Google Forms is an excellent tool for the classroom, and this collection of Google Forms Templates from 2008 has always proven popular. I hope you continue to be inspired by the ideas here.
I have created example forms for each of the different topics, follow the links in each of the ten sections.
1 ) Get to know your class with this Google Forms Template
Use this form to gather some indication from your new class about their likes and dislikes, their favourite lessons or after school clubs they enjoy. It will help you to build your relationships with children as you quickly learn more about them. Get your copy.
2 ) Emotion graph
An emotion graph is a simple line graph comparing a range of happiness to sadness against different points (time) in a story or film. Graphing the emotional ups and down within a story helps children visualise the whole story differently.
Use a Google Form to gather the children’s responses to different parts of any linear narrative, written or visual. We used it here in a film narrative literacy unit. You can read a more detailed explanation of how to generate the line graph from the form here. Get your copy.
3 ) Spelling test
For your weekly spelling test, use a simple 1-10 or 1-20 numbered Google Forms Templates (with a name question too, of course) and ask the children to type in their answers as you read out the list of words. Once these are submitted, apply a formula to judge if they are correct or not, and it becomes self-marking.
Steve Kirkpatrick had this brainwave a while back, so check out his excellent post for more information about setting up the spreadsheet. Danny also added in his comment that using the font Wingdings for smiley faces is an excellent idea, although this font is not available in Google Spreadsheets. Get your copy.
4 ) Comprehension questions
I spent quite a bit of time exploring reading comprehension resources for a class set of laptops. We could create a Google Form to collate the children’s comprehension answers in one place for any given text. You could also share the answers with the class to review what their peers are doing.
This could be a formalised assessment of their understanding of a text or something more informal to start class discussions. Again Steve has grabbed this idea by the horns and tried it with his kids – well worth a look, especially at his thoughtful comments and lessons learned. Get your copy.
5 ) Weekly reading record
The children in our school have a reading diary to record information about times that they read during the week. They take it home as well as using it at school. A form could be created by the children as a place to enter data about their reading.
I hear “I haven’t got my reading diary” so many times during the year; this way, they have no excuses and can access it from any computer. Alternatively, you could also set up a class form to gather together everyone’s records. Get your copy.
6 ) Maths data handling
Perhaps the easiest to pick up and run with, the idea of using a form to gather together maths data handling information. The form could be a simple way of collecting information about the class – shoe size, eye colour etc.
It is obviously about what you do with the data that counts. Still, there is no reason why children couldn’t design and implement their forms – with the attached spreadsheet for analysis – as part of independent data investigations. Get your copy.
7 ) Guided reading record
As part of the old literacy hour in England, we participate in small, focused group reading sessions. They have guided sessions usually 15-20 minutes long, and we talk and work on a piece of text that is relevant to the work going on in that unit.
Sometimes small written tasks are completed, or it may just be a speaking and listening activity. It is widely practised in English primary schools, and this form could act as a class record for those sessions. Get your copy.
8 ) Google Forms Templates to check for prior learning
Use a form to assess what the children already know about any given topic that you are beginning. The form could be a formalised assessment with specific questions about the subject, or it could be more general and open for the children to explain what they know.
Either way, such an assessment would allow you to understand better the current level of knowledge the children have about a topic. Students could return this same form at the end of the unit of work to help review what they have learned. Get your copy.
9 ) Library book review
We have a little corner of our classroom dedicated to our library. There is a broad range of fiction and non-fiction books for the children to enjoy whenever they want.
This form could be a simple way of collecting children’s thoughts about what they read. The children in the class could use it as a reference to help them choose a book to read—a simple and easy way to collate book reviews. Get your copy.
10 ) Learning success
This is one of the ten ideas I would most like to explore this year as we continue to use Google Docs as part of our tech toolbox. Use a form to assess the relative success of learning during a single lesson or after a topic. Invite the children to evaluate their confidence after practising a lesson on one of the written multiplication methods.
The form would collate the views of all of the class very quickly and allow you to make a quick judgment in terms of pupil feedback about whether to consolidate what has taken place, start afresh, or move on. We make our learning targets for the lesson so clear these days, along with work scrutiny, dialogue with the students; a generic student response form would allow you to judge the lesson’s success further.
This is very much dependant on the quick and easy availability of a computer in the classroom – this, after all, should be a small 2-minute task as part of a plenary. If the lesson involves using the computers, then that is easier – but if it does not, perhaps a handful is scattered at the side of the room for students to go to at the end of the task or as directed.
Of course, the students completing such a form as if it were second nature to them would be what you aim for – so the laptop, form and technology disappear, and you are left with a lucid evaluation from your students. Get your copy.
I hope that you have found Google Forms Templates to inspire you here, or perhaps you can use these straight away. If you have not had time to explore Google Forms, it is most definitely worth a look; if you have time, drop me a note saying how you got on with your ideas.
FREE Infographic of the Google Forms Templates – great for sharing with you team!
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More Ideas
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