It's that special time at the end of the year that your students anticipate excitedly ...
Winter break? Christmas? New Year's Eve?
Please. 🤦🏻♂️
It's the release of Spotify Wrapped! 🎶
In case you haven't heard: Spotify Wrapped is a summary of everything you've listened to throughout the calendar year. Early in December every year, Spotify uses Wrapped to share ...
- your top artists
- your top songs
- what percentile of Spotify listeners you are for certain songs and artists
- your top music genres
- your listening personality
Here are two realities about Wrapped that you must understand as an educator:
- Your students WILL be talking about Wrapped in December.
- Wrapped is a way of summarizing that your students will immediately understand.
So ... how can we make the most of Spotify Wrapped? How can we catch this lightning in a bottle and create some excitement in the classroom?
I present to you ... a Spotify Wrapped-inspired template (let's call it "Recap" instead of "Wrapped") and lots of activities for it!
Spotify Wrapped template offers a creative way to engage students by leveraging a concept they’re already enthusiastic about. This template, reimagined as "Recap," transforms the idea of summarizing favorite songs and artists into a dynamic tool for the classroom. Educators can use it to spark excitement, encourage reflection, and creatively present data or learning milestones. By tapping into this familiar, year-end tradition, the Spotify Wrapped template becomes a versatile framework for crafting memorable and interactive activities that resonate deeply with students.
We have many templates you can use for class activities like Family Feud Template
The "Recap" template (inspired by Spotify Wrapped)
You can download or make a copy of this template for Google Slides, PowerPoint, and/or Canva using the buttons below.
Spotify Wrapped-inspired "Recap" template FAQ
Why should I use a template?
These files LOOK like Spotify Wrapped (and give a similar feel) ... but you don't actually need the Spotify app to use them. They're in an app / site that students do have access to and can use (Slides / PowerPoint / Canva).
Wait ... isn't Spotify Wrapped about music? I don't teach about music.
Yes, Spotify Wrapped is about the music your students listen to. But it's a way of summarizing and analyzing that can be applied to virtually ANYTHING. (More below.)
How do I give them to my students?
Just use the buttons below to download or make a copy of the file. You can edit it and adjust it however you'd like. Then, attach it to an assignment in your learning management system (Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, etc.). Make that attachment "Make a copy for each student" (or some variation of that) so each student gets their own personal copy.
What will my students put in these templates?
There's a whole section on ways to use them below. (Just keep scrolling and reading.) 👍
Can I change the text?
es! All of the text on all of these slides is editable.
What about those black and white squares ... do we put pictures in those?
Yes! If you use those slides, your students can add images to the slides -- and then just resize the images to go on top of those squares. (The squares are just placeholders that suggest where your students might put images. More on this below.)
Do we have to use all of those slides?
No. You can delete any of the slides that aren't needed by your students. In fact, you can also duplicate any of the slides and use them for multiple purposes.
How much do these templates cost?
They're FREE. In fact, there are lots of other templates just like these in our Ditch That Textbook templates library. (And yes, they're all free, too.)
About the slides inside the "Recap" template
The Spotify Wrapped-inspired "Recap" template has several types of pages that can be used in a variety of ways.
Note: Any of these slides can be deleted if you don't want/need them ... AND any slide can be duplicated and used in a variety of ways. (You'll find lots of ways to use this template in the section below.)
⬆️ Title Page
- The subject or title of the "Recap" activity.
⏱ Minutes Listened
- A good place for an important number related to whatever your students are studying.
- Examples: books read this year, assignments completed, elements memorized
🎶 My Top Songs / My Top Artists
- This is a place where students can rank something in top-5 style.
- Examples: top 5 skills (strengths), top 5 study strategies used, top 5 subjects studied, top 5 collaborators/classmates, top 5 most important characters in a story
🏆 My Top Song
- Students could do a deeper dive with the #1 in a list, giving more details and/or including an important statistic.
- Examples: my top strength, my top "aha!" moment, my top Industrial Revolution innovation
♻️ My Evolution
- In Spotify Wrapped, this shows how your listening preferences changed throughout the year. These slides can show a "before and after" of some sort of metamorphosis.
- Examples: how they've evolved as a learner, how their preferences for certain subjects/topics have evolved, how civilizations have evolved over time, how their skills have improved over time
10 classroom ideas for the Spotify Wrapped-inspired "Recap" template
OK, you know about Spotify Wrapped. You know about the template. And you know about the types of slides in the template.
Now it's time to answer the biggest, toughest question ...
How can you actually use this in a classroom? With real human children???
Here are some examples in a variety of contexts ...
