Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet

Projects Students and Teachers Love

Presented by Barry Bakin
TESOL Pre-Conference Institute
Tuesday April 1, 2008
New York City

Barry Bakin
ESL Teacher Advisor,
ESL Intermediate Low Instructor,
Division of Adult and Career Education
Los Angeles Unified School District
[email protected]
http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Word or PowerPoint ClipArt Comics

Step 1) Open Microsoft Word or PowerPoint and a new
blank document will appear.
Step 2) Click on Insert/Picture/ClipArt
Step 3) Scroll through the images until you find one you like to each other.
Step 5) It will probably be necessary to adjust the size of the image.
Step 6) Insert the speech balloon Use AutoShapes and click on Callouts.
Step 7) Click and drag the cursor to create a callout shape.
Step 8) Move the callout shape to the desired location. Click on the callout shape and drag it to a good location on
the page. Dont worry about the pointer or the height and width of the shape at this point.
Step 9) Move the pointer to the desired location. Click on the yellow square at the end of the pointer. Drag the tip of the
pointer to the desired location (the location of the speaker-usually somewhere near the mouth if a person.)
Step 10) Type the characters words in the callout shape. Click somewhere in the callout shape and type the words
that the character is speaking. Change the font and size of the text before you type (like in any Word Document) or by
highlighting the selected text after it is typed. You can also change the background color of the speech bubble.
Step 11) Stretch the callout shape. The final step for this callout shape is to stretch the textbox by clicking and
dragging the round white handles at the corners or sides.
TIP: Use cloud call-outs for peoples thoughts. This provides good practice in the social skill of being aware that what
people say is often different than what people think.
The final product should look something like this:

I just told him that

two minutes ago! I
wish hed listen to me!

Samples of actual student work can be found at http://esl.adultinstruction.org/ClipArtComics.htm

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Online Ways to do similar projects

Internet-Based Comic Strips using

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html
Internet-Based Animated Movies using www.dfilm.com
View some student animated movies

http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3105275
http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3101109
http://mm.dfilm.com/mm2s/mm_route.php?id=3100985

Open your browser and navigate to http://www.dfilm.com

Click on the dfilmmoviemaker link. Click on Start or Launch Moviemaker. Make a Movie by
following the directions at the website.
Show your movie to your neighbor.

Internet-Based Animated Movies using Bombay TV

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php
Click on make a movie
Pick a scene and add your titles.
Send it to view it!
http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=cc98ca171289c7bb064aa55fc8b55e27

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=392790a1b4bfb6c95da90ea44e517381

Get an egg to say what you write!

http://talkingbreakfast.holiday-inn.com/holiday_inn_ws.php?pop=2&door=109&cl=26&AID=1&popfailed=1

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Excel Team Research

Project-Based Classroom Research
ESL Beginning High students and above practice their English skills, gain
computer skills, and obtain CASAS competencies by doing actual research,
collecting statistics, and using Microsoft Excel to create a simple graph. They
present the research as a group (or individual) to their classmates accompanied
by a PowerPoint presentation. As part of the presentation, they respond to
questions from the audience about their research.
The Excel Chart Wizard allows students to create colorful and informative charts
with a minimal amount of instruction. A few minutes of instruction is sufficient
for even Beginning High students to create dynamic charts from actual research
theyve conducted in or out of class.
Step One: Students decide on question theyll be researching and get approval
from the instructor (the project is neither too difficult nor too easy).
Step Two: Students collect data.
Step Three: Students enter data into Excel and create chart.
Step Four: Copy completed chart and insert it into a PowerPoint Presentation.
STEP-BY-STEP instructions follow
Step 1) Start Excel A worksheet titled Book 1 will appear. The worksheet consists of columns
labeled with letters and rows labeled with numbers. (See illustration 1) Each space can thus be
identified by a letter and a number. The first space is A1, the one next to it is A2, the one under
it is B1, etc.

