Google Slides is an excellent tool to move the family name tent into the distance learning classroom. Not only does this help build community, it can be the launchpad for a wide variety of skills. Here are some ideas on how to do just that!
- Group students into families of four.
- Have each group create a google slide to introduce themselves. Include several elements. This is a great opportunity to check in on how well your students know the finer features for slide creation such as changing the background, or moving an item to the background, or inserting a text bubble, link or photo.
- Tailor the prompts for this slide to your content area if you are at the secondary level. For example in History I would have them share an artifact that spoke of their heritage. Or who do they admire from history and why?
- Use breakout rooms to have students share their slide with the rest of their family. What a wonderful getting to know you activity! It also has the added bonus of providing the teacher with some information about how the level of the students’ presentation skills. This is also a lower risk way to begin to use breakout rooms.
- Consider using some timing prompts as well. For example you might have each student speak for 1 minute. This time may also include follow up questions from the other students in the room.
- A few days later have each group create their family name tent on another google slide and place this slide at the start of the slide deck.
- This will allow you to provide instruction to students on slide creation skills they may need to develop more fully.
- You might also make a copy of each family slide deck to create a class slide deck. Then have students identify several learning partners that they can match up with during both synchronous and asynchronous time.
- Suggestions-try to link them to your content area
- Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
- 4 sports
- Add, subtract, multiply, divide
- the Continents or Oceans
- 4 literary genres
- 4 styles of art
- Suggestions-try to link them to your content area
Sample Slide Deck https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12-538ZJKmD-pRa76JR-Nbv_tPfKixnDeLDDuy5vzAng/edit?usp=sharing
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