InterACTIVE May the 4th Activities!
@TheMerrillsEDU share interACTIVE activities for May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day. Check out recommended books, a Star Wars video production app, Seesaw activities, Flipgrid Photo Stickers and resources from @Erintegration!
Star Wars Day, May 4, celebrates George Lucas's Star Wars media franchise. The date was chosen for the pun on the catchphrase "May the Force be with you" as "May the Fourth be with you." Both educators and students can get in on the fun, here. In this blog post, you’ll learn about some of our favorite books and activities!
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May the 4th Books
Here are some of our favorite books to tie into May the 4th!
Are You Scarred Darth Vader is our personal favorite May the 4th book. Written and illustrated by Adam Rex (Illustrator of The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors), this kid friendly book proves that Darth Vader is in fact afraid of something!
From Amazon.com:
It's midnight and the moon is full, but Darth Vader isn't scared. OF COURSE I AM NOT SCARED. Nothing can scare Lord Vader! CORRECT. Not monsters or witches or ghosts, and especially not the dark. So what is Darth Vader scared of? Read on in Adam Rex's hilarious and spooky Star Wars tale to find out! YOU WILL LEARN NOTHING.
Star Wars Series from Jeffrey Brown
Darth Vader and Friends is a clever and kid friendly graphic novel styled book that explains the importance of friendships in short adventures. Something to note: This book is relatively small in size / dimension (approx. 6x6).
From Amazon.com: In this funny and sweet new book in the bestselling Darth Vader™ series, Eisner Award–winning author Jeffrey Brown offers an intimate look at the friendships between best pals in the Star Wars universe, from Darth Vader and the Emperor to Leia and her Ewok pals, Han and Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2, the bounty hunters, and other favorite characters. Jealousy, birthday parties, lightsaber battles, sharing, intergalactic rebellion and more all come into play as Brown's charming illustrations and humor irresistibly combine the adventures of our friends in a galaxy far, far away with everyday events closer to home.
Darth Vader and Son is a graphic novel styled book that shares the (humorous) struggle of parenting Darth Vader experiences while trying to raise Luke Skywalker. Something to note: This book is relatively small in size / dimension (approx. 6x6).
From Amazon.com: What if Darth Vader took an active role in raising his son? What if "Luke, I am your father" was just a stern admonishment from an annoyed dad? In this hilarious and sweet Star Wars® comics reimagining, Darth Vader is a dad like any other—except with all the baggage of being the Dark Lord of the Sith. Celebrated artist Jeffrey Brown's delightful illustrations give classic Star Wars® moments a fresh parenting books twist, presenting the trials and joys of parenting through the lens of a galaxy far, far away. Life lessons include lightsaber batting practice, using the Force to raid the cookie jar, Take Your Child to Work Day on the Death Star ("Er, he looks just like you, Lord Vader!"), and the special bond shared between any father and son. It's a great option for baby shower gifts, especially for the expectant father. Darth Vader and Son is a Star Wars® book that makes a great gift or a just because purchase for yourself!
Goodnight, Darth Vader is a graphic novel styled book that (humorously) explains Darth Vader’s struggle with trying to get Luke and Leia to bed. There always appears to be something that comes up! Something to note: This book is relatively small in size / dimension (approx. 6x6).
From Amazon.com: It's time for a Star Wars bedtime story in a galaxy far, far away, and Darth Vader's parenting skills are tested anew in this delightful follow-up to the breakout New York Times Star Wars books bestsellers Darth Vader™ and Son and Vader's™ Little Princess. In this Episode, the Sith Lord must soothe his rambunctious twins, Luke and Leia—who are not ready to sleep and who insist on a story. As Vader reads, the book looks in on favorite creatures, droids, and characters, such as Yoda, R2-D2, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Admiral Ackbar, Boba Fett, and many others as they tuck in, yawn, and settle down to dream. As ever, Jeffrey Brown's charming illustrations and humor glow throughout, playing on children's book conventions to enchant adults and kids alike. This Star Wars makes a fun, unique pregnancy gift, a new Dad gift, or funny new parent gift!
May the 4th Action Movie FX App (iOS Only)
Action Movie FX uses your surroundings and adds in video FX. There are several Star Wars effects - all of which are a ton of fun! The app itself is free to download, but requires additional purchases. At the time of writing this post (4/29/21), the developers offered a sale: SAVE nearly 80% on the MEGA FX PACK and get 20 BLOCKBUSTER FX for $1.99 USD. We obviously think it’s worth it! We use this app to launch May the 4th activities. Record the video(s), then upload to Flipgrid for student responses. The files can also be saved as Gif’s, too! Here are some of the video FX included and a link to download the app:
Take on a Sith or Jedi! Can your students help save you from doom?
Run away from Darth Vader!
Put yourself right into the middle of an epic battle!
