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Did you know that you can now make digital activities on PDFs IN Teachers Pay Teachers? TPT Released digital activities this summer, and it’s going to change your life. It is a way to use PDFs (even some you’ve already purchased!) on Teachers Pay Teachers digitally– and it’s so easy.
Teachers Pay Teachers gave the option to sellers to opt into the TPT digital resources program. When a store opts in, their PDFs can automatically become digital resources that the seller– AND THE TEACHER– can adjust so that your students are best represented.
That means if you have already purchased something, and that seller has opted in, then you will be able to turn that PDF digital.
How do TPT Digital Activities Work?
Like we mentioned, when a shop opts into the TPT digital resources program, their PDFs are eligible to become digital. That means it has to be a single file PDF for it to work– no zip files.
After this, the seller OR the teacher can go in and add a digital layer on top of the PDF.
Here’s the step by step:
- Find the resource you’d like to use. It will have a “digital” button on the bottom.
- Select the pages you want to include. All of the pages of the PDF are still there (you don’t lose anything!), but you don’t have to send them all at the same time. So you can get rid of the cover page and the answer keys, or you could just send one page at a time. (You can always change this later, and send the other pages at a later date.)
- Add the digital layer! You can add answer boxes, additional text (digital directions), and more! The kids will have access to the text box tool, the drawing tool, and the highlight tool. Feel free to use the space on the side of the worksheet as well!
- Preview from the student side. This will show you what the kids will see.
- Send it to your kids! You will get a link that you can assign for easy access!
Note: You need a Google Classroom account in order to assign the activity (as of October 2020! TPT is always changing things).
You can watch a video tutorial about it here:
Which TPT products can be used digitally?
Technically, anything that is one PDF file can be digital. The seller can opt resources out of the digital program if they don’t make sense though. Because, let’s face it, digital Kaboom! Is just not going to cut it.
Yes, this means that even if you already purchased something, it can now be digital.
For example, everything in my shop is now digital (so long as it makes sense!). If you purchased treble clef dice activity, then you can now go back and make it digital and send it to your kiddos. If you purchased Charlie Over the Ocean lesson pack, with the powerpoint and the worksheets and the solfege cards– that can’t be digital because it has multiple files in one zip folder. (I am working on a work around for that though!)
If you ever have a question, look for the “digital” sign under the price, as well as the file type. If the file type says a PDF (and the seller has opted in!), then it’s fine. If it says zip, then it cannot be used as a Teachers Pay Teachers digital activity.
If you do have activities that can’t be done on TPT, you can use this tutorial to see how to make any worksheet into a Google Slides activity.
How do I send it to my kids?
You will get a link to send to your kids! That link can be sent through Google Classroom.
As of right now, you do need a Google Classroom account in order to use the Digital Activities. If you don’t currently have one, it’s easy to set up, and easy to use!
What if the seller didn’t make it digital?
If you want to use a some on Teachers Pay Teachers digitally, you can add the digital layer EVEN IF THE SELLER HASN’T. I have 300 products in my shop, so you can bet that I have not gone through and made every single one digital. You, however, can use my Teachers Pay Teachers activities digitally, because they have the capability (as long as it is one PDF!).
They still have the capability, though. This means that even if I haven’t added that digital layer, you can.
Also– if you don’t like that the seller has put on there, you can change it! You know your students the best, so you have control! If there are directions you want to change, or you want to add things, you can do that. You’ll always have access to the full resource, so don’t worry about ruining it or losing it.
Teaching music digitally? Check out how to survive distance learning as a music teacher!
Have you used anything on Teachers Pay Teachers digitally? I love these digital activities, and would highly recommend the Teachers Pay Teachers Digital activities!
Happy teaching!
