Hundreds of thousands of educators, all over the world, have had to quickly adapt to providing distance learning for their learners.
The challenge has been to find a platform where learners can work independently, have fun learning, is easy to organise and for te reo Māori, has sound bites to help kaiako and whānau. The best solution I have come across is Boom Learning’s Boom Cards. These are digital task cards, and they are fun well as educational.
Distance Learning at Home
Over the past few weeks I have been trying to find the best platform for Distance Learning, for teachers, parents and children.
Some whānau have more than one learner sharing one device. Resources that interest whānau and cater for all learners would be the best solution!
The best format to create digital versions of resources I have found is BOOM Cards. This platform has been around for a few years and has gained popularity at the moment because it is easy and fun while being educational. Needless to say its digital, requiring either an Ipad, computer and most other devices.
Why are Boom Cards good for Distance Learning?
Boom Cards are
*FUN
*easy to use digital formats for our children to use at home with little ‘teaching’
*simple to use
*self-directed for independent learning
*accessible through most platforms
*able to include small audio soundbites
*perfect for parents as teachers (and learners!)
Boom Cards for the Classroom
Digital resources need to be
* easy for teachers to find and manage.
*simple enough for young children to be able to access
* self-directed enough for children to be able to use them mostly independently
*accessible across different platforms (seesaw and Google Classrooms)
*helping the teacher who is also a learner (of te reo)
BOOM Cards Activities
*simple fill in the blank type activities
*answering single or multiple questions, to drag and drop type tasks.
*audio to the slides (This helps parents and teachers as learners as well as the tamariki).
What do you need to access Boom Cards?
You do need a computer, tablet, mobile device or interactive whiteboard to access your BOOM Cards but this then means they can be accessed in class or for learning at home. You do need internet access along with either a free or paid BOOM Learning account.(currently they are all free)
ALL Te Reo Club BOOM CARDS are free at the moment, with the Te Reo Club membership. For others they can be purchased separately through The Te Reo Māori Classroom or on the Boom Learning site.
How to Create a Boom Account
How to Use Boom Cards with Google Classroom
How to Use Boom Cards with Seesaw
Boom Cards ANZAC Freebie
What better way to trial Boom Cards than this ANZAC activity. You and your whānau can make and re-make 6 types of wreaths!
There are a few questions and answers to complete, a few translations of te reo to add some variety to the wreath making. You can even learn to say “Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou”
List of available Boom Cards:
Māori Alphabet Boom Cards
Te Huarere (The Weather) Boom Cards – Level 1
Te Huarere (The Weather) Boom Cards – Level 2
Ngā Tae (Colours) Boom Cards
Kei te Pēhea Koe? Feelings in Te Reo Māori
Teddy Bear Counting – Counting 1-10 in Te Reo Māori
Kiwi and Fantail Addition to 10 in Te Reo Māori Boom Cards
Kākāpō and Kōtare NZ Birds – Addition to 10 Boom Cards
