Open a blank presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. Click the "Design" tab and select a background design from the "Themes" ribbon. If you don't see one you like, click the "Theme" drop-down menu and choose "More Themes on Microsoft Office Online" to search for additional designs. Click the arrow in the lower right corner of the "Background" ribbon for a "Format Background" dialog box with options for choosing a solid color, gradient, picture or texture. Right-click your chosen design in the "Themes" ribbon to opt to use this design for all slides or just this one.
Fill in your title page information on the first slide. On the "Home" tab's "Slides" ribbon click the "New Slide" drop-down to choose the slide style for the next and subsequent slides, depending on the content you plan to insert. If none of them fit your material, choose a blank slide. Click the "Insert" menu tab to add pictures, clip art, shapes, SmartArt, charts, text boxes, word art, movies and sound, according to your content needs.
Create your slide content by scanning or downloading any non-digital pictures, videos, illustrations, charts or diagrams you need to your computer. Transfer pictures from a digital camera or scanner or create them in an image editing program. Save images in JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP or TIF format for best PowerPoint compatibility. Compatible sound formats are AIFF, AU, MIDI, MP3, WAV and WMA, while videos should be saved in the ASF, AVI, MPEG or WMV format. Click a video thumbnail to show the movie tools and set desired options.
Add sound to your slideshow for background music or narration. Click on the "Insert" menu's "Media Clips" ribbon, then the "Sound" drop-down and choose "Sound from File" to choose background music from your music folder or "Record Sound" to record narration or your own singing or sound effects. Select the sound icon on the slide to make the "Sound" tools menu visible and choose options for looping, hiding the icon and when the sound should start playing. For more advanced sound controls, click on the "Animations" tab and ribbon and choose "Custom Animation." Click the drop-down on the sound file name in the list and choose effect options or timing.
Click on the "View" tab and choose "Slide Sorter" from the "Presentation Views" ribbon. Select each slide in turn and choose a transition effect for each.
Add timings to each slide, choosing whether to advance on manual click or after a preset time on the animation menu. Alternately, click on the "Slideshow" menu and choose "Rehearse Timings" to do a dry run of your slideshow and set the timings that seem to fit the content of each slide as appropriate.
Click on the "Slideshow" menu and set any desired options in setting up the slideshow. Click the "Start Slideshow" ribbon and watch your show from the beginning to troubleshoot any content, timing or presentation issues. Save it as a PowerPoint presentation for an editable file or a Powerpoint show for a self-running presentation that automatically opens in slideshow view.
Create lesson visuals to use during your presentation. Illustrate math concepts and processes, model scientific principles, show historical pictures and documents or give examples of proper language use. In short, anything teachers of days gone by might have written on the chalkboard, you can turn into a ready-made slide. Create a type of animation effect in demonstrating a step-by-step process by creating a series of slides with one change on each slide that appear in sequence.
Let students design an interactive e-book to teach younger students about a topic they are studying in language, science, history, geography, art, music or health, such as a poetry anthology or cookbook. Provide an outline of the type of slides and information that they must include and give them time to research their topics. Include a table of contents and hyperlinks or navigation buttons to help viewers find what they are looking for.
Set up a sequence of historical events in chronological order, one to a slide. Include a picture, event date and a written or verbal commentary on the details and significance of the event for each one. Alternately, students can create a visual pictorial history of a time period, era of art or music, social issue or event.
Write a report on any school topic under the sun, packaging it as a PowerPoint slideshow instead of a hard copy paper report. Include pictures, charts, graphs and diagrams of your data in addition to the text.