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interactive learning

How to Create Choose Your Own Adventure Stories for Students: Use Google Forms and AI to make interactive, cross-curricular adventures for students. Or help them create their own!

Make “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories with Google Forms and AI

by Belinda Howell & Dan Larson April 11, 2024

written by Belinda Howell & Dan Larson

In the nostalgic tapestry of the 1980s and early 1990s, a phenomenon emerged that would capture the imagination of countless young readers – the “Choose Your Own Adventure” (CYOA) series. These interactive books, with their branching narratives and multiple endings, empowered readers to chart their own course through thrilling adventures, from exploring ancient ruins to navigating deep-space mysteries.

**“The Cave of Time” (Choose Your Own Adventure, No. 1)**

For many, these books were more than just literary escapades; they were portals to alternate realities, sparking a passion for reading and fueling imaginations. In August of 1981, just two years after the CYOA series launched, New York Times columnist Aljean Harmetz wrote that these books “appear to be as contagious as chicken pox.” Jarmetz noted that according to kids, the greatest care package one could receive included “Jordache jeans, whistle pops and an assortment of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure Books”.

As digital media and video games began to rise to prominence, the CYOA concept reemerged in popular video games such as Telltale’s “Walking Dead” as well as TV/Netflix shows like Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch.”

The Benefits of Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA)

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, fostering a love for reading and solidifying core literacy skills remains a cornerstone of effective teaching. Across the country, schools are seeking new ways to ignite a passion for reading and promote critical literacy skills. One innovative way is by bringing back the Choose Your Own Adventure concept to the classroom. Here are some of the benefits of using CYOA with students:

Independence and Empathy: CYOA not only enhances students’ agency and autonomy but also cultivates empathy as they navigate diverse perspectives and outcomes.
Personalization: Moreover, digital CYOA promotes personalized learning experiences, catering to individual interests, preferences, and learning styles.
Deeper Learning: Through branching storylines and interactive elements, students are motivated to explore, experiment, and collaborate, leading to deeper comprehension and retention of content.
Feedback and Reflection: Additionally, digital CYOA facilitates immediate feedback and reflection, empowering students to learn from their choices and adapt their strategies accordingly.

How to Make a CYOA for Students

Using free tools such as Google Forms, teachers can create their own CYOAs for students. The beauty of CYOA lies in its interactive nature. Students become the protagonists, not just consuming a story but actively shaping its course. Google Forms provides the perfect platform for creating these branching narratives, allowing us to craft engaging experiences that go beyond the limitations of traditional textbooks. Let’s dive into how to build these interactive odysseys and empower students on their own literacy adventures.

Plan Your Interactive Story (AI can help!)

The first step is crafting a compelling story. Consider the grade level and curriculum tie-ins. Are you exploring historical periods, fictional worlds, or scientific concepts? Brainstorm a central plot with several decision points where students choose their path. Plan multiple endings, ensuring each choice leads to a satisfying conclusion. Use a mapping template to keep track of your story! This will make the next step much easier.

With the explosion of AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc., educators can let AI do all of the heavy lifting in creating branching storylines and endings! In the prompt, make sure to be specific about what you’re looking for, including setting, themes or standards to cover, etc. You can keep customizing the story or elements by interacting with the AI until the storylines are to your liking.

Author Screenshot of ChatGPT Generating a CYOA with Author Prompting

Build Your Interactive Form

Once the narrative is mapped, head to Google Forms. If you put everything in a mapping template, it will be easy to just copy it over. Begin with an introductory section (1) that sets the scene. Include a captivating image or even a short video clip to hook students. Then, leverage the power of multiple-choice questions (2, 3). Make sure each question is required to be answered in order to keep students on the correct branch (4). Each question presents a crossroads in the story, with answer choices representing different paths. You will need to create sections for each answer choice (5).

To ensure a smooth transition, label each section (6, 7) according to its role in the story.

Here’s where the magic happens: after you’ve created different sections for each answer choice, utilize the “Go to section based on answer” option found in the three-dot menu (8) of each question.