1. The Semester/Year Student Recap
Ask students to reflect on how they've grown as learners -- or as students in your class -- throughout the semester or year.
- Minutes Listened: Activities completed, minutes in class, pages read.
- Top Songs/Artists: Greatest "aha!" moments, peak performances, most helpful resources.
- Top Song: my greatest achievement, my key takeaway, my growth mindset in action.
- My Evolution: compare improvements in time management, study skills, research abilities.
2. The Life Cycle Recap
This goes for anything that has a beginning and an end. This activity can help students share what they've learned about that cycle or process.
- Minutes Listened: Stages observed, adaptations identified, species compared
- Top Songs/Artists: Unique characteristics, survival strategies (adaptations for survival), key stages
- Top Song: Metamorphosis marvel, specific species, most important stage
- My Evolution: My observation skills, my scientific process, I used to think/now I think
3. The Invention/Innovation Recap
When someone in history -- or current times -- does something remarkable, there's a lot to study and learn from -- and many ways students can show what they've learned.
- Minutes Listened: Years of development, prototypes built, people affected
- Top Songs/Artists: Most important features, unexpected uses, design breakthroughs
- Top Song: Most influential person, top modern application, biggest competing technology
- My Evolution: Connection from past to present, how it sparked curiosity in the future, long-term consequence
4. The Book/Movie Recap
When students read a book or watch a movie -- or learn from something else long-form -- there's always a lot to analyze and break down.
- Minutes Listened: Pages read, chapters explored, minutes watched
- Top Songs/Artists: Favorite scenes, important themes, plot twists, literary devices
- Top Song: Most important scene, key quote, key scene
- My Evolution: Broadening worldview, evolution of a character, improving reading skills
5. The "My Digital Life" Recap
Students can analyze how they interact with technology -- and reflect on changes they could make that would help them improve their life or their health.
- Minutes Listened: Hours/minutes online, apps explored, digital interactions (messages, comments, etc.)
- Top Songs/Artists: Favorite platforms, best online communities, favorite ways to interact
- Top Song: My digital footprint, my digital creation process, how I used tech for good
- My Evolution: My changing habits, changes I want to make, how I've learned to balance tech
6. The Historical/Literary Character Recap
A focused study of a person can shed light on what makes them great (or not) -- and how the student can emulate (or not) what they find.
- Minutes Listened: Years lives, occupations they've had, sources explored about them
- Top Songs/Artists: Key personal qualities, challenges faced, influential relationships
- Top Song: Defining moment, legacy of impact, how they became a hero/leader
- My Evolution: How they grew as a person, your changing perspective of the character
7. The Collection Recap
When there's a collection of things to study -- biomes, the animal kingdom, U.S. presidents -- a Spotify Wrapped-style Recap can help students make sense of the collection.
- Minutes Listened: Items explored, categories identified, time spent researching
- Top Songs/Artists: Classification systems, important characteristics, unexpected discoveries
- Top Song: Important interpretation, key relationship, analysis of a representative item
- My Evolution: Real-world connections, how your knowledge has expanded, how the collection has evolved
8. The "All About Me" Recap
To build community and relationships, students need to get to know each other. Students can use a Recap to tell about themselves and learn more about each other.
- Minutes Listened: Places visited, books read, hours spent doing a hobby or interest
- Top Songs/Artists: Defining traits, hidden talents, passions and dreams
- Top Song: Personal hero, most unique quality, dream for the future
- My Evolution: Changing interests, changing characteristics, how they've grown/matured over time
9. The Health and Diet Recap
When students study the food they eat and nutrition, they can identify lots of patterns -- and uncover important discoveries that guide how they eat and stay healthy.
- Minutes Listened: Nutrients consumed, calories burned, meals prepared
- Top Songs/Artists: Favorite healthy foods, best healthy snacks, hydration sources
- Top Song: My healthy living role model, best physical exercise, the perfect balanced meal
- My Evolution: Changing eating habits, evolving relationship with food, changing awareness of nutrition
10. The Professional Development Recap
This isn't just for students! If you lead professional development, a Spotify Wrapped-style Recap can be a fun way for educators to reflect on their own learning.
- Minutes Listened: New teaching strategies acquired, resources explored, new classroom ideas
- Top Songs/Artists: Key takeaways, favorite strategies, classroom management gems
- Top Song: A new approach to teaching, a vision for my classroom, a classroom activity makeover
- My Evolution: Shifting perspectives on teaching, professional growth, adjusting strategies
How to use AI assistants (like ChatGPT) to get custom ideas for your class
Spoiler alert: In the 10 examples above, I did a combination of my own brainstorming AND using an AI assistant like ChatGPT (I used Google Gemini) to come up with ideas. (Human thinking supported by AI collaboration!)
