High School Learning with Apple #1: Coral Reef ABC Brainstorm

Megan Trahan (@Dragon_Coach) and I met at ADE institute in 2023 and have been working on compiling lessons for high school teachers using MacBooks or iPads in class. Megan uses MacBooks, and I use iPads, and in our collaboration, we realized that small adjustments can be made to apply the lessons in each environment. Over the next 30 days, we’ll post one lesson idea each day with tips on how to make it work in either environment you are teaching in.

   Lesson Idea #1: Coral Reef ABC Brainstorm

ABC brainstorm is a great way to activate prior knowledge before starting a lesson. This lesson starts by displaying an image on the board that relates to your content, in this case Coral Reefs.  

This is the image used during this lesson, however any image could be used.

Next, students can use the Keynote file template below to start brainstorming everything they know about coral reefs. The catch is that they have to think of a word or short phrase that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

This is an example of a completed brainstorm. iPad users can use Apple Pencil for quick jotting of ideas in various colors while Mac users can add different text boxes.

After providing students a few minutes to brainstorm independently. Ask students to share what they know with others in the classroom. Using a new ink color, students can fill in additional words they hear.

For additional explanation of the terms added, students will also record a quick video in Keynote to share why they added 1 or more of the words they added in their brainstorm and how those words relate to the topic.  

📣 How could you use ABC brainstorming in your classroom? 

Attachments

ABC Brainstorm Public Template.key.zip

Download  (5.6 MB)