In September 2020, a fifth grade teacher named Dana began a product review on an educators’ resource website by saying, “After distance learning last year, I knew that I needed to start this year with explicitly teaching how to navigate Google Classroom.”
She was reviewing a guide of activities to assign as part of a Google Classroom Scavenger hunt and was delighted with it. “This scavenger hunt was amazing,” she wrote. “It was easy to use and actually helped me set up my new classroom with what I needed for the year. Thank you for creating something that is not only helpful, but engaging and fun.”1
A Google Classroom scavenger hunt is a teaching tool that gets students exploring or rediscovering how to use the Google Classroom platform.
As schools nationwide continue to use online and hybrid learning models into 2021, we’re taking this opportunity to suggest several ways to use this popular, productive structure.
Introduce it to your students.
Danielle Rochford teaches middle school in Alberta, Canada, and has been teaching online for a decade. She uses Google Classroom scavenger hunts so regularly that she has made a guide to them available for free download. It comprises 16 activities of increasing difficulty.
She starts by creating and inviting her students to a ‘Junior High Homeroom’ class on Google Classroom, where she establishes class procedures and expectations, and she provides a link to an introductory YouTube video.
Three activity ideas based on her work follow here, using the format that she suggests.2
Skill: Locate Classroom Links
Post Type: Question
Title: Online Classroom Links
Points: 10
Description: Now that you've spent some time looking through Google Classroom and going over all the materials provided for you, try to answer the following question.
Where can you find the Zoom Online Session links for Orientation Week?
Short Answer: ✓ (yes)
Students Can Reply: X (no)
Students Can Edit Answer:✓
Multiple Choice: X
Links: None
Skill: Access Google Classroom
Post Type: Question
Title: Access Google Classroom
Points: 20
Description: Google Classroom Login
Did you use your awesome computer skills to get logged into Google Classroom?
Short Answer: X
Multiple Choice: ✓
Students Can See Class Summary: X
Multiple Choice Options:✓ Yes, I have figured out how to log in to Google Classroom and joined the Junior High Homeroom class.
X I'm not sure how I'm answering this if I didn't get logged into Google Classroom.
Links: None
Skill: Add a Profile Picture
Post Type: Question
Title: Add a Profile Picture
Points: 20
Description: In Google Classroom, you can personalize your account by adding a profile picture. Your task is to add a new profile picture to your account.1. Click on the three bars in the top left-hand corner of Google Classroom 2. Select "Settings"3. Click on "profile" next to the grey icon to upload an image of your choice.
It does not need to be a picture of you, but could be something that represents you (animal, flower, bitmoji).
The picture that you choose MUST BE appropriate for our school setting (no violence or crass words).
Short Answer: X
Multiple Choice: ✓
Students Can See Class Summary: X
Multiple Choice Options: ✓ WooHoo! I’ve got a new profile picture!
X I'm not following instructions and am going to stick with the letter in a circle.
Create your scavenger hunt your way.
Just as your Google Classroom space is unique to you, so is each scavenger hunt you create.
Danielle Rochford uses standardized terms (Post Type, Title, Points, and so on) in her scavenger hunt documents, but the wording and formatting are customizable. Tasks and questions that help students learn to use Google Classroom effectively can be as straightforward as these:3
- What is the To-Do list for?
- What kinds of things will you find on the classwork tab? Insert a screenshot of the classwork tab for this class.
- What should you do if you need to change something on an assignment you’ve already submitted?
- What’s the difference between class comments and private comments?
- When will happen if a student makes comments that are off-topic or inappropriate?
Build skills in your students and their parents.
It’s not just your kids who will need to become fluent in Google Classroom. Parents and guardians who can use the platform smoothly will be better equipped to communicate with you and help your students succeed.
Any skill that you’ll expect them to use, including but not limited to the ones that follow here,4 can be taught and strengthened through scavenger hunt activities.
- Using the Assignment, Material and Question icons
- Viewing due dates
- Adding public group comments
- Sending private comments to the teacher
- Practicing with Google Slides assignments
- Handing in assignments
- Creating a Google Doc in an assignment
- Changing notification settings
Find what you’re looking for at KU.
You don’t have to search for the best online graduate programs in education. They’re here at the University of Kansas.
- Expand your expertise in engaging students of all ages in our Department of Curriculum and Teaching
- Share your gifts with students with disabilities in our Department of Special Education
- Learn to inspire and strengthen motivation in instructional teams in our Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
We offer online master’s degrees, graduate certificates and licensure endorsement programs, and our admissions advisors are here to answer your questions. Get in touch with us today.
Sources:
1. Retrieved on May 5, 2021 from teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Google-Classroom-Scavenger-Hunt-Intro-to-Google-Classroom-RemoteBlended-5801926#
2. Retrieved on May 5, 2021 from rochfordondemand.com/blog/2020/06/03/google-classroom-scavenger-hunt/
3. Retrieved on May 5, 2021 from teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-To-Use-Google-Classroom-Scavenger-Hunt-For-Students-Distance-Learning-5824810
4. Retrieved on May 5, 2021 from teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-To-Use-Google-Classroom-Scavenger-Hunt-Easy-Steps-For-PARENTS-AND-STUDENTS-5940974