Tech Integration Project
Lesson Accelerator: Project Overview

Family Connections
Software Type: Presentation
The example project created in this Lesson Accelerator addresses NETS Performance Indicators for middle grades as used in a(n) Social Studies curriculum. It could also be used with older learners or adapted for lower grades. See the section on Extending and Adapting at the bottom of this page for ideas on how to use this same project for different subjects, grades, and skill levels.
Project Launchers
Lesson Accelerator Project Launcher pages contain video tutorials that show you, step-by-step, how to create this project using specific software applications, as well as a movie showing you what the finished project looks like. They also provide a download of all the example files used in the project, so you can recreate it.
When you've reviewed all the information on this page and would like to go to a Project Launcher, click the application name below that corresponds to the one you'd like to use for the project.
Go to: PowerPoint 2003 (PC) - Project Launcher FREE!
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Go to: PowerPoint 2007 (PC) - Project Launcher
Go to: PowerPoint 2004 (Mac) - Project Launcher
Description
Students will use presentation software to create a slideshow about their families. The presentation will begin with an overview slide of the student's family members that are included in the presentation. Buttons on the overview slide will link to slides which contain more information about the specific person. Students will have the opportunity to share their findings with the rest of the class and discuss possible connections between family groups.
Goals
To provide students with a sense of their personal history and how it might connect to the history of others in their class. To provide students with the basic skills necessary to use a presentation software program.
Objectives
The student will be able to:
  • Students will be able to create a new presentation document.
  • Students will be able to document family connections through text content and navigational buttons in their presentation.
  • Students will be able to give a "slideshow" of their presentation.
Preparation and Skill Mastery
If students will be using information other than the provided data sets for creating their presentation document, they should collect this information prior to beginning their presentation project.
Materials
  • A computer with presentation software installed
  • Access to the image files provided in the downloadable resource packet for this project
  • A copy of the family data provided at the end of this document and in the downloadable resource packet for this project
  • Access to print and online resources for researching historical events and genealogy, if information other than the provided data set will be used
  • Printer (optional)
Task List
The tasks to be completed for this project include:
  • Collecting information about the people who will be reported on in the presentation, if using information other than the provided data set.
  • Creating slides in the presentation software and entering data.
  • Linking the slides in the presentation.
  • Sharing the finished slideshow with other members of the class.
Assessment
Assessment can be based on the following:
  • Did the student create an overview slide and a slide for each individual in the data set?
  • Did the student locate historical events that occurred on the same day of the year as each individual's birth date?
  • Did the student present their finished presentation to the class or other audience, as specified by the instructor?
Extending or Adapting
Here are some possible ways that this lesson plan might be extended or adapted for different timeframes, grade levels, and skill/ability levels:
  • This project may be adapted to fit the family situations found among the members of the class. For example: students who do not know anything about their biological parents may report on their adult guardians; or students who can not find information about ancestors on one side of the family may report on more family members on the other side.
  • Navigation and linkages between slides may be extended to include links between siblings, parents and children, or other relationships documented within the presentation.
  • Reported data can be adapted to fit a particular subject or curriculum. For example, a biology class may create a presentation documenting the relationships between animal species.