Creative Visual Impact

Overview

Unit Title: PowerPoint Mastery 7
Lesson: 3 of 7 – Incorporating Images and Graphics
Length: 45 minutes
Class Size: 30 students
Key Stage: KS3
Year Group: Year 7
Subject: Technology (Digital Presentation Skills — PowerPoint)
Related Curriculum Area:

• National Curriculum in England – Computing Programmes of Study (KS3):

  “Pupils should be taught to: create, reuse, revise and repurpose digital artefacts for a given audience, with attention to trustworthiness, design and usability.”

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, students will be able to:

1. Insert and manipulate images, shapes, and SmartArt in PowerPoint presentations.
2. Apply formatting techniques to visual elements (e.g., resizing, cropping, borders, colour effects).
3. Explain the purpose of different types of graphics within a presentation (communicative vs decorative).
4. Enhance slide design with well-placed, purposeful graphics to support content.

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Success Criteria

• ✅ Successfully insert at least one image, one shape, and one SmartArt graphic into a slide.
• ✅ Apply formatting to make these visuals clear, balanced, and visually appealing.
• ✅ Verbal or written explanation of the choice and function of at least one visual item.
• ✅ Begin to use consistent visual design aligned with the message of the content.

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Resources Needed

• Interactive whiteboard or projector
• Student access to PowerPoint (desktop app preferred)
• Prepared example slides (both poor-quality and high-quality graphics usage)
• Digital image bank folder (wide range of age-appropriate, royalty-free graphics)
• Worksheets: “Graphics Purpose Card Sort”
• Teacher’s memory stick or OneDrive folder with SmartArt selection prompt sheet

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Prior Learning

Students have already:

• Created a 3-slide presentation in PowerPoint.
• Entered titles, text boxes, chosen themes.
• Learned how to navigate PowerPoint’s user interface.

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Vocabulary

• SmartArt
• Cropping
• Aspect Ratio
• Alignment
• Visual hierarchy
• Vector / Bitmap
• Contextual relevance

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Lesson Breakdown (45 mins)

🔹 0–5 mins – Starter: Visuals that Matter

Hook Activity:
On the board, two presentation slides are displayed side-by-side:

• Slide A: Cluttered image, text-heavy, poor alignment.
• Slide B: Minimal text, impactful image, balanced layout.

Discussion Prompt: “Which slide communicates better — and why?”

Teacher-led mini-dialogue: Encourage observational, not just aesthetic feedback.

✳ Stretch and Challenge: Ask “What is the message of each slide and how is it supported by the visual?”

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🔹 5–10 mins – Explicit Modelling: SmartArt and Shape Layering

Teacher Demonstration (via projector/board):

• Quickly go through:
  • Inserting an image (Insert > Picture)
  • Inserting a shape (with fill and outline options)
  • Adding SmartArt (and customising text fields)
  • Basic Manipulation: resizing, arranging (bring forward/send to back), consistent spacing
  • Use of the Format tab: transparency, borders, reflection, shadows

Teaching Tip: "Show not tell" – visually model creating before narrating the how.

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🔹 10–25 mins – Main Task: Slide Makeover Challenge

Paired Activity — (2 students per computer)

Challenge Title: “Design the Impact Slide”

Each pair is given a basic fact-based slide (from their previous lesson), and asked to:

• Add 1 suitable image that supports their information
• Add 1 SmartArt graphic that simplifies or organises their key message
• Add decorative shapes to enhance layout or highlight info
• Use minimum two formatting enhancements (e.g., shadow, reflection, colour wash)

🧠 Think It Through Prompt (written on board):

“Is this graphic helping your message or distracting from it?”

📥 Teacher Monitoring: Circulate, checkpoint use of:

• Alignment tools
• Cropping tools
• Slide layout and balance

Mini Extension: Add alt text to images, supporting inclusive design (tie-in to digital citizenship).

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🔹 25–35 mins – Vocabulary Spotlight: Card Sort Activity

Task: “Graphics with Purpose”

Give each table a set of mixed cards with:

• Graphic types (Image, Icon, Chart, Clipart, Infographic, SmartArt)
• Descriptions of function (e.g., "Shows hierarchy", "Adds emotional impression", "Reinforces instruction")

Objective: Match each graphic to its function.

📣 Pairs report back one example match and rationale:

"We matched 'Infographic' with 'Summarises key ideas quickly' because..."

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🔹 35–43 mins – Sharing and Reflecting

2-minute gallery walk:

• Pairs swap work with another pair, leave comments using feedback prompts:
  • “I understood this more because of the…”
  • “You could improve the impact by…”

Teacher Model: Show a teacher-created ‘model slide’ and explain choices using student vocabulary.

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🔹 43–45 mins – Exit Ticket

Each student fills in a mini-plenary slip with:

1. One thing I learned about using visuals today
2. One thing I want to try next time
3. Score yourself out of 5: How confident are you using SmartArt?

📝 Collected as formative assessment.

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Differentiation & Inclusion

• Support: Pre-prepared slides for EAL or SEN learners, scaffolding options (e.g., visual graphic types chart), pair with peer mentor.
• Challenge: High ability students can try layering images or synchronising animations.
• Universal Design: Encourage students to add alt text to images for accessibility awareness.

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Homework / Extension

Optional Task:
Choose your favourite slide and redesign it with completely different visuals – make it even more impactful.

Encourage use of their own interests (e.g., sports, animals, gaming) to engage more with visuals.

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Assessment for Learning

• Observation during main task
• Exit ticket responses
• Peer feedback from gallery walk
• Card sort engagement and explanation

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Teacher Reflection Prompts

• Were students confident making independent choices with visuals?
• Which vocabulary was comfortably used, and which may need revisiting?
• Did visuals enhance or dominate their message?

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Next Lesson

Lesson 4: Animation with Purpose
Students will begin using entrance and exit animations and transition effects to enhance storytelling and draw attention — not to distract.

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This lesson strikes a balance between creativity, structured learning, and purposeful digital literacy—all underpinned by the UK’s national curriculum focus on creating purposeful digital artefacts.