Using CSI to Teach Map Skills

Alisande Mayer, Media Specialist, Moulton-Branch Elementary
Valdosta, GA. 

As a media specialist in an elementary school, I have always enjoyed using PowerPoint to help teach media lessons to my students. PowerPoint provides the opportunity to teach the same type lessons and skills to each grade level while giving the advantage of being able to “tweak” that lesson and save it separately for each grade level’s abilities.
Therefore, when I saw a session by Patrick Crispin on PowerPoint listed on those offered at the recent GaETC conference, I was eager to attend. I thought that the session titled “Now that I know PowerPoint, how can I use it to TEACH?” may be just what I needed to spark new ideas and I was not disappointed.

Although Mr. Crispin did not actually give us ideas of lessons that we could use, he did give useful information on how to use PowerPoint more effectively in the classroom and I have implemented his ideas in my PowerPoint lessons. 
The consensus of the studies that he provided for us seemed to be that when PowerPoint is being used to teach, we may be better off leaving out all the “bells and whistles” that PowerPoint makes available because those things make get in the way of the student’s absorption of the knowledge we are trying to impart. Because of this, he suggested that pictures, animation, sounds, transitions, word art, etc. only be used when it directly relates to the subject being taught or enhances the learning of the material.

Upon returning to my school, I decided to try out this theory with some of my media classes and see how my students would respond to a “just the facts” presentation with few pictures. In order to do this, I decided to draw from the recent popularity of crime scene investigation and create a lesson about map skills using an “investigation briefing” as the means to share information.

Students were introduced to the crimes that they would solve in much the same way that investigators are “briefed”. They were introduced to each of the victims or suspects through a basic PowerPoint presentation and then they were given the “facts” that had been received on our imaginary tip-line, 1-800-HOT-TIPS.

Students were then asked to use these “tips” and the atlases provided to determine the exact location to dispatch each of our imaginary CSI teams to search for closure to our “crimes”. The clues given gave them the opportunity to search the United States map and that of some of the states included in their atlases on their quest to locate evidence.
My students truly enjoyed this activity and I found that, just as Mr. Crispin had suggested, they did not miss all the added frills on the accompanying PowerPoint.

I have included the CSI-Moulton-Branch Elementary PowerPoint. Feel to use it or edit it to fit your needs.

(Editor's comment: You will get a much better idea of the instructional value of this type activity after you look at the PowerPoint. Well worth the trouble to download!)

Links of interest:
Patrick Crispin’s website with his PowerPoint presentations including the one referred to here, “Now that I know PowerPoint, how do I use it to TEACH?”-- http://netsquirrel.com/

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