Summer Reading Made Fun: PowerPoint uses

Anything done on a computer is more fun than something done on paper (you know, the old-fashioned way), according to my kids.  I recognize that computers are going to play a large part in their education at school.  (To be honest, I'm pretty sure my 7 year old could teach me a thing or two...)  So it's time to embrace technology for the summer and encourage my children to make their summer reading more fun by encouraging the use of PowerPoint.

Ideas for PowerPoint uses to make Summer Reading more fun

Reading log:  Why not encourage your children to keep their reading log in a PowerPoint slide presentation?  Have them show the cover in a slide and then on the next, a short bit about the book and what they liked.  At the end of the summer, have a family dinner and view their presentations to share in their accomplishment.  An avid reader = a longer presentation, and that's a good thing! 

"Book" reports:  While I'm not saying that you should completely toss the idea of a book report overboard, assigning a PowerPoint slide presentation in lieu of a book report can help encourage your child to show you how much they learned in a visual presentation.  My 1st grader had the choice of a poster or a PowerPoint presentation last year when he had to research an animal for an end of the year project.  This idea could work well if you assign a topic, have them select book for research, and then have them present their data to you via a slide show.  (Note:  I now know way more than I ever would have thought about orangutans.) 

Slide show of your child reading everywhere:   Take your kids (and their books) around town and capture them reading their books at various places, including the beach, a shaded place under a tree, at the playground, in the car... everywhere.  Better yet, capture them reading near local monuments and historical sites.  See how many of them you can visit and read at over the summer, and have the kids compile their slide shows after each stop to make it easier to organize the photos in chronological order for the end of the summer recap.  Let's hope they aren't reading the same book all summer!

These are just a few ideas of incorporating PowerPoint into your child's summer reading. Do you have any other great ideas to share?