Easily Add Emoji to Google Docs & Slides to Engage Students

Demo of Adding Emoji to a Google Doc

It's Easy to Add Emojis to a Google Doc or Slide 

1. Make sure you are clicked in an area in the Doc or Slide where you can add text.
2. Click on the Insert menu.
3. Select Special Characters.
4. If the Emoji aren't showing up in the Insert special characters box,  click the middle drop-down menu in the box and select Emoji.
5. To insert an Emoji in your Doc or Slide, click on it. 
6. You can select different categories of emoji by clicking on the third drop-down menu in the Insert special characters box.
7. You can adjust an emoji's size by selecting it and changing its font size.

Ideas for Using Emojis in Instruction

While we usually think of emojis in the context of texting and social media, they can be a fun way to bring engagement into learning. Here are just a few ideas I've brainstormed:

• MATH: Teachers can use emojis to illustrate math problems for students to solve. Students can use emojis to illustrate solutions to math problems.
• WRITING & SOCIAL STUDIES: Challenge students to write sentences or short paragraphs using only emojis. Partner up with others to see if they can correctly "read" the emoji writings. Compare this to the task of interpreting the earliest forms of drawings on cave walls or pictograph writing.
• WRITING: Use an emoji or string of emojis as a writing prompt. Or ask students to select an emoji that describes the day they are having and then write about it.
• MEDIA LITERACY: Create a Google Slides presentation with one large emoji on each slide. Show to students and ask for one word that comes to mind when they see the emoji. Discuss the impact of visuals on our thinking. Tie in to studies of entertainment, advertising, or propaganda. Extend the lesson by having students group emojis together in an attempt to evoke specific reactions from viewers.
• JUST FOR FUN/AESTHETIC EFFECT: Use emojis to enhance presentations, newsletters, and other projects. Discuss if the emojis chosen are appropriate to the purpose of the publication.

What ideas would you add for using emojis in instruction? I invite you to think about it, then share in the comments below!

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.