I saw the last stage of a fun project today. A class of first graders finished an animal powerpoint project. Students created a title “page,” table of contents, four question/answer pages and a short bibliography. (The bibliography was title and author of a book, but I love that we can have these discussions with kids as young as 6.)
What I saw as I helped students finish up their projects was a wide variety of skills and levels. Some students had perfect spelling and punctuation. Others really tried. Since the project was about creating the PowerPoint (which will be printed as a book), the teacher had some ability to adjust the lesson based on capabilities.
The first time I visited, I had one young student who I could tell was ready to learn the concept of spellcheck. I taught him to right click to choose the right words. Others, you could tell were new to the keyboard and digital creation process. For these students, it wasn’t about creating perfection- but digitalizing their ideas and drawing their own illustrations for their book.
Their understanding of their animals was evident as we put their slides into order. Their excitement to share their learning was evidence of their passion for their topic.
As first graders, these students are still learning words. I am surprised by the depth of understanding of words- but not necessarily proper spelling. Those who were quick with the technology had time to process and fix spelling. Others had the raw innocence of a first grader sounding out the words they type.
My favorite was the student doing a project on a giraffe. This young lady had really explored details of her animal, and had done her best to sound out and type her knowledge. Despite the misspellings, I could tell what she wanted to say. I learned that giraffes have long “neks” and are “mamels”. My favorite line in her project, though, was that girafs eat lefse.
Her giraffe is invited to my place during the winter holidays to enjoy some efse with my family. And some leaves if it chooses.
I am very excited to see a teacher, as hesitant of their own knowledge, undertake this seven slide PowerPoint. Believing in the kids is essential to allowing them to learn and grow technologically. Seeing these successes was the highlight of my day.