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September 1, 2002
Savoring Expository Writing Through PowerPoint
By Heather Tietz
As soon as my fifth graders heard we would be learning PowerPoint, their fingers were itching to start typing. It was then that I realized that the dreaded spinach leaf could be hidden in the frosting of this chocolate cake. My students wouldn't even know what they were swallowing, and they'd love it!
Every year our fifth grade embarks on the gigantic task of learning to research and write a multi-paragraph report on a US state. This tremendous process extends from December to March and is painfully digested at the expense of weekends and other homework assignments. By the time we teachers receive the fattened binders we try to ignore the plagiarized sentences and parent-constructed paragraphs. This year though, was going to be different. The State Report should be an excellent way to teach expository writing- and what better way, than to use our Computer Lab as a hands-on exercise in the outlining process.
I began with index cards. Each week we assigned the students a topic for their chosen state, and they then had to take notes. We required them to fill the card with facts expressed only in phrases, i.e. not in full sentences. This seemingly odd requirement actually eliminated our plagiarism problem. We also asked them to use three different sources for their fact finding. The old encyclopedias in our classroom were the most accessible option, but they also checked out books from the school and the public library. Children's Press Inc. has two series of books on US states: America the Beautiful and From Sea to Shining Sea. Many of my students found these helpful. They also found a slew of student-friendly Websites too. "Enchanted Learning" [www.enchantedlearning.com] and "States and Capitals" [www.50states.com] were two of their favorites. The latter provides a wealth of information for each of the fifty states; even adults might find it useful. Some other informative technology resources included Microsoft's Encarta Encyclopedia, Compton's Encyclopedia, and the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia.
We then took their cards into the lab each week. Within 30 minutes they were able to create a basic PowerPoint page, using these cards. The students' eagerness to design their presentations prompted them to fill their index cards weekly. My bait had been taken.
By late January we were ready for step two, organization. We began to create topic sentences for each index card, and then number the corresponding facts in appropriate order. Next we rewrote the index card facts in an outline format so that the information would be clearer. In the lab, meanwhile, we were using Power Point's Slide Sorter feature to organize our pages.
We dedicated February to writing. My students began to turn their outline into paragraphs at home. At school we worked on adding finishing touches to their presentations. They became as familiar with Clip Art as they were with traditional glue and scissors. Word Art was another feature my little artists came to love. Then we spent one day in the lab learning how to create transitions between slides. The computer lab had turned into an incentive to keep the kids accountable to their weekly writing. It was also my sneaky way to keep them chewing on their state facts.
We finished the written reports and the PowerPoint programs in March, just in time for Open House. We decorated our classroom like the White House at Christmas. The State Reports were laid out like an assortment of crackers and cheese. I was able to transfer the Power Point presentations onto our classroom computer. The students offered each page to their parents as if they were rare delicacies. And, they were! That night I smiled knowing that I had fed my students well. Perhaps next year I will whet their appetite for the US presidents with HyperStudio.
Email: Heather Tietz
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