Learning Tool - Boom Cards

Here comes the BOOM!

Boom Cards - An Accessible Teaching/Learning Tool

Hello, teachers, therapists, and interventionists! I am excited to share Boom Cards with you this week. Boom Cards gained popularity during distance learning due to the pandemic. Luckily, this resource is effective when used in the classroom and one on one with students. Boom Cards are an accessible tool for our students. Although it is not recognized as an accessible tool, there are aspects of Boom Cards that promote accessibility to users. The cards provide visuals for our visual learners but also provide a hearing component. The program reads the instructions, questions, and cards out loud. Boom Cards are an easy to use free platform for learning with paid options. There are plenty of free resources available, so you never feel the need to have to purchase a deck of cards to use with your class. Teachers are also able to create their own deck of Boom Cards, and there are ways to create accessible boom cards for students with visual impairments.

How to use Boom Cards

Boom Cards are simple and easy to use! First, visit the website: https://wow.boomlearning.com/  and create your free account. Many schools have school accounts, so be sure to inquire about that before creating a personal account. After your account has been set up, you can filter through the decks of Boom Cards by subject and grade level. You can also type in whatever activity you are looking for in the search bar. For example, you may want to find activities for learning the water cycle. Simply type "water cycle" into the search bar and filter the results to "free" to find free activities. If there is not a deck that you are looking for, you have the opportunity to create your own decks of Boom Cards! Check out the video below for a tutorial on how to use Boom Cards:

(Sweet for Kindergarten Kristina Harrill, 2021)

Boom Cards can be used in the classrooms shared on the big screen for the students to interact with, on student's Chromebooks, on student's personal devices, and on assistive devices like iPads. Speech and occupational therapists and interventionists are able to use Boom Cards during sessions with their students. As a current early intervention specialist, I use Boom Cards daily while working with my clients diagnosed with ASD and their families. There is an assortment as to what Boom Cards offers for users! From multiplication practice to routine sequencing, Boom Cards has it all. 

Accessible Boom Cards Resources

Perkins School for the Blind shares free digital braille Boom decks: https://www.perkins.org/resource/braille-boom-cards/

Paths to Literacy shares a guide to creating Boom Cards for students with visual impairments: 

https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/creating-boom-cards-for-our-students-with-visual-impairments

(Lisha Yoch, 2022)

 
References

Brauner, D. (n.d.). Braille boom cards. Perkins School for the Blind. https://www.perkins.org/resource/braille-boom-cards/

Paths to Literacy. (n.d.). Creating boom cards for our students with visual impairments. https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/creating-boom-cards-for-our-students-with-visual-impairments.

Sweet for Kindergarten Kristina Harrill. (2021, Apr. 1). How to use boom cards tutorial. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYwvzHKp69k

Yoch, L. (2022, March 5). Boom cards for our CVI student. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAFiv-wZi-U