What are Boom Cards?
Boom Cards are digital task cards that are interactive. Students are given instant feedback showing if their answers are correct or not. The cards (called decks) are hosted on the Boom Learning platform which allows teachers to create or purchase digital activities and assign them to their students. They are great for distance learning, but also for use at centers in the classroom.
Why do I love Boom Cards?
1. SAVES TIME - I can see which cards each student or class had trouble with so that I know what to revisit. Additionally, Boom tracks their scores so I don't have to spend time grading. Since they are online, I don't have to print, cut and laminate like I would with traditional non-interactive task cards. Did I mention these cards are magically self-checking? Kids love to see that instant feedback, too.
2. EASILY DIFFERENTIATE - You can assign decks with varied levels of difficulty to students without being obvious about it. You can also hide cards in a deck if you want them to access more difficult cards down the road.
3. INTERACTIVE - This is my favorite! There are so many ways to use Boom Cards. You can have multiple choice questions, fill in the blank, drag and drop activities and more! For example...
In my US Regions decks I make use of the drag and drop feature (label the map), multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank.
I've seen really cute activities for little ones where they "feed the dog" or something similar. They drag and drop specific items into the animal's mouth.
Boom Cards are also very popular with Speech Language Pathologists because of the audio option. They record the sounds that they are working on.
My ultimate way to use Boom Cards is for digital escape rooms. These definitely take some time to create, but it is so worth it. This is a video preview for an American Revolution class that I teach on Outschool. Click play! :)
Students have so much fun with this! They feel like they are playing a game so they don't even realize how much they are learning.
After a video intro, they search rooms for 4 gold keys by moving around realistic items. A gold key takes them to a screen where they will read a passage, complete an activity to prove comprehension, then decode a word. Super fun!
MORE ABOUT BOOM LEARNING:
To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. You can sign up and use them with a free teachers account. Fast Pins (students click on link, no login required) are always a free way for students to engage with Boom Card decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account.
Have fun!
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