Eponyms, Schneponyms

In our study of the English Language and the origins of words, my students did some work on the concept of Eponyms, which are words that take on the name of a person (such as Ferris Wheel or Saxophone). Students then got some time to use Powerpoint to develop a slideshow that markets a product that has their name — an eponymous product. A few students (and myself) donated work for this video (I converted PP to video with some software that I have).
One of the side reasons for doing this work is that I want to bring them deeper into powerpoint so that when we do our Digital Book Project later in the year, the technology is in the background as much as possible and the writing and creativity work is in the forefront. They need multiple sessions to understand the platform and to think and imagine the possibilities of a book that is not “flat” but “multimedia.”

Peace (in Kevinland),
Kevin

4 Comments
  1. Hi Kevin,
    Thanks for sharing the powerpoint eponyms. Fun idea, and I completely agree that students need a little bit of time to play and get familiar with a program before they do their more significant project. The one thing I would remind your students about is font size. If it for a powerpoint presentation, encourage them to use nothing smaller than a 32. (In the odd moments of weakness, I can be persuaded to allow a 28, but only with serious negotiation.)
    I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about what you used to convert the ppt. to video. I tried accessing the flyover ad that popped up but for whatever reason, it won’t let me access the site. It comes up as an invalid site for me which my computer does from time to time – don’t know why. Was it terribly complicated to get the individual files all into one, and then convert it? Just wondered as it is something I could probably use at some point. Thanks.

    • First of all, there should not have been any flyover ads — I guess my Supporter status expired, so I just paid up to remove the ads (kind of wish I had some heads-up before the expiration).

      Janice, I use a software from Wondershare called PPT to Video. It cost me about $30 when I got it two years ago but I think it has gone up. It works like a charm, though, and I use it for converting digital books into digital movies later in the year — showing kids how one platform can move into another.

      Then, I took all of the pp shows as video, dumped them into moviemaker and made one big video. That was easy enough, too.

      I agree on the font size, particularly if it will be converted into a web browser video.

      Take care
      Kevin

  2. What a fun way to play with PowerPoint. I enjoyed the presentation. The practice will prove mighty helpful down the road.
    Gail P

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