Project Idea Starters for Using Technology in the Classroom

Let these ideas be a springboard for you to start your own creativity flowing by incorporating technology into your lessons!

Digital Cameras |Brochures | Newsletters | Databases and Spreadsheets | Word Documents

Ideas for Using a Digital Camera in the Classroom

1. 100 Ways to Use Digital Cameras - Share great moments from your classroom!
2. Classroom Applications for the Digital Camera - The ideas listed were generated during the 1990-91 school year
3. The Digital Camera in Education - how digital cameras can be used in the educational process
4. Ideas from Colleagues Around the World - Many ideas from which to choose. [This expired link is available through the Wayback Machine Internet Archive. If the page doesn't load quickly click on Impatient? at the bottom right of the page.]
5. Integrating Digital Photography - Education World
6. Kodak Solution - Lesson plan Ideas.
7. Photos in the Classroom - click on the activity links

Brochures

Students can create a brochure to:

1. As a book review to get others to read this book, including setting, characters, plot, opinion of book, etc
2. For parents relaying information of upcoming projects that will be done in class (this also will serve to help students understand the assignments and activities they will be doing)
3. About an invention they have researched. Things that can be included are graphics, why this invention is important, how much is it worth and why it is worth buying, what the world would be like without this invention and why every home should have one, how it is going to improve the quality of life.
4. For their after-school club to help acquire new members.
5. Create an ad for their favorite restaurant!
6. Create a brochure for a new day care center.
7. Create ad for women factory workers, after researching WWII.

Newsletters

Students can use a newsletter format to create:

1. Eye-Witness Reports - After studying an event in history, students can report on various happenings during this time period, in first person, as an eye-witness to the event. Class will create a newspaper dated the time of the happenings.
2. Newsletter highlighting their after-school club events to share information with the rest of the students.

Databases and Spreadsheets

1. Set up a bookstore as a way of earning extra money for school events, selling unusual items . Keep an inventory in a database and how many of each item is needed and sold. Use Excel to keep a tally of the price of items and income earned. Create a Price List to pass out to students and future customers in Word or Excel.
2. Have students make a class inventory of furniture and art supplies on hand in a database. Estimate needs of art supplies and what should be ordered for class projects and the amount needed to purchase these in Excel.
3. Clubs can create a membership information database to share with students.
4. While doing Oral History Reports where students interview people on various topics, enter data in a database and compare answers to various questions and graph with Excel similarities and differences using various criteria to set up the queries.
5. After studying a nutrition unit, create a survey in Word for fellow students on their favorite cafeteria food. After the survey, students create a graph depicting the survey results. Create database on food items selected and nutritional information. Use queries to pull up data in various ways and make graphs with data.
6. Compare stories read in class throughout the school year by creating a database of story characters. Create queries to compare and contrast the traits of main characters. This may also be used for story settings or plots or any other story element.
7. Vacation Planner - create a budget in a spreadsheet
8. How I spent my day - create a spreadsheet on total hours and how each was spent, then create a pie graph representing percentages.
9. Recipes - Menus and ingredients. Use formulas to increase for multiples.
10. Database of scientists of various centuries and their discoveries.
11. Daily log of nutrition.

Word Documents:

1. After discussing American Revolution or any other political conflict, have students adopt a role by choosing a side and write a persuasive letter trying to convince the other side to see things their way.
2. After discussing the Pilgrims and Indians, have students take on the role of either group, Pilgrim or Indian, and write a friendly letter to the other, thanking them for their help and inviting them to a big celebration to honor their friendship.
3. While studying English grammar, instead of having the children copy from their English text, have the students create their own sentences for others to correct in a word processor document, saving them and then exchanging the sentences with a partner.
4. English Grammar - Teacher will type in some sentences for the class and save document. Have students come up and mark all the nouns red and all the pronouns blue by highlighting and changing font color. Students can check each others' work.
5. Develop a multi-cultural calendar. After discussing two or three different cultures, brainstorm with students various other cultures and have pairs of students decide what ethnic or religious culture they would like to learn about. After researching holidays and customs of cultures have students enter data in a calendar layout. Create the calendar by using the Calendar Wizard. In a separate word document, have students write a synopsis of the holiday customs. Display the calendar in class and discuss the various holidays as they appear through the school year.
6. Create business cards.
7. Create a "Wanted Poster" using a flyer layout.
8. Create ration coupons after studying The Depression.