Using Google Slides to Teach Content, Differentiate Instruction, and Provide Student Choice
It might surprise people to know how much I value Google Slides in my classroom. I am dedicated to systematic and explicit whole-group instruction. I also have my students writing (using paper and a pencil) every day. I believe we have too much technology in classrooms, and it isn't helping our children learn.
However, I believe technology can play an important role in ensuring every student in a classroom has access to the material they need to learn. Learning from a textbook has many positives. The relevant information is organized, and the instruction follows a logical sequence. Unfortunately, students must be able to read the textbook to get access to the information within it. If you have students in your class who can't read the textbook independently, you have to find ways to support their learning. You can read the textbook aloud, but that forces the students who can read it to work at a slower pace. You can pull the students who need help into a small group, but what will the rest of the class do when they finish the assignment before you? You can have students work with partners, but that often leaves the stronger student doing the work while the weaker student copies it.
I have faced all of these scenarios in my own classrooms over the years. There isn't a perfect routine when classrooms are filled with students at different academic levels, but when we focus on what our students need, we can create stronger lessons.
Instruction Routine
I like to begin my lessons with direct instruction. My direct instruction always starts by connecting what we are about to learn to something we have already learned or common student experiences. For example, when I teach about matter, I ask students to name things they see in the classroom. Usually, everything they name is matter. Later, I can point out things that aren't matter, such as light from the light bulbs.
I keep my direct instruction as short as possible, and I always give students a chance to talk about what they have learned, usually through a Turn and Talk prompt or a quick group activity.
The biggest chunk of time in a lesson is student independent work. This could involve reading a passage and answering questions, responding to a writing prompt, or a creative task, such as drawing an example or model. Independent work involves both learning more about the topic from the direct instruction and using that information in some way. While students work independently, I pull small groups for more deliberate instruction or support with the assigned task, or supervise the group and help individual students as needed.
After independent work, we come back together as a class to review what students completed by going over answers or having students share their work. I also review the key information from the lesson. Then, to gauge what students learned, I give a short exit ticket based on the day's lesson. I review exit tickets daily and adjust my instruction as necessary.
I have used this basic routine with every subject for students from second to eighth grade. It works remarkably well, but two issues can arise. I solve both of these issues with Google Slides.
Google Slides
The first issue with my routine is that sometimes students can't read the material independently. This means I have to stay close to these students, and the rest of the class gets less help. The other issue is the kids who finish the assignment quickly. Some of these students do a great job working on another assignment or reading silently, but others struggle to switch tasks and end up distracting others.
Google Slides activities solve both problems.
First, I can embed narration into my Google Slides, so students who struggle with reading can listen to the text. This frees me to assist other students. Second, I can easily add extra information to my Google Slides, so that even my fastest workers won't finish the entire presentation during class. Over time, my students learn that they will never finish, so they are also less likely to rush through assignments.
I also use the technology available on Google Slides to do things that I can't do with a textbook or a paper reading passage. One of my favorite things is embedding relevant videos into the slides. Embedding videos means that students don't leave the presentation, and there are no advertisements in the videos. I usually include several videos in a presentation so students can choose what they watch. At the end of a presentation, I include videos on related topics that go beyond what we are required to learn in class. Students enjoy bringing this new information (or examples) to our class discussions.
I can also include more visuals in a Google Slides presentation than in a printed handout, and they can be in color! To add even more engagement, I will create activities where students label or match visuals on the topic. These are low-stress review activities that feel more fun than a paper worksheet.
Review
Spaced practice and review are key to remembering new information. Google Slides are helpful for spaced review because students can click through a presentation like flashcards. The first flashcard shows the question, and the second flashcard shows the answer. Our brains love answering questions, so students will be thinking about the answer as soon as they read the question. Then, they can confirm if they were right or not with the click of a button. Getting an answer wrong is even more powerful than getting it right because our brains pay better attention when they get an answer wrong.
Students can practice with review Google Slides as a warm-up activity before a lesson or after a lesson. They can also work with them at home.
Paper and Pencil
My enthusiasm for Google Slides may make it sound like I never use paper and pencil activities in my classroom, and that could not be farther from the truth. We do not use Google Slides every day. I use them only when I need my students to learn and review content I covered in direct instruction, and I know I will need to support a small group. For example, in my second-grade classroom, I gave students the option to listen to reading using Google Slides during independent reading. This let me focus on my literacy groups and prevented the pretend reading I have seen from kids who can't read independently yet. Instead of flipping through books without paying attention, these students built language and background knowledge by watching videos of teacher-curated read alouds.
We are also working with paper and pencil texts and activities every day, but when we do these activities, I know that literacy is going to be a part of the lesson, so I build structures to support the students. This may include reading the passage aloud to the entire class or having students read the passage in small groups. I also model how I want students to write, and we either do a writing sample or start the writing activity together.
Like most things in life, it isn't about choosing between paper and pencil and technology; we get the best results when we choose the best tool for the job.
Google Slides Science Presentations
Even as someone with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Sciences, I find science topics difficult to understand without picture support. I built these science presentations to help middle school students learn and review science material. Each presentation ends with a set of flashcards!
Check out this presentation on the States of Matter. You will see I include links to printable reading passages, so you can use both digital and paper activities with your students.
You can get this presentation here, or on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Are you teaching other science topics? I have presentations for those too!
I also have countless reading passages available here and on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Instead of asking, “How can I make this lesson digital (or paper and pencil)?” start asking, “What could technology help my students do that would make this lesson better?” Use Google Slides to introduce a new concept, build background knowledge, show students something they can't experience firsthand, provide another pathway to the content, or give students meaningful work to do while you teach a small group. Then put the technology away when it has done its job. We don't need more technology in our classrooms. We need to use the technology we already have more intentionally. Try one lesson this week: take a content-heavy topic you're already teaching and see what you can do with Google Slides that you couldn't do with a textbook or worksheet alone.
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