Quill: SnapThought Prompts

Have your students signed up for My BrainPOP? If so, they’ll be able to take snapshots during  Quill game play! MyBrainPOP is available to BrainPOP Educators with 24/7 district- or school-wide subscriptions, and is easy for you to sign your students up. Check out our My BrainPOP FAQs for more info.

The snapshot tool allows students to capture significant moments in their gameplay with opportunities for brief written reflection. To use the tool, start by making sure students are logged into My BrainPOP with their own individual accounts. Once students are logged in, the Snapshot Tool will appear below any games that offer this capability.

During gameplay, students can click on the Snapshot tool up to 5 times per game. A thumbnail is generated and stored on the bottom left of the screen.  At any point in the game, students can click on their snapshot(s) and type a caption or response to a prompt, and save or submit it to your teacher’s account where you can view their data.

Keep in mind that students can take a snapshot during the game and then add the captions later. You may want to provide this alternative to avoid interrupting the flow of game play.  You can use the snapshots to facilitate discussion around game play and strategies, or have students submit the snapshots to you for assessment or accountability.

Once students have a hang of the game, you can have them utilize the snapshot tool using any or all the following prompts:

• Take a snapshot of a place in the game where you felt particularly confused. Why was this section of the game hard for you? How did you work through it?
• Take a snapshot of a place in the game where you felt particularly confident. Why was this section of the game easier for you? What skills were you using at that time?
• Take a snapshot of a piece of evidence that was especially powerful. How did you use that evidence to make your argument stronger?
• Take a snapshot and describe one strategy or new thing you learned from this moment in the game.
• Take a snapshot and create a hint, “cheat sheet”, or walkthrough for that section of the game.