Using Alexa in the Classroom

Check the weather

During calendar time, ask Alexa for the weather in your city and she’ll give you the forecast and temperature.

Set timers and reminders.

If you are like me and forget to send last minute notes home, send students to the nurse, take attendance, or switch subjects, Alexa can help you! Give the command and a noise will alert you.

Play music

You can ask Alexa to play (and pause) music and ambient sounds. I play instrumental music during Writer’s Workshop, so this could be a handy feature! You could also use Alexa to play a fun song for a dance party reward. The Echo can not only play music from Amazon Prime Music, but it now integrates other music services like Pandora and Spotify.

Math Skills

You can ask Alexa for sums and differences. For example, “Alexa, what is two plus four?” If students are in math stations, this could be a fun way to self-check. She can also flip a coin, roll dice, and pick a card. These are great skills for stations or games.

“ALEXA, WHAT IS ____+_____?” OR “____ X ____?” ETC.

Alexa will do simple calculations. Students could play a version of beat the calculator but versus Alexa!

Randomization

You can ask Alexa to choose a number between parameters. Instead of pulling a stick with a student’s number on it from a jar, you can say “Alexa, pick a number between 0 and 23” and she’ll choose for you.

Play games

Maybe you need a new fun indoor recess idea or finished up at the end of the day with a few minutes to spare. There are 405 results for Alexa skills for kids here on Amazon’s Alexa skills list! These range from educational games like See Say, Kids Trivia, and Speak Listen Learn to fun games and activities like Animal Workout, The Finder Game for Kids, or Kids Animal Sounds.

Heads or Tails or Roll Dice or Rock Paper Scissors

If you must make quick decisions, you can ask Alexa to play “Heads or Tails.”

If you ask her to roll the dice, she will give you a number between 1-6. Just like the random number generator, you can use this for turn taking or set up the Echo Dot in a math center for a week.

This is just for fun, but you can play a round or two of Roshambo with the Echo Dot. This would make a great reward or brain break in the classroom.