Power Point Presentation

This lesson is intended for younger students (2nd-4th grade) who have little to no exposure to Microsoft Office programs. For more experienced or older students, these days could be combined into one smaller lesson.

Day One:

Students will go through the research process to write a report on a chosen animal. For their speech component, each child will put together a PowerPoint presentation to use both as a visual and as a substitute for note cards. To introduce the lesson, the teacher will first instruct the students step-by-step on where PowerPoint is located using his/her own computer set up on a large screen. It is helpful to do this in a computer lab or with laptops, so each student can follow the steps. The teacher will then introduce the students to 3 basic components of PowerPoint.

1. How to choose an overall design
2. How to choose a layout for individual slides (text only, photos with text, photos/graphs only, etc.).
3. How to enter text and photos/graphs/clipart onto a slide.

Have students practice creating new slides and entering text and photos onto their document that are relevant to their researched animals. They may need a lot of help, so it might be beneficial to do this lesson with a parent volunteer or Assistant. Students who understand the program and finish early can also help others.

Day Two:

On this day, students will focus on putting together a slide show for their speech by learning about new PowerPoint features. The teacher will start the lesson by reviewing how to open PowerPoint and choose layout options. Next, the teacher will make a PowerPoint presentation on a topic unrelated to a student's topic (ie the founding of the United States). Depending on grade level, this example can be as simple or complex as you want your students' to be. For 3rd grade, I require a introduction slide, 3 supporting detail slides, and one conclusion slide for a total of 5 slides. The teacher will then create a PowerPoint while introducing the students to 4 features:

1. Different options for transitioning each slide
2. How to animate text and photos
3. How to view a slide show
4. How to save their presentation

Give students plenty of time to work on their presentations and explore the program. Have each child present their PowerPoint on their report to the class.