illustration 1

Step 2) Column A will become the X axis and Column B will become the Y axis. For the purposes
of this explanation, the question being researched was How many students were there from
various countries in class today? The data revealed that there were fifteen students from
Mexico, six students from El Salvador, three students from Italy and one student from Vietnam.
Click on space A1 and type Mexico. Click on space B1 and type 15. Click on space A2 and
type El Salvador. Click on space B2 and type 6. Click on space A3 and type Italy. Click on
space B3 and type 3. Click on space A4 and type Vietnam. Click on space B4 and type 1.
(For more nationalities continue adding more information in subsequent rows.) When you have
finished entering all of the information, the two columns should look as they do in illustration 2.

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Illustration 2

Step 3) Highlight the eight spaces you just filled in. Do this by clicking near the upper left corner
of space A1 and dragging the cursor down and to the right until space B4 is highlighted in blue.
The worksheet should appear as in illustration 3.

Illustration 3

Step 3) Click on Insert/Chart or the Chart Icon to get the Chart Wizard (See illustration 4).

Illustration 4

The chart wizard will appear. You can experiment with different variations here, but to keep it
simple for this first project, just choose the first column chart (already highlighted) by clicking
next (see illustration 5).

Illustration 5

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Step 4) Click next at step 2 of the chart wizard. At this point you should see a mini version of
the graph viewable in the wizard (see illustration 6).

Illustration 6

Step 5) Step 3 of the chart wizard lets you fill in the name of the chart and labels for the X and Y
axis. In the space labeled Chart Title type an appropriate title. For this example, type Where
are the students in the class today from? In the space labeled Category (X) axis type Country
Name. In the space labeled Value (Y) axis type Number of Students (See illustration 7).
When you are finished with step 3, click next.

Illustration 7

Step 6) Step 4 of the chart wizard lets you either insert the chart in the current worksheet or as a
separate worksheet. Choose As object in and click Finish (see illustration 8).

Illustration 8

Your chart should appear on the same Excel worksheet page that youve been working with (see
illustration 9).

Illustration 9

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Step 7) Make final adjustments to the graph before you save and print it. Click on the label
Series 1 at the right of the chart and delete it (see illustration 10). You can change the color of
any of the columns by clicking on it once (to select all of the columns) and then clicking on it
again to select that individual column. Right click and choose Format Data Point to select a new
color (see illustration 11). Use the Format Data Point menu to insert an image instead of a color
for each column (see illustration 12). You can experiment with changing other aspects of the
chart by right-clicking on different areas to bring up formatting dialogue boxes. For example, if
you right-click in the area of the Y axis, the format axis dialogue box will open. Among the
options is being able to change the scale of the Y axis so that instead of a grid line and numbering
by twos (2,4,6,8 etc.) gridlines will be designated by ones (1,2,3,4 etc.) or any other number you
choose.

Illustration 10

Illustration 11

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DID THE STUDENTS IN MR. BAKIN'S CLASS

PREFER?
12

Number of Students

10
8
6
4
2
0
Rock

Regueton

Hip hop

Pop

Regional Mexican
Music

Type of Music

Illustration 12
To Insert an image as a background of a column in the chart, the image must first be SAVED on your computer. (You
cant copy and paste.

Click on Fill Effects

Click on the Picture tab at the top

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Click on Select Picture

Browse to where you saved your image and click Insert

Click on OK

and OK again

Step 8) You can print it at this point, or click on the graph to select the entire area, and choose
copy. You can then paste the graph into a new Word document in order to add student names
or other class information easily.
After the graph has been saved, experiment with changing different components of the data and
seeing how it affects the graph itself. If you click on space A1 for example and change the name
of the country from Mexico to France, [click on space A1, then click in the formula bar (the space
to the right of the equals sign above the letters ABCD labeling the columns) to type your
changes] as soon as you click Enter or click on another space in the chart, youll see the label in
the chart change from Mexico to France. This feature allows students to simply replace the
labels and data in the model with their own information. The chart will reflect the changes. You
can decide whether or not you want to have your students simply insert their data into a chart
youve already created as a model or to create their own charts from the beginning.
The final step of this project is to create a simple PowerPoint Presentation to be used to
accompany an oral presentation by the team members of their results. The minimum
presentation includes four slides. More advanced students can do more.
Slide 1: Title slide with names of team members and project name
Slide 2: Completed Excel graph
Slide 3: Request for questions from audience
Slide 4: Thank you and other acknowledgements (See Rosalbas Video)