If you like the idea of these Spotify Wrapped-style Recaps -- but you can't imagine how you might use it to teach, brainstorm with an AI assistant like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or Anthropic Claude.
Here's a prompt you can copy/paste ... just replace the all caps (in brackets) parts AND adjust as necessary:
I'm a [GRADE/SUBJECT] teacher in a [ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE/HIGH] school. My students are studying [TOPIC OF STUDY]. I'd like to try a new, fun learning activity -- using Spotify Wrapped as a framework for them to talk about what they've learned. Spotify Wrapped is a feature of the music platform where it tells users some statistics and observations about their listening habits. It's really popular, and I could repurpose this format as a way for students to show what they've learned. Spotify Wrapped has 4 main features that I'd like to focus on: "Minutes Listened" (a key statistic), "Top Songs / Top Artists" (a top 5 ranking of important concepts/people/items), "Top Song" (a deeper dive into something important), and "My Evolution" (how something has changed over time). All I need to do is change the titles for those four main features to make them fit what my students are studying. Can you make 10 suggestions for new titles for each of those 4 main features -- and offer some suggestions of how I could teach this lesson so students can effectively show that they've learned?
I tried this prompt using fifth grade in an elementary school studying biomes. Here's what Google Gemini suggested:
This is a really creative idea! Kids love Spotify Wrapped, and using it as a model will probably get them more excited about this project. Here are 10 alternative titles for each of the four main Spotify Wrapped features, tailored to a fifth-grade biomes unit:
Instead of "Minutes Listened"
- Hours Explored: (Total time spent learning about biomes)
- Miles Traveled: (Figurative distance covered across different biomes)
- Species Encountered: (Number of different plant and animal species studied)
- Biomes Visited: (Number of different biomes researched)
- Facts Discovered: (Number of interesting facts learned)
- Adaptations Observed: (Number of unique animal or plant adaptations explored)
- Ecosystems Analyzed: (Number of different ecosystems within biomes studied)
- Conservation Efforts Learned: (Number of conservation initiatives or facts discovered)
- Field Notes Taken: (Pages of notes or drawings completed)
- Biome Expertise Gained: (A score representing overall biome knowledge)
Instead of "Top Songs / Top Artists"
- Keystone Species / Famous Explorers
- Dominant Plants / Influential Scientists
- Essential Adaptations / Conservation Heroes
- Biome Threats / Environmental Organizations
- Climate Features / Indigenous Peoples
- Geographic Locations / Biome Researchers
- Fascinating Creatures / Important Discoveries
- Unique Landforms / Historical Events
- Survival Challenges / Environmental Leaders
- Amazing Animals / Endangered Species
Instead of "Top Song"
- Biome Breakdown
- Ecosystem Focus
- Species Spotlight
- Adaptation Deep Dive
- Environmental Challenge
- Conservation Case Study
- Climate Connection
- Geographic Highlight
- Biome of the Year
- My Favorite Biome
Instead of "My Evolution"
- Biome Transformation: (How a biome changes over seasons or due to human impact)
- Adaptation Evolution: (How a species has adapted to its environment over time)
- Conservation Progress: (How our understanding or actions toward conservation have changed)
- Climate Change Impact: (How climate change is affecting a specific biome)
- Ecosystem Development: (How an ecosystem within a biome changes over time)
- Species Migration: (How and why a species moves within or between biomes)
- Landform Shifts: (How geological features in a biome change over time)
- Biome Recovery: (How a biome recovers after a natural disaster or human impact)
- My Changing Perspective: (How the student's understanding of biomes has evolved)
- Future of the Biome: (Predictions for a biome's future based on current trends)
Teaching Suggestions
- Introduce Spotify Wrapped: Show students an example of a Spotify Wrapped (or have a student who's familiar with it explain it). Highlight the key sections and how they present information.
- Connect to Biomes: Explain how you'll be using this format to showcase their biome knowledge.
- Provide Clear Criteria: Give specific examples of what you expect in each section. For example, for "Biome Breakdown," should they include climate, typical plants and animals, a food web, etc.?
- Offer Choice: Allow students to choose a specific biome or ecosystem to focus on for some sections.
- Encourage Creativity: This project can take many forms—posters, presentations, videos, even songs or poems!
- Use Technology: Can students create their "Biome Wrapped" using Canva, Google Slides, or other digital tools?
By providing structure and guidance while allowing for creativity, you can help your students demonstrate their learning in an engaging and memorable way. Good luck!
