Description

Seasonal Software Skills – November

Do your students need more practice with real software skills, but you want something that feels festive in November? These Thanksgiving computer lab activities give students in grades 3–5 three hands-on projects, one each in presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet software. Each one fits in a single 45-minute class.

What students create

1. My Thankful Things (Thanksgiving Google Slides activity) Students build a 3-slide presentation about what they’re thankful for. They change backgrounds and fonts, add images, and finish with a transition and an animation. It’s a thankful presentation template students make their own.

2. Thanksgiving Newsletter (Thanksgiving Google Docs activity) Students pick a newsletter title and style it, write a paragraph about their family traditions, type a bulleted list of people they appreciate, and wrap text around an image.

3. Thanksgiving Favorites (Thanksgiving Google Sheets activity) Students enter vote data for five Thanksgiving foods, bold the header row, build a column chart, and answer questions about the results. It’s a simple spreadsheet chart activity for elementary students.

What’s in the teacher guide

• A one-page lesson plan for each project, with a timed flow: Hook, Model, Create, Reflect
• Click paths for every skill in both Google and Microsoft
• Tricky spots where students usually get stuck, and how to help
• Vocabulary word wall cards (5 words for each software)
• A 4-point rubric for each project
• Answer key and finished samples to show students
• ISTE Standards for Students alignment

Students also check off their skills on a self-reflection checklist inside their file.

Skills students practice

• Presentation: slides, text boxes, backgrounds, images, transitions, animations
• Word processing: fonts, alignment, line spacing, bulleted lists, text wrapping
• Spreadsheets: cells, rows, columns, data entry, charts

How it works

1. Click the links in the teacher guide to make your own copies.
2. Assign them in Google Classroom, or download them as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel files.
3. Students follow the directions beside each slide and check off their skills.

Who it’s for

These computer skills activities are written for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade: computer lab teachers, classroom teachers, and homeschool families. Third graders may need more modeling on the spreadsheet chart.

FAQ

Do I need Google accounts? You need a free Google account to make your copies. After that, students can work in Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets, or you can download the files as Thanksgiving PowerPoint, Word, and Excel activities.

Will this work on Chromebooks? Yes. It is built for Google apps in the browser.

How long does it take? About 45 minutes for each project, so three class periods.

Is this part of a series? Yes. Seasonal Software Skills gets a new set every month, September through May, so students build on their skills all year.

I hope your students have fun with these, and that they save you some planning time this busy season!