Word in the Primary Classroom

Using Technology to Support New York State Learning Standards

AccelerateU has a convenient database of standards which can searched, copied and pasted. They eventually hope to link these directly to relevant activities.

How technology supports early literacy: Examples from Montgomery County Public Schools' Early Childhood Technology Literacy Project

Customizing Word for Use with Young Children
Working with Images
Making Handouts and Templates

How to Customize Word for use with young children: (log on as a student in your classroom to make these changes)

	1. Change the default font Choose a font and size. Comic Sans and 16 is a good choice for early writers. To make it the default font click on Format >Font and then click on the Default button on the bottom left of the Font window.

	2.. Change the toolbars. You may want to add some frequently used functions as buttons on your toolbars. You can also eliminate some of the buttons you will not use right away. This will give the toolbar an uncluttered look and will help your primary students focus on the features you want them to learn. Your toolbars can be reset any time. In this example we put a clipart button on the toolbar for inserting clipart with a click of the mouse. From the View menu choose Toolbars then Customize
Click the Commands tab Click Insert from the Categories box Scroll down until you find the feature you are looking for in the Commands box and drag the icon to the Standard toolbar; in this case Clip Art. Another useful one might be double space in Format under Categories. To remove a button simply press and hold the Alt key while you drag the button off the toolbar.
To create a toolbar for Primary students Click on Customize from the Tools menu Click New Name the toolbar Primaty, for example. Click OK. A new toolbar appears Click the Commands tab. Drag only the buttons you want your beginners to use. The toolbar grows as you add buttons. You can add buttons as you teach new features. Click Close when you are done
Working with Images When working with early or non readers, images are particularly powerful.Images can be brought into Word from Clip Art, digital cameras, a scanner, or a drawing program. Children can then write about the images or they can dictate a story and illustrate it.
To insert an image from Microsoft's Clip Art Click on the Insert Menu then Picture then ClipArt This will open the Clip Gallery	You can either type in a search word, or click on a category or click on clip online to find a clip art To insert the image into your document, click on the insert symbol The magnifying glass opens a preview window This icon adds the image to your Favorites category The binoculars look for similar images based on style, color or keywords
To insert images from files (these can be pictures from digital cameras, the scanner, the Internet etc.) Go to Insert on the menu bar Go to Picture > From File Click on the drop down arrow for the Look in box Find the image you want to use and click on it Click on the Insert button

Making Handouts and Templates A template is a document that you use over and over. As teachers we often use things like classlists, certificates, field trip permission slips over and over. A template will allow you to save time by opening an already-formatted and document that you can make changes to, print and be done. The template does not change so you can use the common elements again..The file extension for a template is .dot while for a regular Word document it is .doc
To create a template, with Word open Choose File > New Click on the General Tab Click on Create New > Template Double click on Blank Document then Open A new template opens with the name template1 on the blue title bar at the top Create your new template with those elements that you want to re-use. Click Save on the toolbar and give your template a file name. Save it in the folder named Templates so that it will be available when you choose File > New the next time.
Examples of templates you might want to create:
ClassList (pdf) May be used for homework check-off sheet, permissions slip returns etc. Field Trip Notice A source of templates for teachers from About.com

Making a Classroom Alphabet Book:
In preparation, the teacher and students: Find a source of images of things starting with the target letters: Children may take digital pictures Children may draw pictures on the computer or on paper and then scan Use Clip Art or Pictures downloaded from the Internet Pics4Learning Oswego City Schools has their own database of pictures Teacher prepares ABC book template Read aloud or review a previously read ABC book. Children choose or are assigned a letter.Children pick out words beginning with the target letter. Using an ABC book template (prepared by the teacher) students type the letter and word and insert picture