Virtual Tour

Last week my class was studying communities in social studies. One activity they completed was a virtual tour of historical buildings in downtown Katy. It was a PowerPoint put together by some discendents of the founding families. It was placed on a share drive so that it could be accessed by any class studying Katy. The students each had a map containing the numbers 1-9 which showed the location of each site we would be visiting on our virtual tour. Each PowerPoint slide contained a picture of the historic place as well as a picture of the historic placque in front of the building. As we toured the sites, the students marked their maps via different color crayons. In addition, they made their own key. They also explained how to get to point 1 to point 2 using directional terms such as, go east 2 blocks and south 3 1/2 blocks. The PowerPoint added an incredible dimension to this lesson. PowerPoint presentations with pictures and/or sound can be easily incorporated into hundreds of lessons across any curriculum and be a welcome addition to our visual, auditory, and oral learners.