47
OTAN Training Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003
12
then use the text Align Left button
to move your cursor to the far left.
Change the font size to 12, type the sentence that appears before the table, and hit the
[Enter] key.
Add a Table that has 8 rows and 2 columns and type the text from the example in the
table. Bold the appropriate words. To move the table’s column divider over to the left a bit,
hold your cursor over the center line until it turns into a two-headed arrow
, then click,
hold and drag it to the left.
Click outside the table on the lower right side and add some space (by pressing the Enter
key a few times) before the next sentence. Type the next sentence.
Using the Rectangle drawing tool
, draw an empty box for the students to use to hand-
write their business card.
Teach the Information for the Business Card
Use the handout to teach the pieces of information they will need to place on the business card
such as: What is your name?, What is your address?, What is your telephone number/area code?,
and What is your job? Students should practice asking and answering the questions in small
groups.
Give the students a copy of a simple business card. Ask them to point to the name, street address,
city, state, zip code, telephone number, and job title. Go over the cards again by asking questions
like the questions on the handout we just created.
Next have the students handwrite their information in the box provided on the handout. They will
use this when they go to the computer to create their business cards.
Teach the Computer Skills
Before you start working with the students on this project, you will need to fi nd and download a
business card template. HP has some for free at
http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity/offi ce/buscards.html
.
After you choose one, the page will give you instructions on how to download it. Be sure you Save
the fi le to the Desktop on each of the computers used for this project. If your school will not allow
you to download from the Internet, you could download it using a computer not at the school, save
it to a fl ash drive (also referred to as a thumb drive), and transfer it to the school computers.
Now it is time to teach the computer skills. It is helpful to have a projection system to teach the
computer skills. If not, you will need to make a lot of overheads with screenshots of the various
steps. Show students how to open the business card template. With a projector, this can be done
with the language experience approach. Without a projector, just have screen shots to show the
steps.
Have students type in the information about themselves that they had previously written on their
sample card. Since there are 10 cards on the template, you can fi t several students on one page
and each can have 2-3 cards.
6.
7.
8.
9.
49
Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003 OTAN Training
13
Steps for Using the Template
Start by double-clicking on the template icon
. Your’s may be different so
show the students where it is on the Desktop.
Word will open with the template as the document. Depending on which card you choose,
you may need to explain how to delete the Text Box labeled Company Name. (Click the
Company Name once then click the box border and hit the [Delete] key on your key-
board.)
Now have the student highlight the word Name and type their name. Then highlight the
word Title and type their title. Continue with this process for the other information neces-
sary to complete the business card. If the group catches on quickly, you could also demon-
strate how to highlight, copy and paste all the text from one card to another since it would
be faster than retyping all the information multiple times, but this is an optional step .
After all students have entered their information on one or more cards and the sheet is
fi lled, Save the fi le then show them how to Print the cards. (You may want to test the print
before using expensive paper to be sure your printer is handling the template correctly for
use with your business card paper.)
To help insure your printer will han-
dle the heavier paper correctly, you
may want to adjust the type of paper
it is handling. Each printer is differ-
ent, but going to Print then clicking
the Properties button (see Figure
11) and then looking for a Paper
Type. Change it to Cardstock if the option is available.
After you have printed the cards successfully, celebrate!
Create an Interactive Template Form with Word
Skills Presented:
y
How to modify table borders and merge table cells
y
How to insert and format form fi elds including: fi ll-in fi elds, drop-down list boxes and
check boxes
y
How to protect the completed form
Need to know:
y
How to open and type in a basic Word document
y
How to add a table
Once you learn to create forms in Word, you can use them in a variety of ways. Students can com-
plete them as part of a registration for a class or activity, as a way to teach ESL students about
1.
2.
3.
4.
Figure 11
56
OTAN Training Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003
14
completing online forms, or as part of a unit on employment applications. And they are easy to
learn. When you are done creating the form, you can lock it so that nothing can be modifi ed ex-
cept the interactive fi elds. That way you can use the form over and over without having to create a
new one each time a student fi lls it out.
Before opening your Word document, start by designing your form on paper. For best results,
consider creating your forms using tables. You can place the label in one cell and the form fi eld in
another cell next to it.
Our sample Employment Application is in Appendix F:
Open a blank document in Word and type Employment Application at the top. Make it
Arial, Bold, 16 pt., Centered.
Press [Enter] twice. Align text left and change the text size to 11 and turn off Bolding.
Add a table with 4 columns and 25 rows. Table > Insert > Table > 4 Columns >25 Rows.
Using the sample application as a guide, type the form labels in the fi rst three rows, leav-
ing empty cells as necessary.
