Snorkl is fun, engaging, and a powerful way to get students explaining their thinking — but it can also be a new experience for them!
Getting Started Activities
We recommend that your first Snorkl activity be something low-stakes, so students can get comfortable recording and explaining before diving into rigorous academic content.
In the Snorkl Library, you’ll find a collection of Getting Started Activities designed for this purpose. You can:
Choose one and assign it directly to your class,
Edit it to personalize for your students, or
Create your own quick, fun activity to help them warm up.
This helps students practice the important skill of explaining their thinking — without the pressure of mastering complex content right away.
Encouraging Students to Use their Voice
Getting students to talk can depend a lot on the classroom culture. At Snorkl, we believe deeply in the power of students articulating their thinking as a pathway to deeper learning—but it can take some intentional teacher moves to help students get there.
Here are a few suggestions for doing this with Snorkl:
Start simple. Set the Getting Started Activity as an Audio-Only activity. This helps students focus on sharing their thinking aloud without worrying about drawing or typing yet.
Model it. Record your own short Snorkl response to show students what it looks and sounds like to think aloud.
Normalize mistakes. Remind students that the goal is to share their reasoning, not to be perfect. Snorkl feedback is about growth and reflection.
Celebrate effort. Highlight students who take risks in explaining their thinking clearly or revising their responses after feedback.
Over time, these practices help build a classroom culture where students feel confident expressing their ideas—and where thinking out loud becomes part of learning.