Tag: slides

Education, K-12, Teaching Tools

Interactive Google Slides Templates

Terri Eichholz

UPDATE 8/10/2021: For more ideas on ways to design your slide decks, check out my new post here.

With many schools beginning the 2020-2021 school year virtually, a lot of generous educators have been sharing interactive templates to use with Google Slides.  I have been bookmarking sites as I find them on Twitter, and I thought it would be nice to have a curated list here.  I am also sharing this link, which I think is a huge game changer, on how to update student Google Slide Decks after you’ve already shared them in Google Classroom.  (Video by Jessica Wilding)  Remember that you will need to make a copy of each presentation in order to use it and edit it.  Since there are a lot, I tried to put some examples next to each one to give you some idea of what is included in each set.

  • Peel the Fruit Slides Activity includes a template for this Visual Thinking Routine, along with a link to some other Visual Thinking Routine templates.
  • Templates and Games created and shared by @EtownScience (Each slide in this original presentation can be clicked on to access a presentation you can copy and use.) Includes Scrabble, a Netflix template, and many more!
  • Templates created and shared by @KrissyVenosdale. Includes Fridge Poetry and Post-It Notes with a few others.
  • Interactive Slides for any Content Area created and shared by @TheresaWills.  Includes SO MUCH, like collaborative math manipulatives and Would You Rather.
  • Open Middle Problems slides by @DanShuster, adapted from the Open Middle math site created by @RobertKaplinsky.
  • Graphic Organizer Templates created and shared by @DrCDMendoza. Includes Venn Diagram, Cause & Effect, and others.
  • Depth and Complexity Slides adapted from the work of Bette Gould and Sandra Kaplan, slides created by @Venezia_Megan. Includes the icons and thinking prompts with areas to enter responses.
  • Google Slides Templates curated by @HistorySandoval. Includes Hyperslides, a TED Talk viewing guide, and more from various contributors.
  • Notebooks, Manipulatives, Choice Boards and Games created and shared by the incredible @SlidesMania.
  • Free Templates from Mrs. Park (@MrsParkShine) Includes several types of Check-In templates and Learning Stations Menus.

Let me know if you have any other collections that I should add!  Also, remember you can quickly make your own slides interactive by using one of my favorite tools, PearDeck!

“Peel the Fruit” Slides activity adapted from Project Zero Visible Thinking Routines

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Education, K-12, Teaching Tools, Websites

DriveSlides

Terri Eichholz

The Guru of Everything Google, Alice Keeler, partnered with Matt Miller to publish the DriveSlides Chrome Extension, which is available for free on the Chrome Web Store here.

Near the end of the school year, many teachers like to make slideshows of pictures from throughout the year.  With DriveSlides, Keller and Miller have given us a tool that will make this process much faster if you want to use Google Slides.  Once you install the DriveSlides extension, open the folder in Google Drive that contains all of the pictures you want to put in your presentation.  Click on the extension icon in your toolbar, and watch the magic happen.  (You will need to allow permissions the first time you use the extension.)  After a slight pause, a new window will open and automatically create a Google Slideshow with all of the pictures in that folder.

My whole family gathered around as I made this quick demonstration with pictures of our family bulldog, taking mental notes so they could use the extension too. (I added the background after the pictures were all imported, using suggestions from the Google Explore Tool.)

If you want to add audio to your slideshow, here is some advice from Richard Byrne.

Keeler also has another Chrome Extension called, “Slideshot,” which will take screenshots every minute and create a slideshow out of those when you hit “Finish.”

Want some more ideas for the end of the school year?  Check out this post!

3-12, Apps, Education, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Sway

Terri Eichholz

My days spent at #TCEA16 last week were motivating and extremely inspiring.  This week, I would like to select a few highlights to share with you.  Today’s post is about Sway, a presentation tool.

Sway is a tool from Microsoft that some might call PowerPoint on Steroids.  Sway is free, but you will need an Office or Microsoft account to use it on your Windows 10 computer, iPhone, or iPad.  It does not appear to be available on Android or Mac.

The presentation I saw about Sway at TCEA was called, “Walk This Sway,” which you can find here.  One of the unique things that sets this slide show maker apart from others is that it allows you to create a horizontal or vertical show.  Shana Ellason, who spoke about Sway, provided this example of a horizontal presentation. According to her, Sway provides a lot of content that makes it easy to use to create interactive multimedia presentations.  It also allows for easy collaboration.

We tend to use slide shows more as collection tools than presentation tools in my classroom, but I can see how the novelty and unique features of Sway could be used to add “pizzazz” to a student’s research report.  If you’re tired of Prezi, Glogster, Powerpoint, and Google Slides, you might want to try Sway instead.

