Generating a student worksheet
OctoDecks turns your deck into a printable worksheet, with writing space, sentence starters, a key vocabulary table and a crossword made from your key words. Choose which slides to include, check the pages, then print or save as PDF or PowerPoint.
Before you start
- A deck with some content in it. We use the Materials & Properties lesson from the earlier guides.
- For the crossword, a Recap slide. Add one from + Add Slide.
What you'll make: a three-page worksheet with a key concept question, an exam question with sentence starters, an exit ticket, a key vocabulary table and a crossword. There's also a challenge version for students who want more.
Choose slides to include
Nothing goes on the worksheet until you choose it. For each slide you want:
- Select the slide and open More options at the bottom of the settings panel.
- Turn on Worksheet Section.
- You can type a Custom prompt to replace the instruction OctoDecks writes for you.
Slides that are on the worksheet get a green dot in the slides list. Some layouts, such as live polls and word clouds, only make sense on screen, so they don't show the toggle. Extra options appear for particular layouts. For example, tables and charts can print blank for students to fill in, and exam questions print their sentence starters.
Add key words to your recap
The crossword is built from the Key Words card on your Recap slide. Write each key word as a word and a description. The description becomes the crossword clue.
- Select your Recap slide.
- On the canvas, click + Add keyword in the Key Words card.
- Type the word in the Word column and a short description in the Description column.
Build the crossword
- In the Recap slide's settings, under Recall activities, click + Add activity.
- Choose Crossword (Built from your Key Words). OctoDecks fills in every word and clue and lays out the grid.
- Click the crossword in the list to open it. You can edit any word or clue here.
- + Add word adds a word that isn't on the Key Words card.
- From Key Words replaces the list with the words currently on the card. Use it if you've changed the card since.
- Regenerate tries a different grid layout with the same words.
Check the line under the grid. "6 of 6 words placed" means every word fitted. If a word is missing, try Regenerate or add another word that shares letters with it.
Put the crossword on the worksheet
With the Recap slide still selected, open More options and turn on Worksheet Section. Once the slide has a crossword, a new toggle appears:
The crossword prints as a blank numbered grid with Across and Down clues, after the key vocabulary table. If your recap also has a Match Up or Card Sort, you can include those too.
Add a lesson code
Open the File menu and type a Lesson code, such as a class and lesson number. It's printed in the top corner of the worksheet, which helps when a pile of sheets gets mixed up.
Open the worksheet
In the same File menu, click Worksheet (PDF / .pptx). The worksheet opens in a new tab, laid out as A4 pages.
Check each page
Scroll through the pages. Each slide you chose becomes a section headed with its slide number, so you can match the worksheet to your lesson.
- Support key words get a small number in the text and a definition box below, like a footnote.
- Recap key words become a vocabulary table. Students write each description and an example themselves.
- The crossword shows each clue with the answer's length in brackets, for example (13).
Core and challenge versions
If any slide has a challenge version (see Core and extended content), the worksheet toolbar shows Core and Challenge. Click Challenge to swap in the harder version of those slides. Everything else stays the same.
Print a set of each, and let students choose which sheet to take, just as they do in the live lesson.
Edit, fit and print
- Edit before printing. Double-click any text on the worksheet to change it. This only changes the printout, not your deck.
- Fit to fewer pages. The bar shows how full the pages are. Click Normal to cycle through Compact and Dense, which give less writing space and fewer pages. OctoDecks remembers your choice for this deck.
- Print or save. Print / Save as PDF opens your browser's print dialog, where you can print or choose Save as PDF. Save as .pptx downloads an editable PowerPoint version.
Your worksheet is ready
You chose the slides to print, built a crossword from your key words, and made core and challenge versions of the worksheet, all from the same deck you teach with.