Everything about Boom Cards

 What is Boom Learning?

If I had to summarize my 2020 teaching year, I would define it as “Boom learning”. I think all teachers went home in March 2020 and changed the classroom for the screens and we started teaching virtually. That was the moment I discovered Boom Cards and now I can say BOOM CARDS ARE A MUST!

Boom Learning is the name of the site where we can use Boom Cards. The Boom Learning platform offers interactive games to be played on any digital device. I use them with my students- and I create them- and I have to say that Boom Cards make my teaching life better! I believe that a digital resource needs to be easy to manage by teachers and simple to access for students. Moreover, during COVID time, teachers have to to find activities that can be easily developed by parents and Boom Cards are just like the task cards we use in class but with a digital format. So, what are Boom Cards? Boom Cards are interactive games that can be accessed on a tablet, computer, phone or whiteboard. They are fun, engaging and self-correcting.

This Boom Card Game is about subtraction. It is ideal for Back to School Time. My kids love playing this game. They need to drag the apples to solve the subtraction sentences! It is a fun and engaging way to teach Math and they can play on their own because Boom Cards are self-correcting!

How does Boom Learning work?

Boom Cards are paperless. Perfect to teach and learn online! Boom Cards can be used to make games about anything. For example, if we are teaching numbers from 1 to 20 in Kindergarten, we can buy or create a Boom Card game where the students need to count the amount of pigs a farmer has and then click on the correct number. Boom Learning website is self-correcting, so students need to answer questions correctly in order to finish the game. 

The first thing you need to do is to familiarize yourself with the Boom Learning vocabulary.

• Boom Learning Decks – Each Boom Card set is called a deck.  Each deck contains a group of task cards that usually focus on a particular skill. You keep all your decks in your library.
• Boom Cards Library – The place in Boom Learning platform where you will find all your games.
• Boom Learning Points – In Boom Learning you don’t pay your Boom Cards game with money, you pay using points! Of course, you get points by spending money.
• Boom Learning Section – The number of classes that you can create. 
• FastPlay– The link you share with your students to play Boom Cards games. There are two ways to use Boom Learning: using Boom Learning for free, where you aren’t able to collect student data about how they perform the games; or creating an account where you can track student performance. 

Is Boom Learning free?

Boom Cards for kids are always free! Students can create an account or not, but they can always play the game if you share your games with them (by sending the fast play). Boom Learning for teachers can also be free but Boom Learning resources are varied if you get a Boom learning subscription. Boom Learning’s cost depends on the levels you choose:

• Starter– If you just want to share the activity link with your class and have your kids play. That is the free version.

• Basic– If you want the ability to create 3 classes.

• Power– If you want to create more sections and track the progress of your students.

• Ultimate– This Boom Learning subscription allows you to create and sell your decks.

The Boom Learning membership you use will depend on what you need. If you want to track your student progress, you need your students to create an account and a Boom card deck will be assigned to them. If you just want your students complete the Boom Card activity and not track their progress, send the fast pin to your students and they do not need to log into Boom learning, they just need to click the link.

I use them also at home to review letter formation with my kids! They love it!

Getting Boom Decks for you Class

You have your class set up, now you are ready to get Boom Cards for your students. There are two ways to get Boom Cards.

The first one is creating Boom Cards Decks! Teachers have the option to create Boom Cards and there are plenty of Boom Cards tutorials about how to make them!

The second way to get Boom Decks is buying them. You can find Boom Cards resources in Boom Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers. If you purchase Boom Cards from the Boom Learning site, you purchase them with points and the games go directly to your library. If you buy the game in TPT you will get a PDF with a link that opens the Boom Card game.

Do you want to try a Boom Learning Resource for free? Click on the picture below to access a free Boom Card deck! You can check out my store to get free Boom Cards and also enjoy Boom Cards in Spanish. I have plenty of them!

Boom Cards and Google Classroom

When you have purchased or created your Boom Deck there are so many ways to enjoy them. You can assign Boom Cards to your students in Google Classroom using links. It is important to note that Boom Cards can’t be played in Google Classroom, students can play Boom Cards in Google Classroom but teachers need to share the fastplay links. You may also request your students to create a Boom Leaning account and ask students to log in to Boom Learning and complete a Boom Card activity.

At the beginning of my experience with boom cards for distance learning I just sent the link by email or posted it in ClassDojo so that students could access and complete my assignments. I have used a lot of Boom Cards Games plenty of times but definitely these are my favorite ones. If you click on them, you will get access!

That is all! I know that this post is a bit long, but I want to offer support to teachers who want to open a Boom Learning account but aren’t sure if it’s worth it. I believe that this resource is awesome and every teacher should give it a try so why not start with one of my free Boom Cards games!

Please let me know if you have any questions that I can answer for you! I am here to help! 

All my best,

Ms.Herraiz