When I first started using Boom Cards in my classroom, I had NO idea what I was doing. This is when Boom Learning was first introduced. Years later, there are tons of skills, ideas and ways to use Boom Cards in your kindergarten classroom. Ready to dive into the interactive world of Boom Cards for your kids? Read these tips and grab a freebie while you’re here!
Setting up a Boom Learning Account
The first thing you should do is get a Boom account. It’s super simple to set up. There are paid versions and a free version. You can use the free version to allow your kids to play any decks that you get. The free version will not allow you to see their reports of progress. You also cannot have more than 5 students in your class with the free version. The paid version does allow more students and you will be able to see how they did.
Usernames and Passwords for Boom Cards
Since kindergarten students are still learning their letters and numbers, I try to make their usernames and passwords as EASY as possible. Because of this, I use their names as their username with a number behind it. We work on their names all year, so this helps with their name practice and it’s easy for me to remember what everyone’s username is.
Boom Learning allows you to use picture passwords instead of typing in a password. They all have the same picture password. You choose two pictures and they just have to click the two pictures when logging in. This saves SO much time. Other students are able to help their friends log in because everyone has the same password.
Assigning Decks to Your Students
There are three ways to send the Boom decks to your students. Since you won’t add your entire class with the free version, you will need to use the Fast Play Pin to send your students the games. You can send this link through any platform where you can share links. If you use Seesaw, Google Classroom, or anything else – you can send it there. With paid accounts, you can send your students the link and have them to login.
The two other ways are to simply assign it or use the Hyperplay Link. When you assign decks, students will see them when they sign in. They can click on and play any decks that you have assigned. With the Hyperplay Link, it will take them directly to that deck and have them to sign in first. I use the Hyperplay Link when sending out assignments in Seesaw.
Using Boom Learning on Tablets
You can download the app on iPads and Android devices. This will make it a tab bit easier for kindergarten students to locate how to get on Boom. If you have devices where you cannot download apps, you can create a link to Boom Learning by creating a shortcut on your iPad to look like an app. Open Boom Learning in your browser, click the box with the arrow and then choose Add to Home Screen. It looks like an app, but will just open Boom Learning in the browser for your students to easily access.
Why Use Boom Cards?
Boom Cards are a great tool to use along with all of the other resources that you currently use. These can be used during centers, sent home for extra practice, used independently and to see if students know the skill. With the use of interactive options, sound and self-checking features, students are very engaged when using Boom Cards.
Some decks have sound so students will know what to do. Sounds can be for numbers, words, reading the directions, saying the rhyming word and more. The ideas are endless. This set below focuses on building numbers. Students will click on the speaker to hear how many dump trucks need to be moved into the ten frame. This gives great practice on listening and building. If they do not get the number correct, it will let them know. You can find that deck here.
Interested in learning more about using Google Classroom in your room? Check out my post about Getting Started with Google Classroom here.
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