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Have you ever heard of Boom cards? I learned about them in Spring of 2020, although, if we’re honest, I did NOT have the brain space to think about them because….. #corona Later that summer, though, I investigated Boom cards, and I’m in love! Using boom cards in elementary music has been so great for my student’s learning, and also just so much fun!
Today, we’re going to go over boom card basics, how to use them, and options for them.
If you want to check one out to see what it’s about, you can look at my Instrument Identification Deck by clicking here! (and yes, it’s free)
What are Boom Cards?
Boom cards are basically digital task cards. They can be used for lessons, for vocabulary, for memorizing facts, and a lot of other things.
They are hosted on boomlearning.com You do have to make an account in order to use them. Your account is free.
The best way to use Boom Cards in elementary music is actually to set up your school. In order to set up your classes and assign them that way, you (or better yet– your school!) has to pay. For one teacher with 100 students, the estimate is $150. It varies as you add more students and more teachers, and you can look into that by clicking here.
Now, the super cool thing is that you can assign decks AND you can see what questions students got correct.
Yeah. So you can use them for assessment.
TO USE THEM FOR FREE…. You can use Fast Play. What you do this, you get a pin that students type into the browser. They just go to boomlearning.com/fastplay/insert-the-pin-here (or you can insert once you get there.)
Students do not need to have accounts in order to do a fast play, however it does not show you what they got correct or incorrect– so this way, it’s more practice.
But it’s free, so…..
Also read: How to Teach Music Digitally
How Do I get Boom Cards?
As far as decks go, you can either create your own deck, or you can purchase them from creators.
Making decks is pretty easy, although it is pretty time consuming.
You can also purchase decks on TPT, so if you’re like me, and you don’t like to put your credit card info into new websites, you can purchase decks on TPT that will be hosted on Boom.
If you want to make your own, you can watch the video below to learn all about how to make them!
How Do I Use Boom Cards in Elementary Music?
There are many ways to use Boom Cards in elementary music.
I like to use them during centers, so that students can practice them. I have a few ipads in my classroom, so we use those.
I also like to use them if I am going to the teacher’s classroom, because they are fun and game like.
If you pay for the upgrade, you can also use them for assessment. It will give you a report that shows how students did, and what they got right.
Also read: How to Survive Distance Learning as a Music Teacher
What can Boom Cards Do?
There is a lot that you can do with Boom Cards, but I want to show a few of the features. Some are more useful than others, but they are all very helpful.
Multiple Choice
Multiple choice is probably the easiest thing to do with Boom cards. I like to use this feature for things like vocabulary, instrument names, instrument families, staff, etc.
Fill in the Blank
Fill in the blank is also good for vocabulary, instrument names, etc. You could use this to learn words to a song, or to fill in the blank with the appropriate rhythm or solfege syllable.
Drag and Drop
This is one of my favorite features! You can make pretty much anything a drag and drop activity. You could put lyrics in order, match rhythms to words, match treble clef notes, and a whole lot more.
You make something draggable by click on it, then click on draggable. Then click on where you want it to be dragged to and click drop zone. In order to show that it is correct, you will want to click on the hand and then click on the drop zone and press correct.
Audio
You can insert audio into Boom Cards! One of my favorite ways to do that is by recording rhythms and having students click on the notation of it.
You do have to record the audio and then upload it, so you can’t record in Boom– just a heads up.
Video
You can also insert videos! i haven’t used this yet, but I have two big ideas for how to make this happen.
- Put a video on the first slide to teach the concept or review a concept. When you finish, you can make it so that this slide is always first. So you could have a video from YouTube all about Mozart, then have the questions all about Mozart.
- Add a video with music! If you are working on forte and piano or allegro and adagio, you can insert videos from YouTube with a piece of music. Then have students click on what the answer is.
Also, just so you know, you can post videos as “unlisted” on YouTube. This means that people with the link can see the video, but you can’t find it in search. So if you want to record videos for your own Boom decks, then you can use this feature and people won’t find it on YouTube, but you can put it in the deck.
So you could sing a song you’re working on and have students put the rhythms in, or something along those lines.
Alright friends, are you ready to get started? Using boom cards in elementary music is so much fun. They look like a game, but they help students learn music.
Have you used Boom Cards in elementary music? Let me know in the comments!
Happy teaching!
