I took Steven’s concept of using Power Point as a publishing and communication tool for students to use to present information on a famous person or topic.  I adapted his concept to fit our 4th grade social studies unit on Explorers and had students create Power Point presentations on an Explorer of their choice.  I also created a Power Point presentation template for students to use.

Instructional Objectives

Students will:

• create a Power Point presentation using graphics, text, and animations.

• learn to use the internet to research a topic

• access historical photographs and documents to enhance learning

Students interacted with laptop computers using Power Point and the internet in every lesson.  During the sharing lessons, students learned to use an overhead LCD projector and the “slide show” features in Power Point.

The students were assessed by a rubric which we created together so that students were not only aware of but were part of the project’s expectations.

Giving the students a Power Point template to use helps students to explore the added features of Power Point more readily.  Some students may want to spend more time playing with animations which can distract them from the content they are studying.  When that happen, I ask the students how their animation choices fit in with the content so they are in control of making better choices.

Student Work Samples

Click on each thumbnail to see a full-screen version.