This website above is a lesson plan for students in grades 3-6. This lesson incorporates Microsoft Excel spreadsheets into an elementary school lesson. I was surprised at the prospect of using spreadsheets with elementary school students. I did not learn to use Excel until I was in college. Being a former accountant I always used large spreadsheets with complicated formulas. I didn’t expect to use them in the classroom.
This lesson plan shows students how to graph data quickly and easily. They will graph the difference in their estimated and actual data. A simple way to do this so that students understand is to use a bag of M&Ms. The students are each given a Ziploc bag of candy and they will make an Excel chart of how many of each color they estimate to be in their bag. The students can also learn how to change font colors to match their M&Ms.
I hadn’t thought of it before but now I can even see how I could use Excel for fun math activities with younger grades like first or second grades. If students were choosing their favorite sucker flavor I could create the spreadsheet and project it onto the Smart Board for the children to observe. They would have a visual aid to follow and see the graph of favorite flavors. Introducing children to concepts early is important for laying the groundwork for when they get older and need to apply the concept and create the spreadsheet and graph on their own.
If I were teaching students to alphabetize words I could do that very quickly with Excel’s Sort A to Z function. I would list all the words randomly on my computer. Using the Smart Board projection the students could see the words. There are then two options depending on time and level of student involvement. The students could either go up to the board one at a time or write the correct order and then check with the Sort A to Z function or I could just give students time to write the words in correct order in a notebook. After the students have had time to order the words I would simply select the group of words and click the function. It would show the correct order instantly and the students could see the correct order.
As an educator I will also use spreadsheets administratively. I could use them to record students’ attendance, grades, to create address lists and to print labels. Spreadsheets are easy to use to make quick lists and tables. At the beginning of the year parents have lots of forms to sign and return to school. By making a quick spreadsheet I can list my students vertically and the forms horizontally. As students bring forms in I can quickly go across the forms to check off those completed.
Another way to use spreadsheets is to create mailing labels. By making a student/parent address spreadsheet I can quickly import those to Microsoft Word in order to print labels from any printer. Most Avery labels from Wal-Mart or office supply stores have templates on Word that will print easily. This is one way to make sending parent letters that much easier.
From teaching to administrational uses Excel spreadsheets can be used in the classroom in so many ways. It is important that educators find the uses that fit with their classroom curriculum and make their work more effective.
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