As we move closer to our third year of navigating through a global pandemic, teachers and students are continuing to struggle and burn out. Tried and true lessons and projects might not be as effective when a third of the class is out quarantining or the teacher needs to be out for a week or two. It is exhausting to even think about starting over and creating new lessons.
Enter Google's Applied Digital Skills. Never heard of it? You're not alone. Google's hidden gem is a collection of over 170 lesson plans that are entirely ready to use (and/or adapt) in your classroom. On the teacher end, you are provided with written lesson plans, example student work, and a rubric. There are also self-paced videos to walk students through the lesson step-by-step if you want to use those for remote students.
Let's look at one of the most popular lessons - "Write an If-Then Adventure Story". This 2-3 hour lesson asks students to work together to plan out a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style story and make it interactive using Google Slides. The topic is up to you (or your students)! Some examples:
Science: Students create their own virtual science lab by testing hypotheses and displaying what happens when certain choices are made.
Math/FACS: Students create a storyline similar to the Game of Life where they choose a career and salary and then see where their life choices put them financially - buying a car or house, investing money, etc.
Social Studies: Students create a travel storyline where they choose different historical destinations.
English: Students create alternative storylines to a book that they read - what other outcomes could have occurred if characters made different choices?
Foreign Language: Students can create ANY storyline they want, but write it in a foreign language!
Here is a quick little example that I created so you can see how they work - I call it "Ben's Big Adventure".
As for using the lessons in class - you do not NEED to create an account. You can simply explore the lessons and use them by posting the link to a lesson and having your students submit their work in Google Classroom. But you CAN create an account to save your favorite lessons. You CAN import your classes from Google Classroom and add assignments so you can see how your students are progressing. That's the great thing about Applied Digital Skills - you can come into it at any level for any type of lesson!
You can learn more about this on the Teaching Resources page of Applied Digital Skills. We will also be hosting a training session for Londonderry High School teachers on Tuesday, January 25, at 1:00 in the library and on Google Meet. Sign up for the event on the Library PD Calendar!
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