Teacher’s award-winning PowerPoint teaches kindergarteners the alphabet - 7/10/07

Woodholme Elementary School teacher Glenda Weikel and her class at the MICCA Awards Ceremony at the Baltimore Convention Center

 “U-P.” The word Glenda Weikel spells out as an example for her Woodholme Elementary School kindergarten class in an interactive PowerPoint, Learning About Letters, describes just the direction she’s taking her students: toward the top.

On April 25, Weikel received the MICCA multimedia award under the teacher category for her PowerPoint project in a ceremony at the Baltimore Convention Center. She and her students were also honored at a special school assembly on April 27. MICCA, an affiliate of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), aspires to promote the advancement of educational technology.

Designed to showcase what the students have learned about letters, the main page of the slide show features buttons for every letter in the alphabet. When clicked, each button directs viewers to a link displaying a given student’s work.

“I first got the idea for the project at a technology workshop for curriculum planning,” says Weikel. “I had started out with just the letter ‘A,’ but then I went on to expand it and make some modifications.”

After visiting the learn-to-read web site www.starfall.com to study their assigned letters, the kindergarteners completed the four different tasks that are displayed in the slides. First, they sorted pictures into two categories based on sounds. Next, they identified and circled their letter among a jumble of other letters. Then, with partners, they brainstormed words that begin with their letter. Finally, they wrote a word beginning with their letter and drew an accompanying picture. 

Judges with MICCA scored submissions based on curriculum content, organization, technical quality, general effectiveness, and creativity.

Weikel says she enjoyed creating the PowerPoint and has lots of ideas for the future.

“The project taught students very valuable technology skills and allowed me to assess what they had learned,” she says. “The students were very excited about it and had a lot of fun.”

To view Weikel’s PowerPoint, visit woodholmees.bcps.org/MICCA...

Story by Bethany B., summer intern in the BCPS Communications Office, and a rising senior at Pikesville High School. Photos courtesy of Woodholme Elementary School.

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