Fifty States

PowerPoint Lesson Plan

By: Dottie Barrow

Overview:
The information literacy lesson plan will be implemented with a fourth grade unit on the
northeastern states. The students will gather specific information on an assigned state. In
addition, the students will use the information gathered using the pathfinder to create a
PowerPoint presentation.
The Pathfinder is included in this lesson plan and it is also located at the following web
address as a wiki:
http://fredericaknights.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Assessed GPS Standards:

Grade 4
Social Studies
English/Language Arts

SS4G1 – The student will be able to locate important physical and man-made features in
the United States.

ELA4W3 – The student uses research and technology to support writing. The student:
a. Acknowledges information from sources.
b. Locates information in reference texts by using organizational features (i.e.
prefaces, appendices, index, glossary, and table of contents).
c. Uses various reference materials (i.e. dictionary, thesaurus, newspapers, and key
words).
d. Demonstrates basic keyboarding skills and familiarity with computer terminology
(i.e., software, memory, disk drive, hard drive).

ELA8W3 – The student uses research and technology to support writing. The student:
a. Plans and conducts multiple-step information searches by using computer
networks and modems.
b. Achieves an effective balance between researched information and original ideas.
c. Avoids plagiarism.

ILLSSL Standard 3 – The student who is information literate uses information accurately
and creatively.
Indicator 1 - Organizes information for practical application
 Indicator 4 - Produces and communicates information and ideas in appropriate
formats
.
ILLSSL Standard 8 – The student who contributes positively to the learning community
and to society is information literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to
information and information technology.
Indicator 2 – Respects intellectual property rights
Indicator 3 – Uses information technology responsibly

ILLSSL Standard 9 – The student who contributes positively to the learning community
and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and
generate information.
Indicator 1 – Shares knowledge and information with others

Procedure:
Step 1 - The educator will develop a sample PowerPoint on a state to show the students
how to use the software and to give a sample PowerPoint on a state as a guide to follow
for the creation of their own PowerPoint.
Step 2 – The educator will show the students the command features of PowerPoint. (See
attached instructions handout)
Step 3 – Students will create a seven-slide presentation on an assigned northeastern state
with information they have gathered using the “50 States Pathfinder”.
Step 4 – Students will present their PowerPoint to the class.

Materials and Equipment:

1. Pathfinder handout and also as a wiki -
http://fredericaknights.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
2. Computer
3. PowerPoint software
4. LCD projector and computer for presentation
5. Sample state PowerPoint
6. PowerPoint instructions handout
7. Fifty States Rubric

Assessment:
Students will be assessed on the PowerPoint presentation using a rubric titled “Fifty
States”.
 PowerPoint Instructions
Step 1: Start the PowerPoint application.

Step 2: Format - Slide Design. Pick one with good contrast.

Step 3: Add a new slide by selecting Insert- New Slide from the
menu.

Step 4: Look at the sample state PowerPoint. Using the given

sample PowerPoint, locate the same information for your state.

Step 5: Add transitions to the finished presentation. Go to Slide

Show and then Slide Transition. Click on Apply to All Slides.

*To Get Pictures from the Internet:

Right click on picture

Give it a name you will remember
Save to your document folder

*To Insert Pictures into Your PowerPoint

Insert – Picture – from File

Go to your document folder
Click on the picture you want
Resize using CORNERS
 50 States Pathfinder

http://fredericaknights.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Introduction:
The following resources can be used when researching
information on the fifty states. You will find information
from online sources, print sources and from your schools
subscription database.

Keywords and Phrases for Searching:

• North America
• United States
• Names of states, such as Georgia

Online Sources:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108201.html
This site gives historical background information on each
state.
http://www.50states.com/
This site contains information on each state and its capitol.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/
Connect to this site for state maps, facts and state symbols.
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/state/index.html
Find quick facts at this government site on each state.
http://www.shgresources.com/resources/shg_states
A guide to U.S. facts.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/es
This site has a short introduction to each state and also real
stories about life in the state.

Print Sources:
Non-Fiction Books
917.3 BEA - Bear, John. United States of America: The
Land and its People. Morristown, N.J.: Macdonald
Educational. 1976.
General history of the United States and the people.

917.3 POP - Pope, John. America's Historic Places. New

York: The Readers Digest Association, Inc. 1988.
Contains more than 350 full-color illustrations of America's
historic places.

929.9 SMI - Smith, Whitney. The Flag Book of the United

States. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc.
1975.
This book is dated, and some flags have changes since the
publishing date. However, it does have great information
on the history of state flags and symbols.

973 CAL - Calkins, Carroll. The Story of America.

Pleasantville, New York: The Reader's Digest Association,
Inc. 1975.
A good site for the history of the United States. Use the
index for information on different states.
Set of State Books - Dewey Number 974-979 - My Report
Links. Berkley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. 2003.
(Together as a set on the shelf)
Explores the geography, climate, government, and history
of every state.

