Flip for Littles? (Updated in 12/2022)

When I present my Creating with Littles session, I always share  that Flip is one of the tech tools that I recommend for our youngest scholars.  It has the 3 Cs of Creation that I often share about. It gives our students choices in how they respond, gives them opportunities to collaborate and is clickable and user friendly. Not to mention the best part- Flip is FREE!  So for this blog post, I wanted to share some tips for using Flip with our young learners.

1.Scaffold the experience and start on paper.

When I started my kindergarten students on Flip this year, we started with paper. Now I understand that this may sound counterintuitive, but it was a great way to get started. Our first Flipgrid asked students to color in on their paper two different ways to make  five on a fives frame. I began by modeling this for them and then having them color in their two ways. Then, after coloring, we went over how to use Flip and what they should record. Students learned that they needed to share what two ways they had done to make five. They loved it and when they realized that afterwards, they could listen to their classmates, it was pure magic.

The following week, we upped the ante a little,. This week, they watched a video about -at words and then wrote 5 -at words on their paper. As we got ready to record, they realized that when they showed their words on camera, they were backwards. This was a great learning opportunity to show students how to mirror their screen.

2. Consider using an edurubricon to promote student agency

You might look at this and say, "What is an edurubricon?" Let's start with that- an edurubricon is a rubric that is supercharged with icons. I created these in response to my realization that 1. I still needed to use rubrics with my students even though I don't give grades and 2. Traditional rubrics were way too text heavy for my littles. 

After several iterations, the edurubricon was born and this has been a game changer for my students, especially when using Flip. It allows them to have a guided scaffold to help them navigate this program. It takes the idea of icon literacy to the next level and beyond.

3.  Next Steps for Littles Using Flip

What are some other steps you could take with littles using Flip?

1. After the experiences above, both my first graders and kindergarteners used Flip to respond to prompts using fairy tales that our librarian had read to them. From comparing two versions of the Three Little Pigs to sharing their opinions on the Three Billy Goats Gruff, they loved sharing their ideas with their classmates.

2. Last week, my first graders used Legos or playdough to recreate the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk and retold the story of Jack and the Beanstalk on Flip. This way the first time that they did not have a paper scaffold to guide them, but instead had a manipulative to guide them in sharing. 

3. Consider having students plan out their ideas using stickers in advance or have them transition to writing their ideas down on the sticky note feature in Flip. It is a great way for them to plan their ideas before recording.