This allows you to link specific answers to the different sections of the form (9, 10), effectively building a branching narrative.

As you are creating your Google Form, test out the branches in preview mode (eye icon in the top right corner) to make sure everything is connected as it should be. When you’ve reached an ending

Enhancing the Experience

CYOA activities in Google Forms can be further enriched by incorporating multimedia elements. Embed images, audio clips, or even short videos to create a more immersive experience. Tools like Canva offer audio clips, images, and the ability to easily create your own image with Magic Studio using AI.

Author Creating AI-Generated Image with **Canva**

Encourage students to write their own endings by including open-ended questions at specific points in the story. This fosters creativity and allows them to truly personalize their journey.

The Learning Adventure Begins

With your interactive CYOA form ready, it’s time to embark on the learning adventure! Here are some ways to maximize student engagement:

Collaborative Creation: Divide the class into groups and assign each group a portion of the story. Each group crafts their section using a Google Form, creating a collaborative CYOA masterpiece.
Differentiation: Create multiple versions of the CYOA with varying difficulty levels. This caters to students with diverse reading abilities and allows everyone to participate meaningfully.
Gamification: Award points for reaching specific endings or completing the story within a timeframe. Consider creating a leaderboard to add a touch of friendly competition.

Extending Beyond the Classroom Walls

The potential of CYOA with Google Forms extends beyond the classroom. These activities can be adapted for at-home learning, allowing students to continue exploring narratives at their own pace. They can even inspire students to create their own CYOA experiences, further solidifying reading comprehension and creative writing skills.

By harnessing the power of choice and the user-friendly interface of Google Forms, teachers can create engaging CYOA activities that transform reading into a dynamic and interactive experience. These digital adventures not only ignite a passion for literacy but also equip students with essential skills for lifelong learners. So, set sail on your interactive odyssey and watch your students become active participants in their own learning journeys!

Learn more from Belinda Howell at the Elementary Technology Conference (ETC) in Galveston, Texas June 9-11! She will be presenting four sessions with co-presenter, Dan Larson:

Psst! Use the Trap Door: Creating Digital Escape Games
Level Up Social Studies and Science Lessons with Interactive Images with
Automate to Communicate: Use Autocrat to Do the Heavy Lifting
How Suite It Is: Fun with Interactive Choice Boards

See All Sessions

April 11, 2024 0 comments

Good Teaching Google Tips and Tricks Online Tools and Apps

The Benefits of Using Pear Deck in the Classroom

by Jeannie Hipp January 3, 2023

written by Jeannie Hipp

When it comes to motivating the unmotivated students in our classrooms, we can’t change the cards we are dealt, only how we play the game to secure their attention. So what’s the answer to going from ordinary to extraordinary, best practice-based instruction and engaging every student in your classroom? One game changer I’ve found for my classroom is Pear Deck for Google Slides. From beginning to end, bellringer to exit ticket, educators have the power to turn their pedagogy mindset from teacher-led to student-centered.

With a free account, you can:

Design brilliant lessons with interactive questions, polls, quizzes, formative assessments

Work seamlessly with powerful classroom tools from Google and Microsoft

Control the pace of class and project student answers anonymously

Enable students to join a session anonymously without email login

Keep students in sync with Locks and Timers

Ready-to-teach templates designed by educators

Teach vocabulary with Flashcard Factory*

Source

Here’s a video overview with information on how Pear Deck works.

What Are the Benefits of Using Pear Deck?

Thousands of Customizable Templates in Google Slides

Pear Deck works directly with Google Slides and Google Classroom, which enables Google Education to be maximized when it comes to e-learning in the classroom. Once it’s been installed as a Google Slides add-on feature, you’re ready to double down with an array of options to assess your students’ critical thinking skills while holding them accountable for their learning. Pear Deck houses thousands of templates you can customize to align with any content. From littles (k-2), math, reading, social studies, science, etc., you can find any template suitable for editing as a bell ringer, “middle of lesson” activity, or exit ticket/reflection.

