Need a fun way to do a quick formative assessment? Try out Blooket as a fun way to check what your students know in the moment!
Blooket is a game-based, freemium program (meaning you can pay for premium, but the free version is still amazing) that keeps kids begging to play “one more round!”
How to start a Blooket: Create or Discover a Set
When looking to start with Blooket, you first need to decide if you want to create your own set or discover a set that has already been created. I recommend taking a peek at already created sets prior to creating your own, but if you feel a push to create your own: you do you.
Create a Set
As you navigate through Blooket, you’ll notice that you can both create and discover your own blookets.
While I’ve never made my own, the process is pretty easy. You can manually create your own sets, upload them from a CSV (created with a spreadsheet), or import them from Quizlet.
When you create a question, you are limited to multiple-choice questions multiple choice question. However, you can also limit the number of answers to 2 options for true/false type questions. You can include an image, add/remove a time limit, and include audio.
Discover A Set
If you’ve come looking for inspiration, you’ll find plenty of sets already created in Blooket! Click “Discover Sets” and browse through hundreds of premade question sets across thousands of topics. Search using the search bar for a topic you are interested in. You are sure to find
To preview a set, select the set. From there, you can host it as is, copy the set and edit it to make it your own, or mark it as a favorite by pushing the star to come back and use it another time.
Getting Your Game Started
There are essentially three ways to play Blooket: Hosted as Homework, Hosted in Live Play, or Solo.
Hosted Game
To lead a game with your class where the entire class participates, you’ll want to select the option to Host. Depending on the game you’ve chosen, you can run the game as “HW” or “Host”.
Homework Mode
Running the game as “HW” allows students to complete a game on their own time. You’ll be given a Game ID that is valid for the amount of time you’ve chosen. When students use this Game ID, they’ll be able to play the game and answer questions. Then, you’ll get live updates on their progress and performance. This is great for early finishers, morning work, or a formative check that you want to ensure all students complete, regardless if they are in attendance that day or will need to take it the following day.
✨ Live Mode
This option is starred as my favorite choice for student engagement! When you Host a game, students are playing live in your classroom. Top student scores are displayed on the board. While I generally keep away from displaying student scores visibility for all to see, it is actually an important part of playing the game. Students may have chances to “sabotage” other students, and it’s important to know who is ahead of them. If you want to protect student privacy, you can select the option for “Use Random Names” and students will be assigned a username for that round.
Depending on the game, students can play in teams or individually.
Solo
Solo gameplay would be used if a student wanted to play this game on their own. You, as the teacher, would not get reports of their work. While I rarely use this option, students could use this feature when they are looking to play a game of blooket on their own or looking to practice a skill independently.
Below you can see the game options for solo play. Know that these games regularly change as they release new games.
Pick Your Favorites: SO Many Games to Choose From
There are a variety of different games that you can choose from, and Blooket regularly releases more options. Last school year, my 4th-grade students’ favorite games were: Blook Rush, Crypto Hack, Deceptive Dinos, and Tower Defense. Each game has its own set of directions. (Don’t worry! These are displayed at the beginning of the game for all to see.)
Below are just a few of the Blooket games students can play:
- Deceptive Dinos – Become a top paleontologist! Find fossils by answering questions. Try to find who is being deceptive!
- Tower Defense – Answer questions, build towers, and design a defense system to protect yourself from the Blooks.
- Crypto Hack – Answer questions to mine cryptocurrency while hacking others.
- Fishing Frenzy – Cast your line to reel in the biggest fish in the sea!
- Cafe – Run your own cafe! Serve food to customers, restock supplies, and get upgrades by answering questions.
- Factory – Answer quickly to upgrade your Blooks and make virtual cash in your factory.
- Gold Quest – Amass riches by answering questions
