Fake Text Animator

Let’s face it, no one talks on the phone anymore. Text messaging, whether through text, Snapchat, WhatsApp, or other apps, is how students communicate. There is a great website that allows you to create fake message communications with your choice of names, and then you can download these as a video or GIF. This is a great tool for showing characters in a story interacting, science gurus explaining a topic, and many other instructional uses!

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Create a Text Communication:

1. Head over to motion-tools.com/chat-animator/. 

2. Scroll down to the member list and name the participants that you need. 

• The top member will be the chat placed on the right side. 

• Clicking the yellow icon to the right deletes the member.

• The yellow plus icon adds a member. 

• You can also upload an image for their avatar by clicking the yellow cloud icon on the member.

3. Then work on the conversion they may have below using the dropdown for the character and entering text in the box to the right.

4. Do this to the next one below as a response, and repeat working down for each next response.

    

5. If you need more messages, click the Plus button.

6. When you are done, choose how you want to save this. You can save it as a video or a GIF. Keep in mind that GIFs will play in any Document, Slide, or anywhere images can be used. Videos will require tools that can play videos (such as Slides or standalone videos). I suggest clicking the GIF button just to have it. The video will process and then prompt you to download. 

Now you can add this to a project or share in any way you want!

    

If you want these directions in a document, click HERE!

Cool Canva Presentation Keyboard Animations

Have you ever wanted a visual for students to quiet down while a presentation is being watched? Or need the support of a Mic Drop animation after one of your hilarious Dad Jokes? Canva has you covered! You can do these and MORE while presenting with Cnva! Check it out!

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Canva Presentation Keyboard Animations:

1. Open a Canva Presentation. If you don’t have one, upload a Google Slide into Canva and use that one! 

2. Start presenting the Presentation.

• Tap any of these letters to get the following result:

• B - blur the current slide

• C - confetti explosion

• M - Mic Drop

•  D - Drum roll

• O - floating bubbles

• Q - shhh, quiet down

• U - curtain animation

• 0-9 - Timer (in minutes)

Head over to a Canva Presentation and make it ANIMATED!

If you want these directions in a Document click HERE!

AI Created Images in Canva

There are lots of sites to use AI to generate images. Gemini, CahtCPT, MagicSchool AI, and more. My “go-to” tool for almost anything is Canva. You can also have AI generate images here. It is easy and free. You are limited to 500 images every 21 days, but the results are awesome. Check it out!

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Create an Image:

1. Log into your Canva account at canva.com. Make sure you have the Educator Account. If you are new to Canva or have not been "verified", head here (https://www.canva.com/education) to get verified and get all the upgrades for FREE!  

2. On the left side at the bottom click “Dream Lab”.

3. In the top box, and type in a description of the image you want created.

4. Click “Create”.

5. The new image is created below. Click “Create” again to generate another set of images.

6. Keep an eye on the number in the top right. This is how many creations you have left. They reset every 21 days.

7. You can change the style with the “Smart” button.

8. You can change the image size with the “Aspect” button.

9. Click the image you want to keep and the 3 dots to copy or download your image.

Head over to Canva and get creating!

If you want these directions in a Document, click HERE!

Create Groups with Grouper

There are many ways to create groups within your classroom. Pulling popsicle sticks, random number drawings, ClassDojo or similar tool, and others. The tool Grouper does this easily by pulling names from your existing Google Classroom. Grouper is a quick and easy. The best part is that all your groups are saved in Grouper for later use. Oh, did I mention that it is FREE? Give it a try!

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Create Groups:

1. Head over to grouper.school. 

2. Create an account by signing into Google.

3. Allow the site access to your Google Classrooms.

4. Choose the classroom you wish to use to create student groups. Click “Use in grouping”.

5. Choose what you want to do. 

• Groups Of: Make groups of a certain number

• Split Class: Split class into a set number of groups

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Editing Groups:

Now that you have created groups, there are many things you can do with these.

1. You can edit the name of each group if you want by clicking on the name and typing a new name.

2. You can reorder the students in any way you want by dragging students around within their group or even to other groups.

3. You can shuffle (create new groups) and rotate (reorder on the screen) your groups.

4. By clicking “Attributes” on the left, you can set rules for individual students to help make equal or well-working groups. 

This is a useful and easy tool to help create and manage working groups. Give Grouper a try!

If you want these directions in a Document, click HERE!

Groovelit for Writing Fun

Students love competitive gaming with tools like Kahoot, Gimkit, and Quizziz. There is a tool geared for 3rd grade and up for writing that is similar to these game-based tools. Groovelit is a fun way to practice writing. Students are given a visual and text prompt and create a writing sample (they can also use speech to text for this), and the Goovelit AI tool scores this. There are points earned, rankings displayed, and it is competitive like Kahoot and Gimkit. If you are looking for a way to up your writing practice, give Groovelit a try!

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Start Playing:

1. Head over to groovelit.com and sign in or set up an account.

2. Your dashboard will show premade games in the center. Check out the Narrative, Argumentative, and Vocabulary options.

3. Each of these choices also has different activities to explore.

• Narrative:

• Argumentative:

• Vocabulary:

4. You can get inspiration by searching by grade and content or checking out other pre-made activities in the Game Library.

5. You can also create your own game by clicking the “Create” icon.

6. Once you have chosen or created your activity, you will set the options you want (just follow the steps to set up the game). Then launch it to your students. They will get a link and code to enter. They will then enter their name (just like other game-based activities).

7. You can see each student’s work as they write in your dashboard. After the game is over, you will also see their writing and how the writing was scored! The best part, the student will also be able to see their work and how to improve their writing. They can even save this writing to work on it later!

If you want more help, check out Groovelit’s tutorial page (HERE) or watch this 30 second overview (HERE)!

There is a lot to this tool. It is a fun way to work on improving writing. Give it a try and see for yourself!

If you want these directions in a document click HERE!