Photo screenshot of selecting a question type in Pear Deck — Image Source: **Get the Pear Deck Google Slides Add-On**

Pear Deck for STAAR Practice

Just for a moment, think about how much better a student’s formal assessments might be if they had (1) direct engagement in more effective learning discussions; (2) more frequent practicing of test-type questions in the viewing of a bell ringer or exit ticket; (3) were consistently held accountable for their learning. We can all agree that’s a combination for a winning hand!

In Texas this year, the hot news for educators in grades 3-12 is the STAAR redesign. The newly redesigned question formats affect every tested subject associated with these grade levels. How does Pear Deck connect to the latest STAAR? One of its fascinating features is the ability to construct diversified questioning. We can create questions that align with the new type of STAAR questions so students can practice as often as teachers like in a learning environment that isn’t directly associated with a formal assessment. Whether it’s questions that involve text response, number response, multiple choice (with more than one choice selection), or drawing and draggable style answer choices, you can customize Pear Deck templates for any of these question types. This can help prepare students for success with accommodating strategies that will enable mastery of these redesign questions in a manner that best challenges and satisfies their academic level of students.

Interactive Learning

Interactive learning is a teaching method that supports educators by taking a hands-on approach to engaging students. Through this technique, there is social interaction between the educator and the learner (Interactive Learning Project, 2020). In other words, instead of teachers taking complete control and driving the instruction, becoming exhausted and frustrated trying to keep students engaged, the paradigm switches. Students no longer become passive participants. Instead, they become active participants and involve themselves as part of the conversation/discussion that’s taking place in the classroom. John Hattie’s effect size for direct instruction, classroom discussion, and feedback is a combination for great success. Pear Deck for Google Slides is a catalyst for increasing more robust academic success in your classroom. How? Great question! The following Pear Deck Infographic details the benefits of using Pear Deck as an engaging tool, as well as HOW TO power up your presentations for the classroom.

What Can a Pear Deck Lesson Look Like?

Beginning of Lesson

Depending on your class’s academic level or the content being learned, you may choose a bell ringer from Pear Deck’s Content Orchard template library that poses a question for students to answer with written expression, respond with a draggable slide, or draw a response.

During Lesson

As educators, we know the effects engagement has on learning. This article in Reading Rockets demonstrates the importance of students being actively engaged and not just compliant. Pear Deck promotes the qualities necessary to ensure every student is engaged and accountable for their learning. Whether you choose a multiple choice slide, draggable slide, or short answer response slide, you can get your students’ attention from start to finish.

End of Lesson

Exit tickets are informal assessments that hold students accountable for their learning. Pear Deck’s Content Orchard has sample templates that allow teachers to insert exit tickets into their Google Slides presentation. Having the ability to pick from several different types, along with customizing the exit ticket based on the content, makes the task easy and effective.

I hope this information sparks your interest in using Pear Deck to engage students in interactive learning. How will you use it in your classroom?

Additional Resources

How to Make Interactive Google Slides with Pear Deck
The Pear Deck Content Orchard
Pear Deck Help Videos for Getting Started
Increase Student Engagement with Pear Deck TechNotes Article

January 3, 2023 0 comments

Accessibility Blended Learning Content Areas Digital Literacy English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)Good Teaching Learning Management System (LMS)Math Planning and Preparation Science Social Studies

Interactive Digital Notebooks: Examples, Tips, and Templates!

by Deanna Williams December 1, 2022

written by Deanna Williams

Students and teachers finally return to face-to-face learning to what is a seemingly “normal” start of the 2022-2023 school year. While there is not a hard and fast definition for “blended learning,” oftentimes educators struggle with student experiences and expectations in this regard. In the spring of 2020, those in education, both students and teachers alike, were thrust into a digitally immersed classroom. There were learning curves and positive outcomes, but there were also experiments and failures across all grade and content areas. Since then, students are accustomed to being greatly immersed in technology-rich lessons and activities. And they are embracing the ever-changing technology tools available. While educators have also seemingly embraced available technology, the learning curve is still there. In my district, digital interactive notebooks are paving the way for student success across the curriculum.

