Charlala.com - Great Features using the DrawRoom and creating DrawSets

In my previous blog post I wrote about using the DrawRoom of the website Charlala.com for:
- Weekend Chats
- Learning about Classmates
- Review a Novel
- Predictions
- Storytelling and TPRS Stories

Today, I received a message from Kara Jacobs of CE Resources (Check out her blog. It is a treasure trove of resources for Spanish teachers):

Then Kara sent me some screenshots of several DrawSets that she had created and said if teachers could share the DrawSets with each other, it would be an excellent resource for those reading the same novels with their students. AWESOME idea, Kara!! (The answer to her question is at the end of the blog post.)

I started experimenting with the DrawSets features with sentences from novels. I chose the Frida Kahlo novel written by Kristy Placido (find it at Fluency Matters) because I read that with my Sp4 students. These are the steps to create a DrawSet and how to use it with students:

1. On the home page of CHARLALA, on the left column click on DrawRoom. 

2. Click on Create New DrawSet.

3. Type your title. I haven't figured out how to edit the title of the DrawSet after the DrawSet has been created, so be mindful of the exact title you want for your DrawSet.

4. Add the terms (words) or phrases to your DrawSet. I chose 6 sentences from chapter 5 of Frida Kahlo when Frida and her dad are walking in the park, her dad has an epileptic attack, a boy sees Frida occupied with helping her dad and tries to steal her father's camera. 

5. Click on Start DrawRoom. I opened the DrawSet for "students" (in quotations because I was experimenting at home with several devices, but I will refer to the devices as students. In two days I am going to use this feature with students at school but until then I'll use the examples and screenshots from my devices I used at home). 

6. Choose "Game", adjust settings for time, music, choose which set you want to use on the drop down menu (only after you have created DrawSets), then click on START.

7. The screen will display the following message (website and code to enter) and students enter the DrawRoom using the code.

8.   After students have entered the DrawRoom, click on START.

9. The students screen will display one of the terms or one of the phrases that the teacher created in the DrawRoom. (see screenshot below). The student needs to draw the term or phrase and then click on FINISH to send it to the teacher and enter it in the sketches that will be shown in the game. Some students will receive the same term/phrase which is not a problem.

Student screen with Drawing Prompt

Student screen - click on FINISH to submit drawing

10. The teacher can end the ability for students to draw at any time. If your students are taking a long time to draw, you decide how much time you give them to draw.

11. The teacher then starts the game. The teacher's screen will display one of the sketches and the students' screens will display several choices and the students match the term/phrase to the sketch. 

Teacher's screen

Student screen

12. Students receive points for correctly matching the term/phrase to the sketch.

13. When you end the game, you have the opportunity to download as many of the student sketches as you want. How COOL is that? After downloading the sketches, you can use them as a review the following class.

To answer Kara's questions, I emailed Chris, the creator of Charlala, and he said the ability to share DrawSets with other teachers is something they will add in the future.

How is it possible that this website keeps getting better and better? 

THANK YOU, Chris!