Create lovely Google Site headers using Canva

This term the Grade 6s and 7s have been creating websites to use as digital portfolios. They used Google Sites for their websites and made their Google Site headers using Canva. Canva is a wonderful graphics online application. As a teacher I could apply to get Canva free for myself and all my students - my application was successful, so all the classes use Canva. The students came up with the loveliest of designs.

Learner examples

How did we go about making the website headers? 

Once again I found a relevant Youtube video to use to teach myself the steps. Here is an example of one of the videos that I followed for guidance  - 'How to Create Custom Banner and Buttons for Google Sites' from Vestal's 21st Century Classroom Channel:  https://bit.ly/3x5CkkV.

Create beautiful websites using Google Sites and Canva together

The Grade 6s and 7s have been creating websites to use as digital portfolios throughout the year. They used Google Sites for this. Of course, Canva, my favourite graphics application, helped the students create stunning sites.

How to create website buttons using Canva

They made superb headings for their websites using Canva  (see previous post) and they also created attractive buttons for each page using Canva. They used the following headings (we brainstormed the ideas for these headings based on last years ICT work): 
- About me
- My blog
- My stories
- My other writing
- My projects
- My videos and graphics
- My coding examples

They have started uploading this term's work to their digital portfolios, and so far have uploaded an 'About me video' and an 'I am' poem to their About Me page.

I blurred our learners' faces using https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/?action=blu

Learner examples

How did we go about making the website buttons? 

When I learn to do something, I usually find a relevant YouTube video or two, and then I create a relevant PowerPoint to guide my lessons with the learners. (You can see that I use Google Workplace and Microsoft interchangeably!) I convert this PowerPoint to Google Slides and add it to my Google Classroom lesson so that it is always available for the learners to look at. (I use Google Classroom for every lesson). This procedure works really well for me. 

Here is an example of one of the videos that I followed for guidance in making buttons - 'How to Create Custom Banner and Buttons for Google Sites' from Vestal's 21st Century Classroom Channel:  https://bit.ly/3x5CkkV.

Create a simple quiz using a Canva blank presentation template

The Grade 4s were learning how to use Canva from scratch, so we decided that each one would create a quiz about a different group of animals. (Canva has a lovely selection of presentation templates. However, we decided to use a blank presentation for this lesson so that we could learn more about Canva.) We thought decided that one slide would say 'What is this?' and the next slide would have the answer.

In doing this we learned about text size and effects, text placement, how to set an image as a background, and many more aspects of Canva.

Here are some examples of the resulting presentations:

Animal quiz by Carch shared by Fiona Beal

Wild Animals Quiz by Isamum shared by Fiona Beal

Farm Animals quiz bu Kylrob shared by Fiona Beal  

In the image below we see the three quizzes shown above, on the topics of Insects, Farm Animals and Wild Animals, being displayed on the learners' Chromebooks. In the lesson, after the quizzes were completed, the kearners each presented theirs to the rest of the class as a general knowledge quiz. 

I blurred our learners' faces using https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/?action=blu

Using Canva to create animated posters in Grade 4

Canva is a fantastic tool for learning. A picture is worth a 1000 words and my students are continually inspired by all the beautiful designs in Canva  I am using Canva in different ways  with my Grade 4 class of 9 and 10 year olds.  

In the lesson described below I wanted to get them familiar with animation so I thought we should make a poster. There are several ways to use animation in Canva, but I thought we would start with the simplest way – “Find an animated image and make it your own.”

The task

I asked my class to think about an important event that was coming up in their lives in the next week or two, find an animated image that they liked, and then change the image accordingly to make it a personal poster. One girl was going horse-riding and was very excited about this event. Two were attending birthday parties. One was getting a new puppy. And so the list continued... The class loved what they discovered in Canva.

Here are four examples of what the class came up with:

     

I am really hoping that I will be able to get the Canva for Education free account for teachers (Canva is available for free globally to all educational institutions and qualified teachers with proof of teaching certification). Then I will make use of some of these tips from the video below with my Grade 4 class in one of their upcoming lessons.

Usng Canva to create videos - A Grade 4 lesson

What is Canva?

Recently I obtained my Canva.com badge on the Microsoft Educator Centre (https://bit.ly/3hPZN1F). I love Canva. I am hoping I can take advantage of the Canva Pro free offer soon as a teacher. Canva is a graphic design platform that has a free version. It can be used to design visual content such as cards presentations, posters, documents, presentations and much more. The app includes templates for users to use. Canva recently added a new option to record videos and insert them into your presentations and graphics, or download them. In early May my Grade 4 class had such fun creating Mother’s Day videos so I thought would show what we did. 

An explanatory video

Richard Byrne has a great video that explains this new feature: 'How to Record Videos in Canva- New Feature! https://bit.ly/3kwuqLj

 

This is what we did in class:

• First we created our Mother’s Day poem – a simile poem.
• Then we opened Canva and selected a Mothers’ Day card. We added a page to write our poems.
• We added music to our poem.
• We downloaded the video and sent it to our mums by email.

I created a PowerPoint tutorial for the class to follow: 

Student examples: 

The class loved trying out this new feature.  We could have gone further and added voice narration using an external online voice recorder, such as https://www.rev.com/onlinevoicerecorder and then inserting a narrated voice message as well. Perhaps we'll do that next time!

I can't wait to try out some new ideas using Canva.com with my class.  

Extra Reading

Here are some posts about Canva that I am planning to explore:

1. 'Canva In The Classroom: Getting Started, Example Designs, And Tips!' by Kathleen Morris.
https://www.theedublogger.com/canva/

2. '13 ways to use Canva as a teacher' by Jacqui Morris: https://askatechteacher.com/13-ways-to-use-canva-in-your-classroom/ 

3. 'What is Canva for Education? 5 Ideas to Get Students Creating' by Holly Clarke https://bit.ly/3wOEpxN 

4. 'Canva for the classroom' by Betsy: https://bit.ly/2W0OHOQ