What Are Interactive Digital Notebooks?

Interactive digital notebooks are an innovative way for students to engage with and organize course material. Digital notebooks can be individually assigned to students or to the class as a whole. It may seem odd to have a class notebook; however, there are important lessons that students can learn through them. And for teachers, there are many different tools you can use to incorporate digital components. When first using interactive digital notebooks, it may take a little getting used to. But you quickly become accustomed to the ease of grading and appreciate not having to lug a bunch of heavy journals home. Let’s explore a couple of detailed examples!

Digital Notebooks for Literature Circles

During the height of the pandemic, and with lots of trial and error, as the technology integration specialist in my district, I designed an interactive digital notebook for AP English IV students to use with their literature circles. They learned about digital citizenship, hyperlinking, and several other skills that are needed for college and career readiness. I worked closely with the classroom teacher and the students to ensure all the components worked properly and student expectations were clear. It was exciting to see all participants eagerly engaged in feedback! Additionally, the digital notebook could be tweaked at a moment’s notice. The students were even invited to speak about their experience with interactive digital notebooks in front of school board of education members at the TASB Governance Camp (Texas Association of School Boards) in the spring of 2022.

Here is an example for you to explore:

Interactive Notebooks as Planners

Seeing student success and excitement while interacting with the digital notebooks made me want to take another step. I went further to provide the digital notebook to students for daily use instead of a paper planner. This would allow the students to stay organized while also allowing teachers and instructional interventionists the opportunity to utilize assistive technology to support student learning and success. Not only is the notebook easy to access, but students also commented on how their backpacks stayed cleaner and more organized, too. The notebook’s main tool was Google Slides, but also incorporated Google Sheets for class calendar access. Hyperlinks bridged connectivity and access for students and parents from home to the campus classroom. My district currently uses Schoology as our Learning Management System (LMS). The teachers are becoming more and more familiar with hyperlinking homework, calendar events, interactive tools, etc., to the digital notebook.

Take a look at this example for middle school:

***Middle School Example Notebook – All Subjects***

Digital Notebooks Increase Accessibility

There are many pros to using a digital notebook. For example, students have the ability to access their digital notebooks from virtually anywhere in the world. They just need to sign in using their school Google account. In addition to accessibility, there are also assistive technology tools within the Google Suite that students can use. Some of these tools include text-to-speech, voice typing, translation, and many others. Because there are numerous tools that can be incorporated into digital notebooks, occupational therapists in my district work with technology integration specialists to utilize assistive technology tools to ensure accommodations are effectively utilized. A couple of the main tools used outside of the Google Suite are Snap&Read and Co:Writer. Another great resource is an app called Slides Translator. It is user-friendly and includes over 60 language dialects.

Student Voice

When rolling out a project such as interactive digital notebooks, student voice is imperative when it comes to measuring success. I held a debriefing session with AP English students to take note of what worked and what did not.

Watch the video here.

Interactive Digital Notebook Templates

There are many wonderful websites that generously share their Google Slides journal templates. Some of the most notable are Slides Mania, Slides Carnival, Slides Go, and My Perfect Presentation. These sites offer a variety of templates to choose from, with several being journal-type options.

There is much to be said about the effectiveness of using interactive digital notebooks in the classroom. Both students and teachers will be positively impacted by the learning opportunities and use of technology they would not experience with a traditional paper journal. The personalization of student learning makes the trial and errors worth it in the end. The beauty of the interactive digital notebook is that one size doesn’t always fit all, but with a couple of clicks and tweaks, the notebook is perfect for the end user, the student.

December 1, 2022 7 comments

Content Areas Good Teaching

Getting Students Invested: The Power of Interactive Storytelling

by Guest Blogger July 2, 2018

written by Guest Blogger

“Who can tell me what a budget is?”

