They enjoy creating their own special effects rather than choosing from those created by someone else. Both applications allow the children to experiment and to be innovative with their presentations. As the learning progresses, the students create short slideshows about topics that require little or no research, such as themselves, their families, school, a hobby, or a special interest. Two students have worked as a team to create a presentation on a shared topic of interest. Pictured are screen shots of the beginning slides of a PowerPoint presentation about dinosaurs.
Students practice using video and digital cameras to create movies and graphics.
The school is fortunate to have access to wonderful digital cameras by Sony, and the students get very excited about learning to use the equipment. They capture graphics from other sources as well and edit or integrate the graphics into their own artwork using Adobe Photoshop or Broderbund's Kid Pix Studio. The students create and scan drawings or paintings for use in their creations. Students create short video clips of their teams at work. Once the students are comfortable with the basics of creating a presentation, the library media specialist introduces the research aspect of the project.