The quiz below was created for a 3rd Grade mathematics class and can be modified in various ways in order to meet the needs of all students.
Standard: NY 3.0A- Operations & Algebraic Thinking
Understand properties of multiplication & the relationship between multiplication & division.
5. Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply & divide.
Kahoot! in the Classroom
In today’s classrooms we see curriculum that is created with Universal Design for Learning in order to be inclusive of all types of learners. In order to make sure all students are able to receive the proper explicit instruction, technology is often used as a tool to allow students to engage with the curriculum in various ways. Technology allows for an educator to tailor their lesson plans to meet the needs of all students, but is extremely helpful in creating content for students with disabilities. One of these extremely useful technological platforms is Kahoot!.
My experience with Kahoot! is limited, as I have only seen it used in my classroom observations throughout this MAT Dual Certification program and in this specific class. From my research into Kahoot!, I can see that it is a fantastic tool for educators to create quizzes, slides, and activities to keep their students interested and engaged with what they are learning. I love the quiz tool that allows students to “compete” for points while answering questions about the curriculum. This is a great way for students to review what they have learned. In one of my observations I saw a Kahoot! quiz utilized as review before the actual graded quiz for the end of a Social Studies unit. This made me think of how I could utilize a Kahoot! quiz as an actual assessment for a student with disabilities.
Instead of a paper quiz or test, I would like use Kahoot! as a way to assess the knowledge of my students with disabilities. I would eliminate the timer countdown, so students could take their time to fully understand the questions. For students who may have a hard time with reading, who may be visually impaired, or a student who is an English Language Learner, I would add audio into the questions that may assist the student. This would also be supplemented with larger font sizes to make the words easier to read. Questions and answers may also be able to be written in multiple languages, to help those who may struggle in ELA. I also really enjoy the fact that pictures and videos can be embedded into the slides, to further engage students who might be visual learners. I would add pictures as answers to go along with the word answers so that students who struggle with reading or who are non-verbal can select an answer more easily.
For this project I created a third grade Kahoot! quiz in mathematics based on the New York State Standard NY-3.0A Operations and Algebraic Thinking, 5. Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide. I focused only on multiplication, as I would use this quiz as a review or assessment of the concepts of the multiplication operations and properties, before the next lesson in division. I tried to provide visual clues in many of the questions so that students can have support if they are struggling. For multiple choice questions, I tried to make some wrong answers blatantly wrong, to help students eliminate their options. I would have liked to utilize more picture answers in order to help students who may be more visual. I utilized a video that tells the students the answer to one of the “true or false” questions. The video is a silly song about the commutative property of multiplication. I would use the full song in my lesson plan, but I only used 20 seconds for the question on the quiz. I think songs help students remember content that could be tricky. In this quiz I tried to make it about the three main operations verses quizzing them on many different equations, that could stress the students out. I think that by having similar questions used throughout the quiz, it allows students to firmly demonstrate their knowledge without feeling overwhelmed with too many concepts.
As a future special education teacher, I think it is very important to adhere to the Universal Design for Learning in order to reach all of our students, especially those with disabilities. Kahoot! is a fantastic tool that allows teachers to create content that engages all students, which can be tailored to the specific needs of those students who have disabilities. I look forward to engaging with the platform more in the future.