Grade 3

Publish a Story with Google Slides

Creative Communicator
Google Slides

Overview

Students will use Google Slides to publish a writing piece by typing their story, adding images to their slides, and creating links for readers to navigate their published book. This activity may take more than one class period.

Students will:

  • Be able to publish a story with google slides using at least five slides, five images, and five links.

To prepare for this lesson:

  • Teachers should understand Google Slides and how to create interactive presentations in order to show students.

  • Most third graders are not going to have their own Google Accounts, so you will need to have Google Classroom and assign the presentation to them through your Google Classroom. 

    • Watch Creating Google Slides Assignments.

    • Create a presentation template and make a copy for each of your students and then assign them their own copy through Google Classroom. 

  • The teacher will want to do some prep work with the students ahead of time if they have never used Google Slides before. 

    • Opening the template

    • Adding text

    • Adding images

    • Linking images

    • Saving a document (Explaining that Google automatically saves their work.)

    • Opening a saved document

  • Students should have already written their stories. For this activity, they are publishing their previously created work.

Note: Students are able to create their own drawings in Google Drawings. You will need to do a lesson ahead of time to show them how to open up Google Drawings and create their own drawing to add to their slide. 

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

  1. For this activity, 3rd graders will publish their personal narrative stories using pictures they have taken or drawn themselves. Students should gather these pictures and add them to their Google Drive for ease of access.

  2. Next, students are instructed to work with a new Google slide presentation using the template created by their teacher.

  3. The first slide should be their title slide, with the title of their story and their name as the author.

  4. Students then create a slide for the first part of their story. They should only type two-three sentences of their story per slide.

  5. Once they have typed their sentences, students should use the insert function to add their own pictures and drawings from their Google Drive.
    Google Slides Insert

  6. Students repeat this process until their whole story is typed and illustrated.

  7. Lastly, students create “next” arrows on pages to help their reader “turn the page” in their story. Students can choose a shape for their advancement symbol, or just link a word.
    Next arrow

  8. The teacher instructs students to highlight their text or select their shape on the first slide, and then select the “link” option from the toolbar.

    link

  9. Students should then choose the option to “link” the current slide to the next slide. Students repeat this process for each of their slides.

  10. Students share their book on a class website or to Google classroom and present their work to their class, family and friends.

Different options for assessing the students:

  • Observations
  • Check for understanding
  • The teacher is looking for storytelling characteristics such as plot, characters, setting, detail, etc…
  • The teacher is also looking for the student's ability to communicate an idea clearly through published work and add pictures that match their text.

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Creative Communicator
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

Global Collaborator
7c

Device: PC, Chromebook, Mac, iPad

Browser: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, ALL

Apps. Extensions, Add-ons

Websites:
Creating Google Slides Assignments

Google Slides

Google Slides - Creating an Interactive Presentation

CONTENT AREA RESOURCES

ELA: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.A
Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.6
With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Students can create their own drawings in Google Drawings and use to illustrate their story. 

Students can write a math story problem. 

Students can write about a science topic.

Students can write about a place or historical event. 

Credits
This task card was created by Lacey Kohn, KRESA, January 2019. Updated October 2023.