Let Me Show You!

"Maybe someone said Grade 2s couldn't do it," laughs Betty MacLure when asked why she began using PowerPoint as a teaching tool with her class at Wainwright Elementary School in Wainwright, Alberta. Far from being too difficult or complicated for MacLure's students, PowerPoint provides fun, interesting and successful learning of computer technology skills integrated with many curriculum objectives, she has found.

For example, the students create a page for the class PowerPoint presentation as part of their social studies unit on communities. During a field trip around the town, each child takes a picture of some part of the community with the school's digital camera. Once back at the school, the children work together to create presentations that highlight some aspect of community life, such as homes, jobs, transportation or recreation, using their pictures and information gathered from a variety of sources.

Gaston Comeau saw PowerPoint used in a Grade 8 class and thought the idea would work well for his Grade 5 French immersion students at Bridgewater Elementary School in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. He created a multislide demonstration of the principles of multiplication. "I was surprised at how receptive the students were. They loved it and seemed to grasp the concepts quicker."

Since then, he has prepared dozens of PowerPoint presentations for his class, demonstrating a wide variety of mathematical concepts, from multiplication to geometry. The presentations are used in many ways: during a lesson about the concept, for practice by a struggling student and as follow-up material for a student who was absent. "It's an excellent way to present a sequential and step-by-step demonstration of a process or concept," says Comeau. "And the end product is captivating and very understandable for the students."