Using Interactive Whiteboards and BrainPOP!
On Tuesday, July 29 I had the opportunity to spend the day with the wonderful teachers of Spring Branch ISD in Houston, Texas. As avid users of Promethean ActivBoards, they generated many creative ideas on how to connect all the resources available on BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. with ActivStudio. Here is what they shared:
• Using the camera tool, teachers can take a picture of the graphic on Tim’s shirt. Then they can use it as a picture prompt for students to write a journal entry.
• Students can use the highlighter tool, as well as the pen, to underline verbs, circle nouns, and highlight the main idea in a passage on the FYI section of a unit in BrainPOP.
• Students can use their Activote learner response systems to answer the quiz questions. Then they can see their results compared to those of their classmates.
• Using the words from the Word Wall feature of a topic in BrainPOP Jr. and the camera tool on ActivStudio, teachers can create flipcharts where students drag the vocabulary word and match it to the correct definition.
• With a Promethean Board, BrainPOP can be used in learning centers where students can work in pairs or individually as an alternative to whole class instruction.
Check out our interactive whiteboard resources and special Promethean partnership resources, including over 60 interactive flipchart lessons and our Resource Pack, chock full of BrainPOP character clipart, sounds, and graphic organizers.
We hear that BrainPOP is often used with all types of interactive whiteboards and learner response systems. Tell us how you use these in your classroom, we’d love to share that experience with other educators.
August 13th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I use BrainPop as a classroom center. It is totally student centered. After watching the video the students take the quiz using their Activote remotes. If you don’t have Activotes you can use wipe off boards and just have the students write their answer on the wipe off board.I have one student who is in control of the polling. After everyone has answered we go with majority rule. The person in charge of the computer puts in their answer. If it is a tie then the controller gets to break the tie. The kids love it!
August 14th, 2009 at 10:21 am
That’s great, Trisha. Thanks so much for sharing your center system. The wipe off boards are a brilliant alternative, and I love assigning a student to be “poll control!” You might consider taking the quiz before watching the movie as a whole class as a quick pre-assessment. I found my kids were always eager to take the quiz again after watching the movie to try to beat their scores.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:13 am
I have a SMARTboard and have 2 students come up to the board to be the “Vannas” for the review quizzes. They read the question, then the class responds using sign language for a, b, or c. The “Vannas” click on the answer the majority of the class picked and Moby tells them if they are right or wrong!
I also use screen shots, or pause, of the videos on “Do Nows” and have the class explain the concept being shown.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
I am new to using the Response system for the Smartboard. Could you send or post information on using it for the online quiz? I would like them to individually respond and have the response unit track their answers - can this be done without manually typing in your questions and answers into a Notebook file?