If you read my Misconceptions About Stem Class, then you know all about how difficult teaching stem concepts can be. Using Boom Learning has been one of the best tools for me to use in my 4th grade science classes, because they’ve allowed my students to practice the vocabulary while having fun. Come with your questions, because I plan to address how to use and assign Boom Cards for the science classroom in this post. Getting started on Boom shouldn’t be difficult, so let’s get started!
What are Boom Cards?
Boom Cards are from Boom Learning, and they offer a web-based tool to support student learning using digital task cards. They have multiple tiers of membership for teachers, and they vary from the Free level, basic, to the highest-paid one that allows you to sell the cards you create.
How to Use and Assign Boom Cards
You can create your own boom cards, but you can also find many on Boom Learning and Teacher Pay Teachers. They are quite fun to create, and you can get very creative with how you want your students to show you their learning. Any teacher can join for free, although with the premium membership you get access to more items.
Getting Started on Boom Learning
First, you will need an account. One of the things I love about Boom learning is the price points for the different levels. They are affordable enough for the average teacher paying out of their own pocket.
Starter Level
They have four levels, and the free level allows you to use their FastPlay option for up to 5 students. FastPlay is basically as many practice rounds as the students want to do on their cards. There isn’t any monitoring or reports sent back to the teacher about how the student performed. The teacher can create up to 5 decks, and this option allows for sound only. Teachers on this starter level are usually homeschooling families or an afterschool club.
Basic Level
The next level is $15 a year, and this level allows for 50 students and up to 3 sections. Students have access to unlimited FastPlay with cards having sound, but the teacher still does not get any live monitoring, but you do get individualized progress reports for students.
This is great for the elementary school teacher that wants students to practice on concepts during centers or before and after recess. It is a great tool for students to use and learn with.
Power Level
The power level costs $25 a year. Teachers will be able to make unlimited decks, have the ability to have 150 students, 5 sections, and have individualized reports and live monitoring of student progress.
This is great for the middle school or stem teachers that serve at one school only. They will be able to create as many decks as they want to serve their students.
Ultimate Level
Setting Up Your First Classroom on Boom
Next, you will need to add your students. If you plan on adding many students, the best option for you is to “Add Many Students.” Before you do this, you will need to confirm your email address. Then you will need to write their names separated by commas.
You will have two options for giving them passwords. You can either give them a default password in which they can change once they log in, or you can create passwords for them. For students in elementary, I recommend giving them the passwords so you can have access to them if they lose it.
Once the students have been added. You can update student usernames and passwords to be simple and memorable for the students.
Boom learning has also added the option to add your students as an import from Google Classroom. This is my favorite way of importing, because I don’t need to type any names. It automates what I already have in my classes.
How to Assign Decks to Your Students
There are many places to find Boom decks. You can find it in the Boom Store or on Teachers Pay Teachers. If you purchase on Tpt, you will get access to a link that allows you to view and assign the deck you either received for free or purchased from Tpt. Anything you get from Boom will automatically be assignable to your students.
When you find your deck, it will direct you to the boom page to redeem your purchase. Make sure your name is listed, and you can click “Yes, that’s me” and “Redeem.” The deck is then stored in your library.
To send boom decks to your students, you can either send a boom deck for the entire class or pick and choose specific boom decks for certain students. Maybe one student needs specialized practice with identifying potential from kinetic energy, but the rest of the students are ready to identify the transformation of energy. If you want to assign a deck to one individual, you can click on the blue rectangle on the student’s name button, then click “Assign Deck.”
If you are on the Basic, Power, or Ultimate plan, you will be able to have access to student reports. Simple find reports by clicking the blue box on the student’s button. The reports will show accuracy and how much time they have spent on the questions. They are very basic and simple charts to read and see where your students stand in the understanding of science concepts.
This will help gauge your students’ needs or concepts they need to review before moving onto the next concept. It will also let you know if the students need something more challenging.
How Do Students Access Boom Learning?
There are two ways students will be able to access Boom Learning. They can go to the website and sign in using their login that the teacher has provided them with. Once logged in, they will see all of the decks that are assigned to them and also change their avatar.
Depending on the level you purchased, the student is able to see the progress of their practice of each deck.
Another way that students can access their page is by giving them the direct URL that is in your classroom dashboard. Be very cautious where you share this information, because you don’t want just anyone joining your class.
Sign Up to Download a Free Boom Cards Set
You don’t want to miss out on the free digital task card set for science! You students will be………..
The visuals are clear for all learners, and the audio directions will help your English Learners have access to the content as well. This is why I love Boom cards too much. My students are able to learn very complex and difficult concepts all while playing a fun and engaging game!
Click here to access your free set, and let me know how it goes with Boom Cards in your class!
Do You Teach 4th Grade Science?
