This activity was created specifically for a kindergarten classroom - and then after seeing it in action, I decided it needed a "level up" to allow for students who are ready for more. The theme this week was "bats". Since it's still pretty early in the school year, our kindergarteners are still mastering the basics of a computer, so I made this an activity focused on dragging/dropping and moving items around on a screen. The "bat facts" are the means to this practice.
One fact was written in the "background" of a Google Slide. The font was change to a different color and then I did screenshots of each word to make each word an image, rather than text. This is done on purpose so students are not focused on where to click on the word to put it in order. On the front side of the slide, I also recorded myself reading each sentence so students can also hear what they are putting together.
In my initial version, I imagined students just building the sentence below the example sentence, but as I did this with the 1st class, I saw many students moving the words directly on top of the example ... and I discovered the screenshots were slightly bigger than the original. It got to be clunky, so I revamped it afterwards to account for this. That is when it hit me that I should also create its partner for students who are a little older and give the ability to practice typing. Below, I've linked both versions. It's crazy what several months can do in the growth of our students.
The classroom teacher added me to her Google Classroom, so I added it as an assignment, using the "Make a copy" option for each student. Impressively enough, there IS a bat emoji which I used as the first character of the assignment for quicker student recognition.
As your students become more comfortable with seeing and doing activities, they will become a little more independent. You then will have the time and ability to help those who need extra guidance.
I found the bat facts here, 10 brilliant bat facts for kids (National Geographic kids).
Preview & make your own copy here!
Bat Facts - drag & drop 👉 Interested in having your students practice their dragging & dropping skills? Then this is the template for you! If you decide you'd like your own copy, click the "Use Template" button in the top right corner.
Bat Facts - typing practice 👉 Interested in having your students practice their dragging & dropping skills? Then this is the template for you! If you decide you'd like your own copy, click the "Use Template" button in the top right corner.
Did you try it out?
Please let us know how it went with your students -- Did you leave it as is? Did you modify it? Leave a comment below or tag us on social media.
This was great. Thanks for sharing!
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