder and first grade students. It was fun to put him on my boards!Below I am sharing the steps I followed. I divided them into 3 parts hoping to make it easier for you to follow.
You will need to:
Part 1
Choose a picture of your pet or any other picture of an animal.
Download the app “My Talking Pet.” There is a free trial period.
Open the app and upload the picture.
Once the picture is uploaded, the app will show you some dots to mark the eyes, mouth, and ears (see picture).
Add the voice (Once you have added the voice, that app will ask you for different options to save it. I downloaded mine to my computer).
Part 2
Upload the video to the Unscreen.com website. This will remove the background and the sound. Save this video because you will need it later!
Part 3
Use the video you downloaded from “My Talking Pet” and upload it to the online audio converter siteto extract the audio. Make sure to download the audio as mp3.
Save the audio file to your Google Drive and rename it.
Make sure that you set the audio file link to the Google setting “anyone with the link can view” so it is accessible for everyone when they open your choice board.
Insert the link to your audio file directly onto your Google Slides.
Lastly, add the video you downloaded from the Unscreen.com website.
Open Google Slides in “presentation mode” and enjoy seeing your pet or animal give instructions to your students.
In case you are still wondering how to add some fun to your choice boards, a gif of yourself can never go wrong!
I am now creating videos, making choice boards, and asynchronous lessons while the school is slowly transitioning to in-person classes. I know! It sounds like a backwards plan, but I think it is the best the school can do right now to support students who are in the classroom and those who continue with home learning.
That said, adding GIF’s to my choice boards has been something my younger students love seeing.
Here are the steps:
Make a short video of yourself.
Upload it to the Unscreen.com website to remove the background. It will only allow 6 seconds. Download the short gif to your computer (gif = graphics interchange format).
Create a background with Canva. You can use animated images. Educators can use Canva for free!
Upload your gif to Canva and place it on the background you created.
Download it again from Canva as a gif.
Place it on your choice boards and have fun!
I am sure there are other faster ways to do this, but this works great for me. If you know of another way to do it, please share it with us all in the comments.
I recently shared onInstagram a template of a tic-tac-toe game I created to play during my virtual classes. I have gotten requests from different teachers who want this template and since I am all about saving teacher friends’ time, I decided to create more templates and share them here on my blog.
I have been seeing my students in small groups. In order to play the game virtually, I clicked on the “rename” part of Zoom and added either the letter “O” or “X” to divide them into teams. My students don’t have access to changing their names on Zoom because that’s how it was set up at the school where I teach, but if your students can do it themselves, that will save you some time. Since playing this game will require you to move the pieces, it can’t be played in presentation mode.
I used this game to ask questions about stories we have been reading in class. Once the students responded to the question, they could tell me a number for me to move the piece for them. It was simple, and the students seemed to have fun. I played this game remotely, but it can still be used in the classroom. Click HERE to download the slides to have fun in your classes! Once you click on the link, it will prompt you to make a copy of the document.
I also had fun learning the various names for this game in different Spanish speaking countries:
Over the summer I saw so many teachers sharing their Bitmoji classrooms that I had to give it a try. Of course, this is something that is not necessary, but I thought it would be fun to make one. Sometimes it’s these little unnecessary touches that make my work fun!
How Can You Use Bitmoji Classrooms?
First, I think it adds some fun to your virtual class. Even if you are back in the classroom, it will be fun for your students to see. Bitmoji classrooms can be used as:
A way to display your schedule.
A way to greet your classes.
A way to place links you can use during your lesson.
As a choice board for students to use and explore on their own
And many more!
There are so many tutorials on YouTube that it doesn’t make sense for me to recreate the wheel. Here is one video that I think explains the process in simple steps:
Don’t have time to watch the video? Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered. I took some screenshots of the process I went through while creating my virtual classroom;
I opened Google Slides:
I clicked on “Background” to add my first image:
I chose “Insert background image” and clicked on “Choose image”:
I clicked on “Google image search” because I was looking for images on Google. You can also click on any of the other options if you are uploading your images from somewhere else:
In this case, I wanted to look for an image of the “floor and wall background together.” I made sure to search for a picture of a transparent background or a png image:
I clicked on the picture that I liked and hit “Insert”:
I really liked the white walls and colorful floors in this picture!
Next, it was time to add more items to my classroom! It didn’t need to add more background images. (If I’d done that, it would have replaced the ones I already had). I just needed to click on “Insert image” and then choose where I was going to upload it from. (Note that if you don’t have any images yet, you can do a web search. Just remember that you need to look for images with transparent background or png images.):
Next I went “shopping” for a whiteboard:
I found the one I liked, clicked on it, and inserted it into my slide:
My classroom has a whiteboard now! Just follow the same steps to add more exciting things to your classroom.
How to Add a Bitmoji?
You will need to download the Bitmoji chrome extension to your computer and design your own little persona. Once you are ready, on your Google slide, click on the Bitmoji extension and search in the space bar how you want your Bitmoji to look.
Don’t’ have time to create a Bitmoji classroom? Feel free to click on this image, drag it to your computer desktop, open Google Slides, and add this image as a background. Now you are ready to add your own Bitmoji!
I am excited about how Google Slides™, Seesaw, and Boom cards are student-friendly and are so flexible to make different activities interactive. I know many teachers use my song “¿Cuántas manzanas hay?, especially around the fall season. Last year I created some printable resources to go along with this song, and I realized that some of you might not be able to use them due to our current situation, but no problem! I have you covered! I created a freebie using these three platforms and I hope you and your students enjoy them!
If you need to learn how to use Seesaw, I suggest you visit their website where you will be able to find tutorials.
Last, but not least, Google Slides™ are always great to use, especially if you decide to do this activity as a whole group. I find it hard to assign activities through Google Slides™ because they are not friendly for students in second grade and younger.
I hope you have a lot of fun trying all the activities on these three platforms. Don’t forget to let me know how it goes!
¡Hola! I am Carolina, a Colombian elementary Spanish teacher based in Boston, MA. Fun for Spanish Teachers is the result of my passion for teaching Spanish to children and my desire to inspire collaboration and creativity in a vibrant teaching and learning community. It’s the perfect stop if you are looking for songs, games, teaching tips, stories, and fun for your classes.
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