Run away from an incoming AT-AT!
Have BB-8 get in on the fun!
May the 4th Flipgrid Photo Sticker Activity
Customizable Flipgrid Photo Stickers are all the rage right now. With our frame (linked above), you can easily become Darth Vader in a Flipgrid video! After you’ve downloaded the file linked above, follow these steps to use the Photo Sticker:
Open up your Flipgrid Topic (or Shorts Camera).
Once the camera opens, click “Effects.” This opens several options.
Click “Photo.”
Upload your Spark file that you created.
Once it appears in the Flipgrid Shorts camera, resize it appropriately. Now you’re ready to record!
We use this as an extension for the books listed above!
May the 4th Build a Droid Seesaw Activity
Here’s a fun activity for littles! Use the built in shapes in Seesaw to design your own droid! Download the activity by clicking below and check out a student example!
To add this into your Seesaw Library, click the download button below!
May the 4th: Caption This Activity!
Here’s a fun activity where your students become screen writers! Have your students add the captions to the slide deck below. Click the button to download a copy for yourself!
May the 4th: Pixel Art Activity
Our friend Erin Flanagan has been creating quality resources for many years. Her May the 4th activities don’t disappoint! Students can use either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to create May the 4th inspired pixel art. There’s an option for addition & subtraction or multiplcation. There’s also a Google Slides activity where your students can create characters using shapes. Check out Erin’s TPT store and be sure to follow her on social media!
-- Please follow us on social media and tag us with how you’re using May the 4th activities in your classroom! 👓👗
For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!
InterACTIVE Activities for The Day the Crayons Quit
The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home are two classroom essentials! @TheMerrillsEDU share interACTIVE activities featuring: Google Jamboard, Novel Effect, Chatterpix Kids, Flipgrid and more!
The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home are two essential books required for any classroom. With giggle-inducing text from Drew Daywalt and bold and bright illustrations from Oliver Jeffers, The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home are two perfect additions to any classroom library. If you’re a fan of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith, then this book is for you!
If these books are in your plans, you can easily transform any classroom Crayons activity to make it interACTIVE! Learn how below!
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Adding Sound Effects While You Read with Novel Effect
Novel Effect is an app that adds a little magic to books you know and love. Read aloud with your favorite print books and this free, award-winning app follows along playing music, sound effects, and character voices at just the right moment. There are lots of titles in the Novel Effect library, including The Day the Crayons Quit. Furthermore, you can also find the Spanish translation, El Dia Que Los Crayones Renunciaron.
Purchase The Day the Crayons Quit here
Download the Novel Effect app for iOS here
Download the Novel Effect app on Google Play here
Download The Day the Crayons Quit on Novel Effect here
Download El Dia Que Los Crayones Renunciaron on Novel Effect here
Animating Crayons with
Chatterpix Kids
Chatterpix Kids is an app that allows you to bring anything to life! Simply take any photo, draw a line to make a mouth, and record your voice. Then share your video onto a platform like Flipgrid or Seesaw. Getting started is easy, just follow these steps to get started:
Download the Chatterpix Kids app
Open Chatterpix Kids, then tap on “Take Photo”
Using the camera built into the Chatterpix Kids app, snap a photo of a crayon (or any other image) by tapping the orange camera button
Next, tap and hold your finger on the screen and then drag your finger across the screen to make a mouth on the image.
If you don’t like where the mouth is positioned, you can reposition it as you see fit.
Once you’re happy with where the mouth is, click on the red microphone icon to begin recording (tip: you will want to teach your students that they will need to be prepared with what they will say in their video. They only have 30 seconds!)
After you have recorded the audio, click the green play button to see how everything looks. If you’re happy with the way it is, click the orange Next button on the top right. If you’d like to re-record the audio, you can do so by tapping the red microphone.
(Optional) You can add filters, stickers, frames and text. Once you’re satisfied, tap the orange Next button on the top right.
To save your video, tap on the Export button located on the bottom right. Tapping this will save the video to your devices camera roll.
Google’s new Jamboard is a collaborative digital whiteboard. Students can work as a whole group, or assignments can be shared individually. In this activity, you’ll find a board that looks like it is just blank / black. Students will use the eraser tool to erase the black from the board. Doing so will reveal a rainbow color! Students can erase in the shape of a crayon and make their own crayon color. Have them name their color, then click download the frame as an image. To do so, click the three dots in the top right. Then select, “Save frame as image.” This file may then be uploaded to places like Seesaw or Flipgrid to share out accordingly!
