Mash-up: Online Article + Google Drawing = Blackout Poetry

If you haven't heard of Blackout Poetry, please check out the Austin Kleon website and Newspaper Blackout website. The concept is simple, but loads of fun and I felt empowered after my poetry creation. 

You can preselect the newspaper article or allow students to find an article of their choosing. While I am all about allowing students choice, I would be intrigued to see all of the poems that would come from one piece of published writing. 

Tools you will need:

  • Computer with internet access
  • Newspaper Website (any will do)
  • Screenshot tool (on the computer or Chrome extension, such as Awesome Screenshot)
  • Google Drawing


I wouldn't by any means consider myself a poet, but within 10 minutes I was able to take a screenshot of an article - the first one I came across - put it into Google, and create a poem. It might not be the best, but I am proud of my poem. 




Here is a video that will show you how students can perform this same activity. 




What a fun way to get students engaged in writing and creating masterpieces from someone else's published thoughts. 


Google Forms - Add Images as Answers

You can now add images as answers in a Google Forms. Happy Dance!!




One of my favorite activities is 'Which One Does Not Belong' because it gets the children to think about all the possible answers. I am so happy that you can now create Google Forms for this (see template here). The key to this activity is to make it so that there are multiple answers that could be correct. As long as the student can defend their answer correctly it should be accepted. Here is my example:



In this one, I would accept the following answers (not an exhaustive list):
  • Rhombus because the others have right angles.
  • Rhombus because the others have squares as part of the figure.
  • Pyramid because it has triangles as part of the figure.
  • Pyramid because it has one vertex.
  • Cube because it has the most faces.


Check out my tutorial on Google Forms if you need additional assistance with creating forms. 


Adding Audio Files to Google Classroom

There are a couple options for adding audio files to your Google Classroom and having students access that audio file. You can add an audio file that you have already placed into your Drive or you can attach an audio file from your computerYou can create audio files using Vocaroo. Check out my tutorial on this tool. 

Some ways for teachers to use audio files in class:

  • oral administration of assignment
  • read a story
  • audio version of notes
  • recorded lesson
  • famous speeches





Students can also record their own audio file and upload and turn it in via Google Classroom. 

If you need extra assistance with Google Classroom, please check out my resource that shows both the teacher and student view.