On row three, you can see that multiple cells are not necessary. We will “merge” these
four cells into one by highlighting the row, then going to Table > Merge Cells.
Continue typing labels in the appropriate cells, but ignore the shaded boxes. Those will
be added later. When you get to the section on what days and hours the applicant is in-
terested in working, ignore the check boxes and just type the days and hours with a few
blank spaces between each. Apply text bolding where necessary on the form and continue
merging cells as required.
Be sure you can see the Forms toolbar
by clicking View > Toolbars > Forms.
The toolbar that should appear is shown
in Figure 12.
To create a form fi eld for Text, place the cursor on the form where you want the text to be
typed and click the
button on the Forms toolbar.
You will notice that you now see a shaded gray rect-
angle. This is where text will be typed after you lock the
form. It will expand to allow an unlimited amount of text
unless you limit it by changing the Form Field Proper-
ties.
Now go to the cell where the user will type their phone
number and add another form fi eld for Text. This time
we want to change the Form Field Properties so that
the user can only type 12 characters for a phone num-
ber.
To change the form fi eld properties right click the
shaded rectangle and choose Properties from the
menu (or click the Form Field Options
button
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Figure 12
Figure 13
56
Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003 OTAN Training
15
on the toolbar). You should see the dialog box as shown in Figure 13. This allows you to
change the type of entry that can be made. Choose Number in the Type fi eld. If you want
to limit the number of characters that can be entered, use the spinner box or just type
the number of characters where the word Unlimited is. We will make it 12 and then if you
want to change the format of the fi nal number you can type ###-###-#### in the Number
format fi eld. (When the form is locked and the user types in their number, the number will
change to the correct format when the tab key is used to move to the next fi eld.) Click OK.
Continue merging table cells and typing text until you fi nish the questions on what type of
work the person is applying for. They will be answered with a Yes or No response. To cre-
ate the fi eld that has a drop down box to choose Yes or No, place the cursor at the end of
the fi rst sentence. Enter a few spaces then select the
Drop Down Form Field
button on the Forms tool-
bar. You will see the shaded rectangle again so right-
click it and choose Properties.
You should now see the Drop Down Form Field Op-
tions dialog box in Figure 14. Here you will type in
the choices you want the user to see when they click
the drop-down box. In our case, we want Yes and No.
So type Yes in the Drop-down item box and click the
Add button. Then type No and the Add button. So
that you don’t end up with any false answers because
the user did not notice that they had to make a choice
here, type Choose Yes or No and click the Add but-
ton.
Now we will reorder the items in the drop-down list so
that Choose Yes or No is at the top. Click Choose Yes
or No, then click the Up arrow twice to move it to the
top. (See Figure 15) When you are done click OK. Do
the same for the other two questions on this part of the
application.
To create the check boxes where necessary, start by
placing the cursor in front of “Mon” on the sixth row
of the application. Click the Check Box Form Field
button on the Forms toolbar. You will notice that a shaded check box has now been
placed in front of “Mon.” Hit the [Spacebar] if you need to put some space between the
box and the text. Continue adding check boxes wherever needed on the application.
To add a fi eld for the Date on the eighth row of the application, click the Text Form Field
button, then right-click and go to Properties. Choose Date in the Type: fi eld, type 8 in
the Maximum length: fi eld, and type MM/dd/yy in the Text format: fi eld. Click OK.
Finish placing any other Form Fields necessary. Save the application using normal saving
methods.
When the application is complete, click the Protect Form button
on the Forms tool-
bar. Now Save the form again using a different name. Then you can distribute the fi le to
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Figure 14
Figure 15
44
OTAN Training Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003
16
your students to complete without fear of losing your original. When your students com-
plete the application, have them save it under a different fi le name also.
Protecting the form will prevent users from accidentally changing anything except what they type
on the form. Be aware that the user can click on the Protect Form button to unlock the form and
make changes if the form toolbar is open. Password protecting the form is possible, but is outside
the scope of this handout.
Instruct students using the form to use the [Tab] key to move from one fi eld to the other. This will
ensure that all the formatting properties are displayed correctly.
Inserting and Using Microsoft (MS) Equation
Skills Presented:
y
Inserting a Microsoft (MS) Equation object and entering equations
Need to know:
y
How to open and type in a basic Word document.
If you are a math or science teacher and you leave empty space on your Word documents so that
you can go back and hand draw the mathematic or scientifi c symbols needed, this information
is for you. You can use the MS Equation object to type those equations on your handout. (Note:
These directions are specifi c to MS Word 2003, but MS Equation works exactly the same in Pow-
erPoint.)