Opinion Writing with Flipgrid
Generally, teachers think of Flipgrid as the destination that houses student learning and their content. However, Flipgrid can also be used to launch ideas, spark new ones and take learning to a whole new level. For example, after reading The Day the Crayons Quit, have your students think about which crayon they feel is overworked. Then, have them brainstorm several ideas that back their opinion on a sheet of paper. Next, instruct the students to log onto Flipgrid and explain which color is most tired and why (listing the ideas from the paper). After they have finished, they can watch their classmates’ responses to see how they feel - and possibly pick up some new ideas (or change their mind all together). Students can take this information and create / publish a writing piece that ties into the The Day the Crayons Quit!
Fun with Flipgrid Photo Stickers
If you’re in a hurry and want to hear which crayon your students think is the most overworked, they can do so quickly by explaining their thinking and using our Flipgrid Photo Sticker (see below). This frame may also be used to retell the sequence of events, or compare / contrast both stories.
Click here or below to download our free
Flipgrid Photo Sticker
Adding Augmented Reality to the Crayons series
This is a great activity if your students are learning about describing characters, making connections or comparing / contrasting characters. Start off by reading The Day the Crayons Quit or The Day the Crayons Came Home. After you read, revisit each crayon and think about how you would describe each one. We recommend using something like a bubble map to help organize student thoughts on each crayon. Once the class is ready to move on, have the students log onto Flipgrid. Give the students time to record a video where they describe the first character.
After they have submitted the first character, instruct them to view their own video. Once they are logged on watching their own video, have the students add a video comment to themselves describing the next character. Students will repeat this step as many times as necessary to describe all of the characters your class has discussed. Doing so will create an organize thread where only that particular student’s videos will be posted (other classmates will not respond to each other - yet 😜).
Now that you have all student responses, it’s time to take things to the next level! Have your students work on cutting out the trading cards resource (see image or click here to download). While they are cutting them, take a moment to print / download the Flipgrid video response QR codes. This can be done quickly from a topic on the educators dashboard and clicking the open square (next to “Actions”), selecting the appropriate videos (or select all) and then clicking “Print QR Codes.” Tip: These QR codes may be resized in a program like PowerPoint or Google Slides. You will want to resize the QR codes a bit for the next part.
Now that you have the QR codes printed, give each student their QR codes to cut out. The QR codes then get glued to the Trading Card template. Students can illustrate the back of the cards with the appropriate crayon they are referring to. Now, with the QR code printed on the card - have the students open the Flipgrid app (mobile devices only). Instead of logging onto their Group, instruct the students to tap the orange / red “Scan Flipgrid QR” button. This launches Flipgrid’s QR code reader. Students are now able to scan their trading card QR codes with the Flipgrid app. The best part - their responses will open in augmented reality! Now that the cards are completed, it’s time to trade them! Students can now scan the code(s), watch the video(s) and respond to one another accordingly - or just trade with each other for fun. See how this all works in our video below!
More lesson ideas tied to the Crayons series
Here are some other ideas you can tie into the Crayons series:
The Power of Protest: Explain the meaning of a peaceful protest (as in The Day the Crayons Quit). Then, have students create a protest poster / flyer (it can be paper sized) for the crayon that they feel is the most overworked. Share their poster / flyer on Flipgrid, then have the students watch each other’s videos. Lastly, poll the students one last time to see if anyone’s opinion has changed after watching their friends.
Persuasive Letters: Have your students pick a crayon and then pretend that they are the character that they have picked. As the crayon, write a letter to the rest of the class explaining why you feel as though you are overworked, or why your vacation was the best. Then, share the letter on Flipgrid.
Science Integration: Collect all the old crayons from the classroom. Then, use a hair dryer to experiment with melting the crayons. Do new colors form when melting them together? Student hypothesis can be recorded and shared in Flipgrid!
Color Spectrum: Discuss the way light reflects and the color spectrum. How does this help when manufacturers are making crayon colors?
Inquiry Learning with Wonderopolis: Have you ever wondered where crayons were first made? Or maybe what the first crayon color was in the United States? Read this Wonderopolis article to tie in some history!
Planning a Day the Crayons Quit lesson or unit? Download our slide templates below!
-- Please follow us on social media and tag us with how you’re using The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home into your classroom! 👓👗
For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!
InterACTIVE Attendance Slides! (Guest Post: Karie Frauenhoffer)
Learn how rockstar 7th Grade educator Karie Frauenhoffer makes taking attendance into an interACTIVE experience! Be sure to follow Karie on Twitter at @legitkfrauey for more tips and tricks!
Walking into school and waiting for your day to begin may be sluggish for some students. So, we reached out to our dear friend Karie (@legitkfrauey) who shared this ⚡️EPIC⚡️ tweet!
Meet Karie!
Karie has spent a decade in the classroom and 7th graders have had her heart for the last nine years. Currently she is hybrid teaching both Language Arts and Social Studies and loves the challenge of taking her lessons and making them #InterACTIVE. Karie is a Flipgrid Ambassador and #MIEExpert. You can follow her on Twitter @legitkfrauey!
