Digital resources have seen a major surge in popularity over the past few years. Reduced paper budgets and the desire to incorporate more interactive activities for students has helped to spawn the latest craze…BOOM Cards™. While we still feel printable resources will always have value within the classroom, BOOM Learning℠ has introduced a new online platform that is so amazing we just had to share it with you!
What are BOOM Cards?
BOOM Cards are digital task cards that are able to be accessed and played on any modern web browser (hosted on BOOM Learning℠). That means students are able to use these resources on desktop computers, laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, and cell phones.
Quite possibly the best aspect of BOOM Cards is that they require virtually no prep work. There’s no printing, cutting, laminating, or grading. It’s all done for you!
BOOM Cards provide a variety of questioning formats such as true/false, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer. Also, most cards in each deck contain pictures, icons, or diagrams (just like printable task cards).
How do I get access to BOOM Cards?
You can purchase BOOM Cards directly off of our BOOM Learning site (then click “Digital Task Card” tab on left side of screen) or through Teachers Pay Teachers. All of the BOOM Card decks that we have created offer a playable preview. This preview allows you to view a small sample of 4-5 cards that are included in a specific deck.
What are the benefits of using BOOM Cards?
- Track student data – After students have completed a deck you will be able to access a report that contains their data. This report includes an overall score (accuracy), student responses per question (correct or incorrect), and the average time taken to answer each question.
- Differentiate your classroom – You have control of the decks you want to assign to your individual students. Assign the same deck to the entire class or choose a specific deck to assign to certain students.
- Variety of uses – Just like printable task cards, these sets are perfect for early finishers, stations, rotations, tutorials/pull outs, homework assignments, and extra practice. They are extremely versatile and offer great value within the classroom.
Do I need a membership to use BOOM Cards?
If you want access to student success reports and data tracking – yes!
If you simply just want your students to play the decks – no! (Note – Free accounts allow students to play the decks, but do not record student progress. Most decks are self-grading so students are able to see their own personal results.)
New users to BOOM Learning (via TPT purchase or BOOM’s website) receive a 90-day free trial membership for up to 150 students. At the end of 90 day trial, the membership expires unless you choose to purchase a paid membership. However, as long as you keep your account open (free or paid) your students can still access and play Boom Cards using Fast Pins.
There are 4 main membership levels – Starter, Basic, Power, and Ultimate.
- Starter – This is a free membership level. It allows you to create 1 section (class) and includes data tracking for up to 5 students. This membership level is perfect if you home school or need to focus on a select few students in your class.
- Basic – This membership level costs $9 per year. It allows you to create 3 sections and includes data tracking for up to 80 students.
- Power – This membership level costs $19 per year. It allows you to create 5 sections and includes data tracking for up to 150 students.
- Ultimate – This membership level costs $25 per year. It allows you to create 8 sections and includes data tracking for up to 200 students.
Want to try a FREE BOOM Card deck?
If you would like to test out all of the features BOOM Cards have to offer, you can click here or on the image below to sign up for our email list. You’ll receive our Energy BOOM Cards completely free as an added bonus! We would love for you to try them out and let us know what you think.
We also have created a Science Digital BOOM Cards™ Bundle of 30 unique sets. This bundle covers a variety of life science, earth science, space science, and physical science concepts and is priced to save 35% over purchasing each set individually.
We hope you will give BOOM Cards a try with your students. We promise they will LOVE them!
As always, thanks for everything you do for your students. Take care!
Scott and Natalie