We will learn to insert a fairly simple equation, but if you have more complicated ones, it will handle
most anything you need to type. The equation we will
use is one for the calculation of interest. (See Appendix
G for a sample student handout.)
Using MS Equation to Type Equations in Word
Open a blank document in Word. Type any in-
formation that needs to precede the formula you
want to include.
Go to the Insert Menu and select Object. In the
Object dialog box, scroll down to select Micro-
soft Equation 3.0. (See Figure 16)
Note: If it is not there, talk to your tech support
person and ask them to install the components
of MS Offi ce that were not installed originally. It is on
the CD.
Select the OK button and two items will appear: a
work area outlined in slashed lines (see Figure 17)
1.
2.
3.
Figure 16
Figure 17
62
Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003 OTAN Training
17
and the Equation toolbar (see
Figure 18). Each button on the
toolbar has a drop-down menu to
allow you to select exactly what
you need. You will return to the
toolbar several times before fi n-
ishing a complicated equation. Work carefully.
Note: It may be best to discard an equation and start over when you are fi rst learning to
use MS Equation.
Pay attention to where the fl ashing cursor is
located before adding a new symbol from the
toolbar. The MS Equation cursor has a vertical
marker and a horizontal marker (see Figure 19).
The horizontal marker underlines the portion of
the equation you are currently working on. In the
example in Figure 20, the left image indicates
that you are working only on the numerator of the
fraction. However, the right image indicates that
you would still be working inside the parentheses, but your entry would be in relation to the
entire fraction.
The equation that we will reproduce is shown here:
Letters, numbers and basic math symbols can be found on your regu-
lar keyboard. So as we begin to type the equation, use the keyboard to
type A [Space]= [Space]P[Space].
Go to the Equation toolbar to get the parentheses. Click the fi rst but-
ton on the second row as shown in Figure 20 (the tool tip shows
Fence templates). You will notice that there are a number of options
with various types of brackets. We want this one
. It will allow us to
place the rest of our equations within it’s boundaries.
Go ahead and type 1+, but then we need to add a fraction. To add a
fraction fi nd the second button on the second row (the tool tip shows
Fraction and radical templates) where you see this symbol
. You
will notice that there are apparently two fraction symbols.
The one with the dotted
frames for the numbers makes a full size fraction and the one with the solid black rect-
angles for the numbers will be a reduced size fraction. In our equation, the full size fraction
would be acceptable, so choose this symbol
.
The cursor will now be blinking in the numerator slot. Type the lower case r then use the
[Down arrow] or the [Tab] key to get to the denominator box and type the n.
Now hit the [Tab] key twice to move your cursor outside the parenthesis. The button on the
Equation toolbar that controls superscript entries is the third button on the second row
(Subscript and superscript tooltip) . Choose the Superscript icon
and type nt.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Figure 18
Figure 20
Figure 19
Horizontal
Markers
Vertical
Markers
41
OTAN Training Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003
18
Now you are almost done. At this point your equation should look like Figure 21. You may
fi nd that the spacing between the P and the opening parenthesis is kind of tight. We can
modify that by placing the cursor between the two items and clicking
the Spacing button on the Equation toolbar. It is the second button
on the fi rst row
. You will need to select one of the
icons to
add more space. We chose a medium amount of space by selecting
the second icon on the second row. You will notice that there is now
more space between those elements and it looks more readable.
For more information on how the Equation Editor works, visit the Design Science Web site
http://www.dessci.com/en/products/ee/ee_tips.htm It is the company that designed MS Equation
and knows how best to use it. Microsoft’s Help fi le is only marginally helpful.
OTAN Support
If you are having problems with anything you learned in this workshop or you need to fi nd some-
thing on the OTAN Web site, just give us a call 800-894-3113 (CA Only) or 916-228-2580. Our ref-
erence and/or training staff will assist you - Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (excluding
holidays).
You can also email your questions and/or support requests to: support@otan.us
On-line Evaluation
Please follow these steps to fi ll out the OTAN online evaluation form for the class you participated
in:
Your Workshop Evaluation
Visit the OTAN Evaluation site: http://dev.otan.us/dev/otaneval
Select your workshop from the list provided.
Rate each statement A through F
or N/A.
Type in any comments in the sug-
gestion box provided at the bottom
of the form.
Click on the SUBMIT MY EVALU-
ATION button.
11.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Figure 21
3
Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003 OTAN Training
19
Appendix
3
Creative Classroom & Activity Ideas Using MS Word 2003 OTAN Training
Appendix A
Appendix A - Make Clip Art Comics for a Writing Exercise
Documents you may be interested
Documents you may be interested