In this blog post, you’ll learn and receive:
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⭐️ How Karie makes attendance interACTIVE!
⭐️ Download a ⚡️FREE TEMPLATE⚡️ to start your own!
InterACTIVE Attendance!
Virtual learning ISN'T fun… I mean, don’t get me wrong -- I do love teaching with my pups, but I do miss the kiddos. One of the ways that I have learned how to hook my kiddos and get them excited for the day is with my interactive attendance slides.
Interactive attendance slides?! WHAT?! YES!! Let me tell you how this came about!
I started doing just standard attendance slides using PearDeck (an AMAZING interactive tool, highly recommend!) -- students would click the link to access the PearDeck (in teacher-paced) and they would move the icon over their number & that would indicate they were present.
But this got boring-- obviously. SOOOO, I began to experiment with different types.
We made the PearDeck Pear, Peary a turkey!
LOOK at those cute turkeys!
We also experimented with This or That slides…
And I began to see MORE students were present for class & were engaging with me. I always tied the attendance into the lesson and used it as a way to chat with the students.
I got my BIGGEST excitement with my hidden picture attendance slides…
To hold students accountable for not just DOING the attendance but not doing the work; in their classwork for the day-- I incorporated a question that tied in with the hidden picture. (How many Ms. Frauey’s are there? What was Ms. Frauey doing?)
⭐️ Download a ⚡️FREE TEMPLATE⚡️ to start your own!
Enjoy and thank you for reading!
—Karie ❤️
For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!
Memes For Themes
Common standard—needed a new delivery method. One of my favorite ways to engage students is by meeting them where they are at and this year we met to discuss theme….through MEMES. Student created and explained using Microsoft PowerPoint!
As always with everything, we are spiraling through our curriculum and it is time to review THEME. This standard is always hard for me to teach because of the complexity of the standard--you need to reviewing elements of plot (characters and problem) along with having the ability according to our state's standard to summarize.
So this year I do what I always do when I need inspiration--I turn to my PLN on social media. This lesson was adapted by something I saw by author, speaker and best selling author Catlin Tucker--Creating Memes to Explore Themes. (you can check out her original post here) If you aren't one of my many Twitter friends, you may not know this, but technology is a fluid tool in my classroom and something we use and learn from on a daily basis. When I saw this lesson idea I knew it would be an instant hit. I modified Catlin's original lesson a little based on my class make up and age level and you can read through those steps below.
Day 1
I split the lesson into two days to help address the multiple layers of our state standard. First, my students are required to show that they can summarize a story retelling the main events before they state and explain the theme. One of my favorite professional books is a book titled Summarization in Any Subject: 50 Techniques to Improve Student Learning by Rick Wormeli. One of the activities included is called "One Word Summary." Students use their selection of text and collaboratively come up with a list of words they could use to describe the story. Each students defends the "one word" they would use and explain/defend why they would choose that word. For this lesson, my students were working to summarize a novel we had read together as a class. This helped because it allowed me to be working on the same text with all students. After each student had brainstorm their word, their assignment was to "illustrate" their word. They drew the words with “animated” letters that fit with the topic and theme of the book.
When their word was completed, students flipped their papers over and explained why they chose the word they did. They explained their word through basic summaries of the story, using various elements of the story to support the word they chose. This part of the lesson took the first day and we continued with the memes the following day.
Day 2
The next day we picked up right where we left off. Students came to the carpet for a time of modeling and instruction. I showed them the google slides I had prepared--complete with a slide for each of them (names already on it by class number). I modeled what my one word would be using a story we read aloud earlier in the year and then started creating my own meme. I first wrote my personal theme statement in the notes section of the slide. Then I chose a picture, and we brainstormed what text I could use to make my meme communicate the same theme as the book. This entire time I was also modeling how to find an image and how to maneuver through the google slides tools such as text size, font, etc. My example slide was the last slide in the google slides so the kids could refer back to it while they worked. When finished, we talked through any questions and then I let the kids get started. I rotated the room when needed, but also managed the class progress by scrolling through the google slides.
When a student felt they were finished, they came to me and we reviewed their meme. We read their theme statement (located in the notes section) and I then checked to see if it matched what the meme was trying to communicate. I didn't use this time to correct a student with an incorrect theme statement, but rather was looking to see if they could create a meme that visually represented the theme they came up with. I used this as an assessment so I wanted their work to be their own and to represent their knowledge of theme--even if it wasn't 100% correct. I later pulled the few students that struggle the following week to review theme again and to discuss the elements that might have been lacking from those students' original projects.
I have included a few of the memes created along with the theme statement that corresponded with each.
Theme Statement: One small person can make a big impact.
Theme Statement: Doing what you think is right may be scary but if you stick with it you may find yourself enjoying it.
Theme Statement: What we work hard to do can make a big impact on others.