The class responds with blank stares, the kind that could last the entire period if I let it kill my excitement. I can already see the class clowns waiting for the right moment to pounce on me. But watch this: “A budget is a tool you can use so you can do whatever you want with your money–and hopefully have more.”

The Story of Jason

More money? Now I have their attention. Even the skeptics are quiet. I have about five seconds before they challenge me. “Let’s jump right into it,” I continue, “On the smart board, we’ve got two columns: income and expenses. In this example, we’re going to look at creating monthly expenses for an imaginary student named Jason who just graduated from high school. How much do you think he spends on rent? Call it out.”

All sorts of ideas come flying out, from $100 to $3,000 to someone who insists that “Jason lives at home, yo he don’t pay rent.” We all have a laugh. Everyone’s budget is going to look different, I explain. We plug $100 into the budget for now, and I ask them what about groceries? We’ll multiply a weekly estimate by four. Everyone calls out their best guesses. They argue over how much is too much or too little, and everyone falls skeptically silent when I say I normally only allow myself $40 per week for groceries and sometimes just $20. In New York City? Yes, anywhere.

Applying Storytelling to Real-World Application

“It’s all about choices. Some people chose to spend more on groceries, less on rent. It’s all about making the numbers work for you. We’ll talk more about that later. How much for clothes? Travel? Going out and having fun? There are no right or wrong answers.”

We fill out the other category expenses for a total of $1,000 a month, then compare that to Jason’s part-time income working at McDonald’s: $300. A third cell calculates the difference of the income and expenses: every month, Jason is in the red by $700.

Now it’s time to raise the stakes: “Let’s say Jason wants to go on a date with his significant other; that will cost $120. Does he have money?”

“No!” says the class, laughing. We reduce the grocery budget by half. Instantly, we see how much closer Jason is to reaching his goal. Now he’s only in the red by $600. Once we get Jason into the black by reducing his expenses (and/or getting a better job), we can see how long it will take him to reach his goal in another cell which divides the goal by the difference. If Jason makes a $30 profit every month, it will take him four months to reach his goal. Does he want to wait that long? His date is tomorrow. What else can we do?

Advantages of Interactive Storytelling

Everyone’s excited to share ideas and laugh at Jason. Since he’s imaginary, nobody gets embarrassed. But since his story is so relatable, they get emotionally invested in helping Jason go on this date. They always root for their peers who volunteer to create a budget and have real goals like going to college, becoming a doctor, bringing family member over from Pakistan, starting a business, or maybe just buying the latest iPhone.

Well, how soon do you want the iPhone? How much are you willing to sacrifice for it? How hard do you want to work for it? I offer suggestions, but they can see for themselves what happens when we plug in the numbers together. It’s my favorite game show and interactive story ever told on a smart board–or whiteboard if we’re doing the calculations by hand. You can access the spreadsheet I used and make a copy for your own lesson here.

This presentation has worked in dozens of inner-city schools in New York City and New Jersey. Over a thousand students have participated in planning imaginary Jason’s future. Hopefully, a significant number of them will use these budgeting skills to plan their own.

I think what made this lesson successful, compared to the times I tried lecturing about my experiences and strategies, was that I give them control of Jason’s story, to precede the control they will have over their own stories. I am the facilitator of this activity, and they are the instructors. It’s a space where they can play and decide for themselves if imaginary Jason was wise to spend $600 on clothes every month and wait five years before he can afford the new iPhone.

Applying Interactive Storytelling Across the Curriculum

Interactive storytelling can apply to any subject!

Imagine a choose-your-own-adventure activity for history class to see how hard it was for Lincoln to keep the country together.
In physics class, we could be measuring tennis ball bounces to design an imaginary lunar landing craft.
In English class, we can write essays to convict or defend Poe’s narrators.

Everything we teach in the classroom can apply to real life, but sometimes it takes a little bit of imagination to get students to think in the moment to the point that they’re so invested they stop asking why we’re learning it.

