Apps and Tools / Seesaw · March 31, 2021

Scratch Away Activities on Seesaw

Growing up, I always enjoyed scratching off my parents scratch lotto tickets. When looking for a way to recreate this for students, I found Scratch and Solve activities! You can use the “scratch” ability to make Seesaw work more engaging for your students. After inserting an image, you simply color over spaces to hide words from students! Students will use the eraser to “scratch” away to find a problem/work to complete.

Create your own in 3 easy steps!

  1. Using Google Slides, create a template for students. This normally involves creating shapes to use as a holder for words or whatever you’d like to hide. Use text boxes to add the words or problems that you want to cover. This slide is what you will insert into Seesaw as your template. 
  1. Use the glow pen or pen to cover the empty spaces with the same color as the outline of the shape. Tip: By clicking on the marker, you can resize the width of the marker. If you make it thicker, it is much faster to cover the words!
  1. Students will use the eraser to reveal work. Tip: Show students how to resize the eraser to make it faster to “scratch” each shape! 

Need a video tutorial? We’ve got you covered!

In the video below, Holly walks you through every step on how to create a Scratch Away activity on your own! Tip? Watch the video on your iPad as you follow along on your computer! Pause the video along the way to have a personal guide to make your own.

  • How to use this in the classroom: Use with math equations, vocab words, sight words, etc.
  • Instruction Suggestions: Instruct students to use the recording tool prior to erasing so you can hear them as they work through the activity. 
  • Accessibility: If you add the words in Seesaw, instead of in google slides, you can add audio to each word/problem. 

Examples in Practice

You can find many examples in the Seesaw Activity Library. Here are just a few: 

1st Grade Example: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?share_token=zMB3P4B1Qamoll3vKQPNtg&prompt_id=prompt.8a868c84-e966-4aba-a40a-cc4645c1c072

5th/6th Grade Example: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?share_token=c-lwUiMrSRCBZyd8n_uV-g&prompt_id=prompt.88298762-66ef-4114-a637-e378949e2e0a

Template you can use: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?share_token=NKVghNamRnKyvlYFz0mBBw&prompt_id=prompt.a38a878f-9e3b-4283-a841-5ab97880f32a