Want something that makes learning a game? Look no further than Boom Cards from the Boom Learning platform. They are easy for teachers to use and assign and highly engaging for students.
Boom cards are great for distance learning as they can be assigned and students can do them from home on their devices. They can also be used in a face to face classroom as a center, review, assessment or early finisher activity on classroom devices.
What exactly are BOOM Cards?
Boom Cards are digital, self-checking, interactive task cards. Students will see one question at a time and will get instant feedback on the answer that they select. Students are generally only shown part of the deck, so they can come back later and play again and see different cards in a different order, so it is like a brand-new activity.
These cards are designed for all ages and grade levels and include a variety of subjects.
Some cards include sound. This is particularly helpful for students who can't read yet so that the cards are still accessible for them. Some sellers have the directions recorded so students just need to listen instead of reading the directions. When I created my Catholic Mass Item Boom Cards, I added sound so that students who can't read some of those tricky words can still listen and participate in the activity. Not all decks come with sound, make sure to check the description if this feature is important to you.
Boom Cards are a great way to practice and review skills that have already been taught. They could be used as a pre or post assessment, but I've found they work with my own daughters the best as a way to review concepts they have already been introduced to.
What kind of technology do Boom Cards need?
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| Number Word Boom Cards on TpT |
This comes directly from Boom Learning:
To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial.
Finding Boom Card Decks
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| Counting Tricky Teen Numbers Boom Cards on TpT |
On Boom Learning
There are two ways to find Boom Cards. You can buy them directly on the Boom Learning platform. If you do this, you will need to purchase points to spend on that platform. With the points option, they can be transferred between teachers at a school, given to another user or converted to a gift card voucher without getting a financial institution involved.
If you purchase on Boom Learning, the decks will be automatically added to your library.
On Teachers Pay Teachers
You can also purchase Boom Cards on Teachers Pay Teachers. When you purchase this way, you are purchasing in dollars and can check out with Paypal, credit cards, gift cards, etc. You can also leave feedback and earn credits to use toward future purchases if you buy on TpT.
When you purchase on TpT you will download a PDF file that will have a link to the deck. When you click the link, you will need to log in (or confirm your account if your computer already has you logged in) and then the deck will be added to your library.
Many creators sell on both platforms, while some opt to just sell on the Boom Learning Platform, so if you are looking for something specific but can't find it, try the other platform before giving up.
Printable Options for Boom Cards
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| Skip Counting Task Cards on TpT |
While the huge perk of Boom Cards is that they are digital and self-correcting, some teachers want a printable version. Some sellers have a printable option available.
For example, when I created my place value Boom Cards, I based them off of my place value task cards (paper version) that can be printed in color and black and white. They include a recording sheet for students to write on and an answer key for teachers. So basically they are a printable task card. I bundled the two, so you can get the Boom Cards and the printable version and use which ever works for you and your students. Not all sellers offer this option, but check TpT and see if a paper version is available, either bundled or separately.
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| Skip Counting Boom Cards on TpT |
Another option if you want printable cards, is to use the print option directly in Boom Learning.
Go to your library, find the deck you want and then click on the action drop down menu and select print.
Then you can adjust how many cards you want printed in each row and send it to your printer. There won't be any recording sheet or self-correcting option, but it is a way to print the cards if you have a student who needs that option.
Account Types
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| Graphic from Boom Learning |
There are several different account options available on Boom Learning depending on how you want to use the cards. In order to use a deck, you need to at least have a free account. This will allow you to assign decks to your students if you are just interested in them practicing, but do not care about checking their performance.
If you want to have access to reports to see how your students are doing, you will need to select a paid membership based on how many students you have.
Another thing to consider is if you want to create decks for your students and sell them to other teachers on the Boom Learning platform, you will need to have the Ultimate membership plan, regardless of how many students or how you want to use them with your students.
To see the current pricing and membership options, go to the pricing page on Boom Learning.
Other Tutorials for Using Boom Cards
If you are stuck or have a question on Boom Cards, check out their help section. It is full of information to help you. They also have a lot of tutorials on YouTube that could help you.
In addition to this, lots of Boom Card sellers have written blog posts or created tutorials to help users get started. Check out some of these options:
Try out Boom Cards for Free
One of the nice things about Boom Cards is that the previews are actually playable. They show you 4 of the cards that you can actually click on and try out. You should have this option through Boom Learning or TpT.
There are also lots of FREE Boom Decks out there if you want to play around with a deck before fully committing. Remember, you will need to at least sign up for a free account in order to access free decks. 
I have a free Place Value Deck that I would LOVE to send you. Just enter your name and email address in the form below and the file will be automatically sent to you. Just open the PDF file and you will find the link to click that will take you right to the deck on Boom Learning. If you aren't already, it will ask you to sign in first.
If you have any trouble getting your free PDF, check out our FAQs section for help.