Creativity with Keynote

Today I visited with Mrs. Tatia Williams, and second grade teacher at James Island Elementary School and Mrs. Amanda Cook, a fifth grade teacher at Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary. Both of these teachers have been doing a fantastic job of getting their iPads ready to roll out by taking the time to teach the basics. Digital Citizenship is at the heart of all of their activities.


My first stop was second grade. I was so excited to see all of Mrs. Williams's students with devices in hand as I walked in. Students were taking their original poetry and creating Keynote presentations that displayed their work. Many were looking for appropriate clip art that would compliment their poems, while others were collaborating with a partner about how they could rhyme certain words to create a rhyming pattern. The students were very proud of their work and even shared it via Smartboard with their peers.

As I ventured into fifth grade, Mrs. Cook had her students creating informational Keynote presentations about Pearl Harbor. Students used information that they learned previously and were given guidelines to create a short presentation that summed up the United State's entrance into World War II. As students were summarizing key facts and looking for pictures that complemented their ideas, you could see authentic learning taking place. This activity reinforced what content had already been covered and allowed students to go further in their learning.