Microsoft Sway

3-12, Apps, Education, Research, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Websites

Google Slides Templates (Updated)

Terri Eichholz

This week, I’ve decided to reblog some of my more popular posts with some updates. Since I’ve posted this piece on Google Slides Templates, I’ve found some other resources to add to the list.  You will find most of the updates at the bottom of this post.

Now that our campus has a set of Chromebooks, my students have been delighting in exploring Google Drive.  One tool that has been an asset is the Presentation tool also known as Slides.  Similar to Powerpoint, the Google version has a few advantages in our environment: automatic saving (extremely helpful when the network isn’t always reliable), the rockin’ Research Tool, and the ability to use Google image search within the presentation. Even more importantly, a shared presentation invites collaboration.  I’ve enjoyed having the students work on slides in the same show simultaneously, such as the metaphor presentation I’ve embedded below. (UPDATE: Alice Keeler has a great post on how students can submit work on a collaborative Google Slide Presentation.)

There aren’t a whole lot of themes available in Slides.  But a growing number of templates are popping up online.  You can start with Google, itself, for public presentation templates that are free to download. Another fun resource, though somewhat limited right now, is Slides Carnival.

One of my favorite templates that I’ve run across recently comes from the DavidLeeEdTech blog.  This virtual museum template is so cool!  Scroll down to the comments section on his blog to get the direct link for downloading the template.

from David Lee's Virtual Museum Slides Template
from David Lee’s Virtual Museum Slides Template

Another option is to download a Powerpoint template that you like, and then to import the slides into your Google Drive presentation.

To download most templates, you will need to be signed in to your Google Drive. If the link provided for a template does not give you a direct copy, then you may have a “View Only” version, and will need to make a copy yourself. When applicable, always leave the proper source citations for the template on the slide show, but do whatever other editing you would like once you make a copy.

Tired of the limited fonts available for your Slides Presentation? Check out these instructions for adding more.

And, if you are feeling very enterprising and graphic-designy and would like to make your own template, Alice Keeler has step-by-step instructions for doing just that.

UPDATED 6/22/15:  More Google Slides Templates Resources

3-12, Education, Language Arts, Research, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Websites

Google Slides Templates

Terri Eichholz

Note: Since originally publishing this post, I have added some updates, which you can find here.

Now that our campus has a set of Chromebooks, my students have been delighting in exploring Google Drive.  One tool that has been an asset is the Presentation tool also known as Slides.  Similar to Powerpoint, the Google version has a few advantages in our environment: automatic saving (extremely helpful when the network isn’t always reliable), the rockin’ Research Tool, and the ability to use Google image search within the presentation. Even more importantly, a shared presentation invites collaboration.  I’ve enjoyed having the students work on slides in the same show simultaneously, such as the metaphor presentation I’ve embedded below.

There aren’t a whole lot of themes available in Slides.  But a growing number of templates are popping up online.  You can start with Google, itself, for public presentation templates that are free to download. Another fun resource, though somewhat limited right now, is Slides Carnival.

One of my favorite templates that I’ve run across recently comes from the DavidLeeEdTech blog.  This virtual museum template is so cool!  Scroll down to the comments section on his blog to get the direct link for downloading the template.

from David Lee's Virtual Museum Slides Template
from David Lee’s Virtual Museum Slides Template

Another option is to download a Powerpoint template that you like, and then to import the slides into your Google Drive presentation.

To download most templates, you will need to be signed in to your Google Drive. If the link provided for a template does not give you a direct copy, then you may have a “View Only” version, and will need to make a copy yourself. When applicable, always leave the proper source citations for the template on the slide show, but do whatever other editing you would like once you make a copy.

Tired of the limited fonts available for your Slides Presentation? Check out these instructions for adding more.

And, if you are feeling very enterprising and graphic-designy and would like to make your own template, Alice Keeler has step-by-step instructions for doing just that.

3-12, Education, Independent Study, Research, Student Products

Pecha Kucha

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image credit: http://www.taft.co.nz/gardenfestnz/events/pechakucha.html

According the the above website, “PechaKucha is a presentation format for creative work originally devised in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein-Dytham Architecture in Tokyo, Japan. The name derives from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation or chit-chat.”

I first heard about Pecha Kucha from some of my fellow G.T. teachers, and was fascinated by the concept – a presentation of 20 slides with 20 seconds for each slide.  At the time, I was already caught up with end-of-the-school-year projects, and did not have a spare moment to do more research.  This summer, I ran across this great blog post that gives 10 great suggestions for how to create an awesome Pecha Kucha.

I love the idea of giving this option to my students – particularly for their Genius Hour projects.  I also think this is a great way for teachers to introduce a new topic – or even review one.  Or, you can do what the professionals do, have a “Pecha Kucha Night” at which your student present their most inspirational slideshows.  If you can think of any other ideas for Pecha Kucha in the classroom, I would love to see your comments!