The first time I discovered Boom Cards, I was in utter shock. I had never seen anything like them before. I was giddy with excitement as I worked through a few preview cards. Digital resources that were meaningful and graded themselves? Sign me up!!
However, I didn’t jump on board right away because I wasn’t exactly sure how to use them. If you’ve ever felt that way about Boom Cards, keep reading to discover 4 reasons why you need these digital resources, and most importantly, how to use them in your classroom.
Reason #1: Students Love Digital Activities
Years ago, I attended a conference where the speaker referred to today’s students as the “Nintendo Generation.” At first, I thought, Wait—that’s me! I grew up in the ’80s and definitely identify with that term. But I understood their point. Our students have grown up surrounded by technology and can’t imagine life without it.
As a result, this generation of students is naturally drawn to digital resources, and they genuinely enjoy using them. That’s why tools like Boom Cards are so effective: you have their buy-in right from the start.
So, what exactly are Boom Cards?
In a nutshell, they are digital task cards. With features like drag and drop, multiple select, and fill-in-the-blank, students interact with a variety of question types when working through a set.
I’ve found that students connect much more to the content and questions within Boom Cards than regular task cards or a workbook page. It’s a win-win situation!
Reason #2: Boom Cards are a NO PREP Resource
Have you ever checked off an entire to-do list? I know I haven’t. As a teacher, it’s nearly impossible. Once you get your head above water, you start thinking ahead and begin to feel like you’re drowning again. There is always something to do.
Boom Cards, however, have made planning and preparing activities SO MUCH EASIER. There’s no printing, laminating, or cutting, and I don’t have to use my beloved card stock.
All I have to do is send students a link! I can do that in less than 10 seconds.
Printable task cards would take me a minimum of 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish. (45 minutes if the laminator hasn’t been turned on, arghhh!!!) Plus, students have access to these decks outside of the classroom, and they can review them anytime or anywhere. Another teacher win!
How to Assign Boom Cards
First, you’ll need to decide if you want to choose the free or paid membership with Boom. Both work well, but you’ll have more features and data with a paid membership. From there, there are a variety of actions you can take with each deck of Boom Cards.
With a paid membership, you can assign decks directly to your class (or multiple classes) within the Boom Learning platform.
Students can access the deck in two ways. The first way is by logging in directly on the Boom Learning website. Note: If your district uses Clever, you can connect it to your Boom Learning account for a smoother login process.
The second way students can access the deck is by logging in through the Hyperplay Link you send them in Google Classroom, Schoology, etc. This link will prompt them to log in to Boom Learning to access the deck.
I preferred sending my students the Hyperplay Link through Schoology, simply because that’s where they accessed all of my resources and assignments.
Now, if you’re on the fence about choosing the free or paid version, try it out for a month before committing to a full year. Honestly, it’s so worth it—the valuable feedback you get makes a huge difference for both you and your students! I’ll be sharing more about the data features a little later.
If you’re planning to use the free version of Boom Learning, you can simply share the Fast Pin link with your students. Whether you’re using Google Classroom, Schoology, or another platform, it’s just a quick copy and paste. Students get immediate access to the deck with no login required!
As I mentioned earlier, the free version doesn’t provide data since students aren’t logging in. But they still benefit from the immediate feedback after each question.
And that brings me to the third reason I love Boom Cards…
Reason #3: Data Collection
Boom Cards provide instant feedback to students and beneficial data for teachers. Yes, paper-pencil assessments can provide this data as well. But this is immediate. There are times I don’t look over paper-pencil assessments for days, and sometimes I’m too late to intervene.
With Boom Learning, I can quickly glance through student scores and intervene on the spot. It has made my life so much easier! Here is an example of what students see when they complete a deck.
Here’s what it looks like on the teacher’s end. Of course, I would never use actual student data, so Jake is a sample account I created.
For example, I can see that Jake scored 73% and completed the deck in seven minutes and forty seconds. I’m also able to see which specific questions he missed, which helps me identify skills to revisit, either with him individually or with the whole class if I notice a common trend in the data.
The data you get from Boom is truly what sets it apart from other resources. It’s one of the main reasons I can’t stop recommending Boom Cards!
Now, let’s dive into the many ways you can use them in your classroom, which brings me to the fourth reason I love Boom Cards.
Reason #4: Boom Cards are Versatile
Not only can you assign Boom Cards as a math center, but you can also use them for whole group lessons. For instance, I will often use a few cards for a quick spiral review or include them in my lesson.
One feature in particular I love is the ability to hide cards within a deck without deleting them. Many of my decks have 20 cards, but depending on the skill, 20 questions could take a really long time to complete. Therefore, I may assign only 7-10 cards for the math center and use the other cards in my whole group lesson.
Boom Cards also come in handy when preparing for state testing. Instead of searching endlessly for review materials, you can simply reassign previous decks to students.
For a quick spiral review of several skills, consider assigning 3-5 cards of multiple decks instead of 1 deck at a time. It’s amazing how Boom Cards can actually teach and reinforce skills as students work through them. It is called Boom LEARNING for a reason!
You can also use Boom Cards for your own test prep. I’ve created Chapter Review decks for all 13 chapters of the 4th Grade Go Math curriculum. I assign these 2 days before a test. With instant data collection, I’m able to plan my small group instruction effectively the day before a test.
I hope I’ve convinced you to give Boom Cards a try! I have a feeling you’ll be wondering why you didn’t start using them sooner.
You can shop all of my Boom Cards through my TPT Store or directly on Boom Learning.
Until next time,
Happy Teaching!
-Annamarie
P.S. For even more tips and ideas, read this blog post where I explain how I use Boom Cards to review for chapter tests!