Reference Books
R 912.73 RUB - Rubel, David. Scholastic Atlas of the
United States. New York: Scholastic, Inc. 2000.
This atlas gives clear, detail-oriented maps and vivid
landscape photos.

R 912 NAT - National Geographic United States Atlas for

Young Explorers. Washington D.C.: National Geographic
Society. 1999.
Presents information about the regions and states of the
United States using maps, illustrations photographs and
text.

R 031.02 WOR - The World Almanac for Kids 2007. New

York: World Almanac Books. 2006.
Great for up to date information on population,
governments and even fun facts like how the states got their
names.

R 030 WOR - The World Book Encylolpedia. Chicago:

World Book, Inc. 2000.
Find information on each state in the appropriate volume.
Database Sources
Access to our subscription database requires a password.
The link to the database is on the school website. Ask the
Media Center staff for the password.
Galileo – Searchasaurus - Use the encyclopedia to search
for great information on every state.
RubiStar Rubric Made Using:
RubiStar
( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )

HyperStudio/Powerpoint Appearance and Content : Fifty

States

Teacher Name: Dottie Barrow

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Background Background does Background does Background Background
not detract from not detract from DOES detract makes it difficult
text or other text or other from text or other to see text or
graphics. Choice graphics. Choice graphics. There is competes with
of background is of background is not enough other graphics on
consistent from consistent from contrast between the page.
slide to slide. slide to slide. text and
Text is not on top background.
of any graphics.
Text - Font Font is readable Font is readable Font may be a Font formatting
Choice & and large enough close up, but too little hard to read. makes it very
Formatting to be read from small to read difficult to read
across a large across a large the material.
room. Use same room.
font throughout
the entire
presentation.
 Use of Graphics All graphics are A few graphics All graphics are Several graphics
attractive (size are not attractive attractive but a are unattractive
and colors) and but all support the few do not seem AND detract from
support the theme/content of to support the the content of the
theme/content of the presentation. theme/content of presentation.
the presentation. the presentation.
Content - All content Most of the The content on Content on state
Accuracy throughout the content is states facts and facts and graphics
presentation accurate on state graphics is is typically
contains accurate facts and graphics generally confusing or
facts and graphics but there is one accurate, but one contains more
on states. There piece of piece of than one factual
are no factual information that information is error.
errors. might be clearly flawed or
inaccurate. inaccurate.
Spelling and Presentation has Presentation has Presentation has Presentation has
Grammar no misspellings 1-2 misspellings, 1-2 grammatical more than 2
or grammatical but no errors but no grammatical
errors. grammatical misspellings. and/or spelling
errors. errors.
Technical Student knows Student needs Student needs Student could not
how to load and help on at least help more than run presentation
run the one of the steps to once to run even with help.
presentation run the presentation
without help or presentation. correctly.
problems.

Date Created: Oct 16, 2007 12:53 pm (CDT)

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 Dottie Barrow
ITEC 7136

Reflection

The fourth grade at Frederica Academy studies the fifty states every year. This

assignment was chosen because the collaborating fourth grade teacher felt like the

PowerPoint project done the previous year with her students was done with very little

instructions on how to create a “quality” PowerPoint. She wanted her students to see and

understand the importance of a quality presentation. We collaborated on this and decided

that the students would be given a template for the PowerPoint with specific information

required on each slide. We understood that some creativity may be taken away with these

specific requirements, but we felt like the focus was more on creating a PowerPoint that

could be seen and understood by the audience.

The first lesson in the computer lab was spent going over the PowerPoint

instructions using the handout. I focused on some of the elements in the assessment

rubric to include background, text and font choice, and inserting graphics. I showed the

sample PowerPoint created by the collaborating teacher and myself. In addition, I spent

some time showing examples of bad PowerPoints and asking the students to identify

what was wrong. For example, did the slides have fonts that were difficult to read, was

there poor contrast, was there too much text and were there too many bells and whistles

that detract?

The second time that the students came in to the lab they set up their template for

seven slides that would be their PowerPoint. The students picked a slide design that had

good contrast and readable fonts. They entered the titles (everyone had the same titles) on
all the slides. This part of the lesson went very smoothly because the collaborating

teacher had done this same project the year before and she knew exactly what she wanted

to do differently. She had communicated all of this to me in advance and I was able to

plan and focus on the things that she felt would help the students create a quality product.

At this point, the collaborating teacher took over to begin the research process. She was

able to guide the students through the use of the pathfinder and the gathering of

information to be used to create the PowerPoint. She shared later with me that the

pathfinder was a great help for the students in locating the information they needed for

the project.

It was a lot of fun to work with this teacher and I think our communication led to

a more meaningful project for the students. They are not finished yet, so I can’t reflect on

their finished products. I do plan to sit in on the presentations to help the collaborating

teacher with the assessment.