Week 2

Students will create PowerPoint Presentations using the information they gathered on the Question and Answer sheet about their body system.

The teacher will need to be comfortable with PowerPoint. All students will need to have completed the Question and Answer Sheet prior to the first class period of this lesson.

4. Have students minimize the tutorial window so that it will remain available to them if they have questions when they are creating their own PowerPoint presentations.

5. Have students locate and Open PowerPoint. Go to "START", "Programs", "Microsoft PowerPoint".

8. On the first slide students should use Word Art to create the title of their presentation (their body system name) and then their names. (Example: The Circulatory System, By Sue, Juan and Tony) Word Art is found on the drawing tool bar. If it is not open on your computer go to View, Toolbars, and select Word Art.

10. On slide 2 and all subsequent slides students will use Word Art to create a title for the slide. The title should be something similar to the question on their Question and Answer Sheet. For example the first question is "What does your system do?" Things my students have used are "What Does Our System Do?", "What OUr System Does", "What the Respiratory System Does" (substituting the name of their own system of course), etc. I allow whatever makes sense. I also allow them to use the exact question if they are struggling with rewording as may be the case with second language learners, but I do encourage them to come up with something different.

11. After the title has been established and typed in students will need to create a text box to enter the answers to the questions.

12. Go to the text box icon on the Drawing tool bar or go to "Insert, text box". Students will need to click and drag to place the text box where they want it.

13. They may then use any type face they like, as long as it is easily readable, to enter in the answers to the questions. You will find the font types on the toolbar (click on the small black arrow to get the drop down menu of type faces) or in "Format, Font".

14. On the first slide and all subsequent slides students will need to choose a background. Go to "Format, Background". It will look like this (see below). In the box on the right you will see two areas of blue. Go to the black arrow on the small rectangular box and choose "Fill Effects".

In Fill Effects your students will have a choice of Gradient in which they may choose preset values, or select their own 2 color gradients, Texture in which their are a number of preset textures such as water droplets, wood grains, etc., Patterns, shown here, and Pictures, if you have clips or have the capacity to download and store photos on your computers, they may make a selection here.

15. Students should continue with steps 9 - 14 for each question on the Question and Answer Sheet.

16. When students get the "What happens if your system fails?" question, I have required my students to provide me with the 5 diseases, one on each slide, that they researched under this heading. Some have chosen to use the disease name as their title and some have used the disease name as a subheading to the question.

Students may want to go to http://microsoft.com/education/?ID=PPT97Tutorial to get Microsoft's PowerPoint tutorial. Although geared more toward professional presentations, it is a valuable resource for students. Invite students to compare the two tutorials and assess their relative value.

You may also have students print out their slides to proof read for spelling or syntax errors.

Have students talk to family members, friends, professionals about the value of Presentation software. Have them write the interviewee's responses and share them in class at the next class period. The responses will vary with some interviewees having no knowledge of presentation software and some a vast knowledge. One thing I have noticed among those whose families have no knowledge... the students then teach the parents and friends and siblings. They take ownership of their learning!

Use the Cooperative Group Evaluation and Observation Sheet to assess how well the students are working together on decisions such as background and type faces, and also how much they are relying on you as opposed to the tutorial.