When I meet with new schools who are interested in Clicker, I always love to showcase LearningGrids!

LearningGrids contains thousands of high-quality resources - built by our fantastic Curriculum Team - that are regularly added to and updated. LearningGrids includes a variety of Clicker Sets to ensure that topics can be accessed in numerous ways.

Clicker users love bringing LearningGrids resources into their topic lessons, but a common question I get from subscribers is, ‘How can I make sure I’m getting the most from LearningGrids?’ So, I thought it would be great to share an approach that helps Clicker users avoid LearningGrids resources becoming an after-thought in their very busy schedule.

The way I suggest doing this, is to start at the very beginning – with planning!

Below is a topic plan where I have laid out a teaching sequence and explained which Clicker Sets I would use to facilitate each activity. I’ve provided example resources following the Science topic Phases of the Moon, but this work/lesson flow can be used for most of the topics available in LearningGrids.

Objective	Activity type	Recommended resource
Activities to help pupils understand topic content and vocabulary
Assess current understanding Class brainstorm at the beginning of the topic. Collect any prior knowledge and identify misconceptions.	Clicker Board – perfect for collating knowledge and identifying the class’s starting point. This can include words, images and voice notes.	Phases of the Moon - Clicker Board
Introducing the topic and key vocabulary Reading a book as a class to ensure everyone has the same exposure to the content and specific vocabulary – with a chance to discuss.	Clicker Book – Read a Book – can be read together as a class and identify key vocabulary. You can also rest assured that the content is accurate so no need to check multiple sources!	Phases of the Moon – Read a Book
Independent access to content Pupils independently access the lesson content for consolidation.	Clicker Book – Read it Yourself – in these books the text is presented in smaller chunks to help learners digest the information.	Phases of the Moon – Read it Yourself
Whole class mini plenary Opportunity to gauge whole class understanding and to correct any misconceptions.	Clicker Talk Set – a great resource for whole class reinforcement. Pupils can discuss together a page at a time and then teachers can nominate a class representative to record their current understanding. This activity is also a great task to set for homework – as recording activities are  easily accessible to pupils and do  not rely on their writing ability to evidence understanding.	Phases of the Moon – Talk Set
Build connections and reinforce understanding An activity that allows pupils to practise and assess their current understanding of the topic content – for example matching vocabulary to the correct definitions, or sequencing events in the correct order.	Clicker Matching Set – these sets are easily editable for you to change the number of options to increase/decrease the task’s difficulty. Matching Sets are  brilliant activities that don’t require discussion – perfect for a quick formative assessment.	Phases of the Moon – Matching Set
Resources to help pupils write about the topic
Text construction Writing tasks are a great opportunity for learners to apply their new knowledge. However, writing ability can often impact how successfully a pupil can evidence their understanding.	Clicker Sentence Set – these are fantastic for pupils who can be overwhelmed by a blank piece of paper, or who require extra support in constructing sentences. You can adapt the level of support within the settings to ensure the perfect level of challenge and support for emergent writers.	Phases of the Moon – Sentence Set
	Clicker Connect Set – ideal for pupils who are developing writers and benefit from the added challenge of creating a piece of text from clusters of words and phrases - making it more open to the pupil’s own interpretation.	Phases of the Moon – Connect Set
	Clicker Word Bank – for pupils who confidently write independently and only require access to key vocabulary to construct their piece of writing.	Phases of the Moon – Quick Words Phases of the Moon – A-Z
End of topic project
Create an informative leaflet/book Pupils can combine their learning from this sequence to produce their own informative non-fiction piece of writing.	Clicker Book – Make a Book – learners can create a written book or a talking book depending on their strengths. Using a ‘Make a Book’ template from LearningGrids saves you and your pupils time as they already contain accurate images for your pupils to include as they build their book.	Phases of the Moon – Make a Book - Writing  Phases of the Moon – Make a Book – Talking

As LearningGrids resources are frequently mapped around the curriculum, it is always worth checking to see which topics are covered before you start your planning. As you can see, for this Phases of the Moon example, seven pre-made activities have been used to quickly provide high-quality, trustworthy content that save hours of preparation and planning time. Using LearningGrids also ensures that all learners can access the lesson content thanks to Clicker’s customizable accessibility features and settings.

Don’t forget, if your topic isn’t included, it is very easy to take an existing LearningGrids resource and adapt it to match your needs. If you require any extra support in doing this, our Education Consultants are happy to show you how! Just talk to us at info@cricksoft.com!

In a recent conversation with an assistive technology specialist in the USA, the topic of worksheets came up.

Their school district had been using Clicker 8 for some time, but there were still a few teachers who needed convincing about using technology over the familiar worksheet method.

My contact sent me an example of a worksheet that students were asked to complete about the three classes of rocks. The worksheet was created for students in a high needs classroom. As these students already had access to our software, I looked at how we could convert the worksheet into more engaging and accessible activities using the power of Clicker.

Much of the worksheet required deductive reasoning with multiple choice style questions.

Clicker Cloze activities are a great way to assess a student’s comprehension of a topic, reading skills and ability to use contextual clues to reconstruct a piece of text. They are also a great way to provide students with multiple-choice style questions. You can provide students with a word list of all choices at once, as seen here:

Or you can provide students with more specific targeted options, as seen here:

Clicker Cloze activities provide significantly more support than a traditional paper worksheet. Students can use the Speak Text icon in the support portion of the ribbon to read the document in full, as well as right-click on the words in the suggestions list to hear their options prior to selecting the answer. This fosters independence and confidence in students as they can complete work more easily on their own.

Using Clicker, teachers can also support students with visual impairments by adjusting the contrast of both the document and suggestions. Picture Support can also be added to the suggestions menu.

Students were also asked to label a diagram on the worksheet.

Clicker Boards provide access to the familiar Clicker supports that everyone knows and loves, combined with classic graphic organising features. Clicker Board offers different shapes and colour options to create diagrams for sequencing or labelling activities.

Using this board, students can drag words from the word list to label the diagram within Clicker.  They can utilise the familiar speech feedback to review their instructions and the new unit vocabulary used. The completed board can also be saved to refer to for a unit review.

Finally, students were asked on the worksheet to match a description to a picture.

This is easily recreated using Clicker 8’s Matching Sets, which are a great way to reinforce subject knowledge. A range of activities can be created incorporating pictures, sounds and words or definitions. Creating this piece of the worksheet as a Matching Set allows students to work through an error-free activity while offering immediate feedback.

These are just a few examples of how to transition from static worksheets to a much more interactive and inclusive series of activities using Clicker.

Check out more on the virtual shift away from worksheets here.