Creating a Powerpoint Worksheet

Building a slideshow is one of the first real ways a student shares what they have learned with an audience. The Creating a Powerpoint Worksheet gives third graders a clear path from a topic they care about to a presentation they are proud to show. Before a single slide is made, students think about order: what comes first, what belongs in the middle, and what the audience needs to see last. They also meet the habit that makes every presentation stronger, which is putting only a few important words on each slide and letting a picture carry the rest.

This powerpoint planning worksheet works well as the opening of a technology lesson, a warm-up before computer lab, or a bridge between an informational reading unit and the presentation that follows it. Part A asks students to number six mixed-up steps in the right order. Part B is a quick fill-in-the-bubble check on what belongs on a helpful slide and what does not. Part C hands the planning over to the student: choose a topic, write a slide title, and explain in your own words why a slide should hold only a few words. Print one copy per student, work through Part A together, then let students finish Parts B and C on their own.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 3 activities: a six-step sequencing task, five fill-in-the-bubble slide-design checks, and a first-slide planner with a written response

Three things make the Creating a Powerpoint Worksheet useful in a busy classroom. First, it separates planning from typing, so students settle their message before fonts and colors pull their attention away. Second, the sequencing task builds the same ordering skill that strong paragraphs and essays depend on, so the practice pays off well beyond the computer. Third, the written response at the end asks students to justify a design choice, and explaining a reason in writing is exactly the kind of constructed response third graders meet on assessments.

Try a few extensions once the page is finished. Give students two minutes to say their slide title out loud to a partner and collect one suggestion in return. Post a class chart of slide rules that the students write themselves, then add to it as new projects come up. At home, families can plan a three-slide presentation about a pet, a hobby, or a favorite place on index cards before anyone opens a computer. For students who want a challenge, ask them to plan a picture for every slide and explain why each image matches the words beside it.

Related Resources

• Get to the Point PowerPoint Activity
• Enhancing My Presentation Activity
• Technology Worksheet
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