Spelling, PowerPoint and hyperlinking

Create your week of spelling activities in PowerPoint. I like to use PowerPoint because I can hyperlink to websites and files on my computer. In this example I have listed the topic words for the week. Students who have access to the computers can type out this list 3 times and it is projected on the screen for the rest of the class to copy into their books. There is a hyperlink below that to a website called Look, Cover, Write and Check. You can type in your word list and be tested online. This is a great activity for fast finishers and for children who need some incentive to learn their words.
This next activity has been created in Jigzone. Upload a photo to Jigzone, set the number of pieces and save it. I created these images in PowerPoint by typing in all the words, rearranging them, inserting a shape behind them, grouping all the images and then right clicking to use the option 'Save as Picture'. Then I uploaded the image to Jigzone. I could then hyperlink the image I had made from PowerPoint to the jigsaw I had made.





This activity has been created in Inspiration and has been saved as a file to my computer. So all I had to do was hyperlink to the file from PowerPoint.

Interactive PowerPoints

What are 'Interactive PowerPoints?'

They are PowerPoint slides where students can click on text, graphics, photo or a button and it will hyperlink to another page, another file, another programme or to the internet.

Teachers can use this medium to create interactive activities for children targetted at their level.

This example uses WordArt. The WordArt is hyperlinked to the appropriate website. Children click on their choice of activity and the website loads up.

How to create a Hyperlink.

Open PowerPoint first, type in your title for your whole PowerPoint on this introduction slide(i.e. Reading Games). Insert a new slide and choose the 'Title only' slide, type in a title (i.e. could be the name of your reading group for that slide). Open your Browser (Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox) Find the website that you are going to link to (i.e. Starfall or BBC), click on the address to highlight it, Mac people press Apple-C (or Ctrl C for Windows) to copy address, go back to PowerPoint, create a WordArt Heading (or insert a graphic), click on the WordArt button, type in the name of the activity, click OK. Go to Insert-Hyperlink, press Apple – V (or Ctrl V) and click OK.

Children need to be in Slideshow view to play game.

Interactive PowerPoints

Remember when you are setting up your interactive PowerPoints that they should be level targetted. In other words if you are setting up a maths PPT, set a different one up for each maths group targetting their level and understanding. The activities hyperlinked on it should relate to the teaching and learning that is going on in the classroom. So if you are teaching addition of 10s and ones up to 100, then that is what the activities should be. Do not put too many activities on one slide as children are tempted to go from one to the other without spending much time on one particular activity. Make sure that children know that they do have a choice but they must finish each activity in its entirety.

How to Hyperlink to Websites

Open PowerPoint first, type in your title for your whole PowerPoint on this introduction slide(i.e. Reading Games). Insert a new slide and choose the 'Title only' slide, type in a title (i.e. could be the name of your reading group for that slide). Open your Browser (Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox) Find the website that you are going to link to (i.e. Starfall or BBC), click on the address to highlight it, Mac people press Apple-C (or Ctrl C for Windows) to copy address, go back to PowerPoint, create a WordArt Heading (or insert a graphic), click on the WordArt button, type in the name of the activity, click OK. Go to Insert-Hyperlink, press Apple – V (or Ctrl V) and click OK.

Children need to be in Slideshow view to play game.