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Caption This!



Earlier this year, Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) wrote an awesome blog post titled "Caption This! A fun, deep-thinking Google Drawings activity." The blog post was co-authored by Laura Steinbrink (@SteinbrinkLaura) and it included an explanation of four different activities that could be created using Google Drawings or Google Slides. They also provided templates, tips, and examples of how to use each of these activities in the classroom. (Click here to read the original post.)

I tried the "Caption This & Comment" activity for a Martin Luther King Jr. unit we were doing in class. In order to build some background knowledge, students completed a few different activities:

  1. Google Arts & Culture: I tried to hook students' attention by having them explore images related to King. They chose one image that stood out to them and they shared it on a collaborative Padlet board with an explanation of why they chose it. 
  2. YouTube Playlist: I created a playlist of 5 different short videos about King. Students chose 2 - 3 videos to watch, and then they wrote a post on a digital discussion board that included one thing they learned and one question they still had about King's life. 
  3. Newsela Article: Students read and annotated an informational text about King's life. I used Newsela so that students could read it at a comfortable level. They shared one of their annotations on our class Flipgrid. 
After they completed these activities, they moved on to the "Caption This" assignment. I created a template for them to copy in Google Slides. 

They did a really great job! I will say that this involved A LOT of feedback and one-on-one conversations, especially for their explanations on Slide 2. However, it was really powerful to read those explanations and get a real idea of their understanding and learning. 

 Here are the links to some student examples:

 Student Example #1
Student Example #2
Student Example #3

I really enjoyed this activity, and my students did, also! I am definitely going to revisit it next year with some different units. 

 Have you tried the "Caption This!" activity in your classroom? How did you use it? Or, how could you see yourself using in the future? I'd love to hear from you!

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