Visual presentations can be especially useful in the classroom as they engage many learning styles. GoogleSlides, Prezi, and Blendspace are all great free resources for making slideshow presentations. Microsoft PowerPoint is also a fantastic tool if students and teachers have access.
Slideshows can be a great way to teach a lesson or introduce a topic. GoogleSlides was used to create a slideshow on multiplication in quilting (screenshot of one slide below). To view the slideshow, click here. By presenting the information in a slideshow instead of in a traditional lecture style, the augmentation and modification levels of SAMR are being used. The same story problem could be created without the slideshow, but it has been augmented to be in a new form. By putting the story problem in a slideshow, however, real life pictures and examples can be shown to better cement the topic with students. Since many students are visual learners, having the information in a slideshow gives a colorful impression that is easier to remember.
Rubric for The Quilt in Question:
- Student is able to determine the number of quilt squares by adding rows or columns to reach 120 squares
- Student is able to build a multiplication problem (12 rows x 10 columns) to reach 120 squares
- Student labels final answer with "squares"
- Student is able to apply multiplication process learned to determine number of squares on a random quilt