Thing 43: Google Drawings

Since I already started using Google Drawing for the Bitmoji thing, I figured I might as well do this thing!

I have to confess that I always forget that Google Drawing exists, which is another good reason for me to do this thing. I usually steer my students toward Docs or Slides, and most recently I had a few use Comic Life. Most of the ones who chose Comic Life found it frustrating (as did I) and decided to start over using Docs. In the future, I can direct them to Drawing.

I've discovered that I like Google Drawing for its simplicity. It can't do nearly as much as the GIMP can, but that's what makes it great. It does the basics and most of the time, all you need is the basics. My favorite part about it is how it integrates Google Image Search directly in it. And the best part about that is that it already filters out images that we don't have permission to use!

One thing I explored in this assignment was #BookSnaps. This was not something I'd ever heard of (although it's something I've been doing on SnapChat since I got SnapChat). Many of my 5th and 6th graders use SnapChat and are already familiar with the SnapChat culture. While I can't give them an assignment using SnapChat itself, I could have them do SnapChat-like things with Google Drawing. I think many of them would enjoy taking pictures of the books they're reading and using Google Drawing to express their thoughts about those books. It's definitely something I'll have to try out with my 5th and 6th grade book club.

#BookSnaps with Google Drawing also seems like a great mess-free way to do blackout poetry without having to keep weeded books on hand. Plus, I think my students would be more interested in blackout poetry if they got to choose the book page they used (and if it's a book they've read and loved!).

I also explored Recovering the Classics. This is a really cool idea and I saw many covers that I would love to buy for my own book collection. Most of the classics on the list are for adults, but I can have my students create new covers for the books they've read (they just won't go up on the Recovering the Classics website). I needed a new project for my 5th and 6th graders after they finish their current read (Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson) and this will definitely appeal to their creative side.

I also looked at Get Creative with Google Drawings. This had a lot of really great ideas. I especially like the magnetic poetry template. The magazine cover template also looked interesting.

And I'll end with a cover for Pride & Prejudice I made using Google Drawing. It doesn't compare to many of the covers on Recover the Classics, but I was happy with how it turned out.