This is a guest blog by Jason Hewett. Jason is a writer, presenter, and actor based in New York City. He’s been working with kids for more than a decade as a teaching artist and volunteer at Camp Possibilities, a summer camp for diabetic children. Feel free to say hello or see what he’s up to by visiting jasonhewett.com.

July 2, 2018 0 comments

Coding/Computer Science Robotics

Trashbots: Affordable STEM Kits Ready to Change the World

by Susan Meyer February 5, 2018

written by Susan Meyer

If you’re joining us at the Austin Convention Center this week, I want to extend a warm welcome to the 2018 TCEA Convention & Exposition! I also have an excellent suggestion for how to spend part of your afternoon. Come check out the Experience at the Digital Square in the Palazzo today from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. for a demonstration by the creators of a remarkable new company called Trashbots. For those readers who aren’t able to come to the convention this year, read on to learn about an innovative idea that’s turning one man’s trash into STEM treasure.

What Are Trashbots?

Trashbots is a company that is creating affordable robotics kits that let users use anything from their local environment to add to their robot—even things that a less creative mind might throw away. The kits work with open-source platforms and are designed to be accessible—a computer and a continuous power supply are not needed. This makes the kits idea for rural and remote places where STEM learning is limited by access to infrastructure.

Another advantage of the Trashbots platform and accompanying curriculum is that they are scalable across grade levels. Students in kindergarten can use Trashbots to learn the basics of building with the kit without the electronics. In fourth grade, kids can begin to work with tablets to design simple scripts and make the robot move. As one Trashbots founder describes, “You can see their enthusiasm when the program does what they want it to do and the motor functions as intended.” Older students can use existing textual programming languages such as Javascript or Python to code the kit and create even more complex creations. As students develop greater skill and programming knowledge, the kit can grow and adapt with them. Their only limit is their own creativity.

The Minds Behind the Bots

The story of Trashbots’ founders and how the company came to be is just as interesting as the end product. The company was the brainchild of two brothers, Rohit and Sidharth Srinivasan, who are themselves still high school students. Starting from when they were in middle school, they began volunteering and teaching robotics in orphanages in Southern Asia. They also consulted with Science in a Suitcase, an Austin STEM startup that works to bring robotics to underserved communities globally. From these experiences, they learned about some of the limitations of how STEM is taught in developing nations. As students of robotics themselves, when they saw limitations and issues, their immediate thought was “How can we engineer a solution?” This was the beginnings of Trashbots.

The pair partnered with Paul Austin, formerly of National Instruments, who helped them to officially start the company in May of 2016. The company did their first demo at SXSW 2017 in Austin, Texas. Since then, they’ve taken their ideas abroad to provide STEM and robotics help to rural and developing towns. The team made trips to both Mexico and Peru with their products. In Peru, they visited a remote school in a town of 15,000, three hours south of Lima. The school contained around 80 kids, some of whom would walk up to an hour to get there. While the school system didn’t have a lot of money or resources, what they did have were students who were intellectually curious and excited about learning. It is in schools like this where Trashbots can truly shine.

Discover Trashbots for Yourself

If you’re on site in Austin, you will definitely want to check out the Trashbots demonstration today at 2 p.m. in the Experience at the Digital Square. The founders will be on hand running an interactive session and explaining the pedagogical and curriculum possibilities of their robotics kits. You will also get the opportunity to take part in a fun build challenge using the kit. Tablets will be provided for programming the robots and all levels are encouraged to attend!

If you’re not at convention, you can learn more about Trashbots at their website.You can also find details on their IndieGoGo page.

Bargains!

Trashbots is now going into full production and has a great deal on their Indiegogo funding site. You can get the complete Early Bird Maker Pack with the maker kit with pucks, gears, and “trash” for making, along with cool stickers, for just $100. Or, if you want more than one Trashbot for your classroom or campus, you can buy the Educator 5-Pack for $500 or the Educator 10-Pack for $900. I know that your students will love these!

This blog was updated with additional content on May 4, 2018.

February 5, 2018 0 comments