For samples of actual student-created PowerPoint presentations about their research,

see http://esl.adultinstruction.org/ResearchProject.htm

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Making a Simple PowerPoint Presentation featuring your graph

1. Click the Start icon at the bottom left side of the screen. Click on
Programs/Microsoft Office/PowerPoint. (Menu could vary)

2. Click on Blank Presentation link.

Left side of
screen shows you
the number of
slides you have.

3. Click on Blank Slide. Then, click on X to close Slide Layout.

Inserting a Text Box

4. Select Insert/Textbox or use the icon. Click on the Slide and drag the mouse to
create a Text Box.

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Type the words Research Project in the box.

Repeat step 4 as many times as necessary to complete each slide (right-click and choose
insert new slide for each subsequent slide). There should be a minimum of four slides
for each project:
Slide 1:
Slide 2:
Slide 3:
Slide 4:

Title slide with names of team members and project name

Completed Excel graph
Request for questions from audience
Thank you and other acknowledgements

5. To insert the graph into Slide 2, click on the graph in the original Excel worksheet
and click on Edit/Copy. Click on the second slide in the PowerPoint presentation and
click on Edit/Paste. The graph should appear in the slide. Click on a corner to enlarge
the graph to fill the slide as much as possible. You can also move the location of the
graph on the slide by clicking on it and dragging the graph to the desired location.

6. Use the menu item Slide Show/View Show to see the presentation. Clicking the
mouse button or the arrow keys will advance the slides.
For videos of actual students presenting their PowerPoint presentations see
http://esl.adultinstruction.org/ResearchProject.htm
(Rosalba presenting favorite ways to relax is a good example)

10

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

One Word Poems - Students use WordArt and a photo to create a One Word Poem. This
project can be done in either Word or PowerPoint. Using PowerPoint is a little bit easier.

Step 1) The desired image must already have been saved on the computer in a known file location. Students can use
ClipArt or any other source to browse through images and then save the desired image an easily found location.
Step 2) Think of a word that has an association with the image. Select Insert/Picture/WordArt

and a selection box will appear:

Step 3) Select one of the styles and click OK. A new dialogue box will appear.

11

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Type the one word of your poem (the word that you associate with the picture) in the space indicated. Pick a large size font
and select Bold for best results. The WordArt image will appear in the document.

Step 4) Click on the image and drag a corner to enlarge it. It should pretty much fill the page. TIP: If youre using Word,
rotate the page to landscape (File/Page Setup)

Step 5) Right click on the image and a drop-down menu will appear. Select Format WordArt

12

Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com

Step 6) Making sure the Colors and Lines tab is selected, choose Fill Effects under the Color drop-down menu for
the Fill section.

Step 7) Select the Picture tab and then Select Picture.

Step 8) Locate the folder where you saved the desired photo and click Select Picture.

The selected picture will appear as the background of the WordArt! Adjust the dimensions of the image on the page and
have the student add their name and date somewhere on the page. TIP: If youre using Word, right click on the image and
select Format WordArt and the Layout tab to change the layout style to In front of text to make it easier to move the
image around on the page.

Use Wikis to give students a place to create and work on

their own projects. For an example:
http://coasttocoast.pbwiki.com/
13 Barry Bakin, Teacher Advisor, Division of Adult and Career Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, April 2008
[email protected]; http://www.tech4esl.blogspot.com