I’m here to talk about how to use the spectacular Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks from The Autism Helper!

So, who remembers remote teaching/distance learning/virtual school?  I mean, how could we forget it?!  The most significant tool/teaching resource I have taken with me from remote teaching back to my in-person classroom is digital tasks.  Digital tasks are such a treasured resource and I am forever grateful to creators such as The Autism Helper for creating tasks as awesome as Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks.  These workbooks are a golden resource for self-contained.  The Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks have six different variations and can be used on either Google Slides or with a Boom Cards account (my preferred way, keep reading to see why – hint, it’s data).

If you have never used Boom Cards or the Digital Easy Matching Workbooks, don’t worry, I’m here to show you just how you can use these in your special education classroom!

Create a Boom Learning Account

Before using Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks, you should create an account with Boom Learning.  Creating an account is very simple and free. If you prefer to use Google Slides for these, you can skip ahead to the next section.

Once you have created your account, you need to add the Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks.  You can do this by purchasing them.  The Boom Learning website has its own store where you can purchase the workbooks through a point system but I prefer to buy from The Autism Helper Store or on Teachers Pay Teachers.  If you purchase from The Autism Helper Store or on TpT, you need to download the file, then follow the steps to add them to your account – sounds complicated, but it’s not!

After adding the “Boom Decks” to your account, you create your class, then assign the workbooks.  Super easy to prep and implement once your account is set up!

3 Ways to Use Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks in the Classroom:

1. Independent Center

In my classroom, I use the Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks as an independent work center.  Depending on the student, they do the work tasks on either a touch screen Chromebook or on an iPad.  To keep students on task, my teacher bestie created a visual checklist that is fixed to their desks.  Students do two different Boom Card decks (one Easy Matching Weekly Workbook and another deck that has been assigned to them).  Next, students do a learning website until they hear the transition signal that they are done with their independent center.

Independent centers are so important in special education. See why I love them so much in this post.  If you haven’t set up an independent center that uses the Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks yet, I strongly encourage you to try it!

To learn more about independent work systems, read Jen’s post, Independent Work Systems for Younger Students for some great tips.

2. Easy Prep Paraprofessional Led Center

If your students are not quite ready for that level of independence yet, another way to use the Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks is as a super easy prep para-led center.  Again, you could use computers or iPads for this center and have a para supervise while also teaching students how to use a checklist or how to use a trackpad on a laptop.  The para can also be in charge of assigning new workbooks each week in Boom Learning.

3. Data Tracking

Ok, this is why I prefer to use Boom Learning instead of Google Slides:  Boom Cards automatically take student data for me!  When using the workbooks on Boom Learning, I can look at data digitally or I can print a whole report for my students.  The data is easy to read and is even better to present during an IEP meeting.  Who doesn’t love some organized and pretty data?!

Here are the steps to finding and printing a data report for the Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks in Boom Learning:

1. Select the class you would like to get the report for.
2. Click on the Reports tab.
3. Select which folder the workbooks are in.
4. Choose/click on each individual workbook you would like a report for – I like to get reports for all workbooks Monday – Friday.
5. Click Export.

After exporting, the report saves in my downloads.  Then, I print or save the report to my computer.  So easy!

That’s it!  Pretty simple, right?

Thank you for reading about how to use Digital Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks in the classroom.  When are you going to start using them in your classroom?  Do you have any questions?  If so, leave a comment and I will get back to you!