Writing a Letter - Part 1

Transcription

1 Writing a Letter - Part 1 Writing is one of the most important skills for success in today's world. Most teachers find word processing to be a valuable tool in developing student writing skills as well as complementing their own writing needs. The word processor allows you to write letters, memos, reports, or other documents with speed and accuracy. A closer look at the capabilities of Microsoft Word 2000 will help demonstrate how this word processor is use for completing tasks for your classroom, professional, and personal writing needs. When you finish this lesson, you will learn how to: Create, name, and save a document. Enter text. Move text. Format text. Correct spelling. Print a document. Create it In this lesson, you will be writing a letter to parents to tell them about your class. Starting, naming, and saving a new document 1. On the Windows taskbar, click the Start button in the lower left-hand corner. 2. Open Word - (Go to Microsoft Office or Programs, move to the right and click Microsoft Word.) Typing the letter You will include a number of separate sections in your letter: you want parents to understand why you're sending this letter; some details about what their son or daughter will be learning; and how they will be graded in your class. First, start by putting a date on the letter.

2 1. On the Insert menu, click Date and Time. The Date and Time dialog box appears. 2. Select the fourth date format from the top of the list. Note: If you select the Update Automatically checkbox in the Date and Time dialog box, you ensure that the date will be correct when the letter is actually printed, even if you print the letter on another day. 3. Click Ok. 4. Press the Enter key twice. When you press Enter the first time, the insertion point moves to the beginning of the next line. When you press Enter the second time, you create a blank line. 5. Type: Dear Parents: 6. Press the Enter key twice. 7. Type the following introductory paragraph with the spelling error: I wanted to take this oportunity to tell you a little about our class this semester and what to expect as far as homework and grading. I hope you will read this over and sign at the bottom with any comments that you might have. I certainly appreciate the feedback and I'm looking forward to a great year! 8. On the File menu at the top of the window, click Save As The Save As dialog box appears. Click arrow on the Save in box. Click on the drive that you want yoru document saved on. Once the folder opens you are ready to save. 9. In the File Name box at the bottom left, type: Curriculum Letter Note: that Word will allow you to write long file names so that you can be as descriptive as needed. 10. Click the Save button.

3 Checking for and correcting spelling errors Word cannot promise to make you a better speller, but by making it easier and faster to correct spelling errors, Word may well save you time and the potential embarrassment of that one overlooked error. If you typed the introductory paragraph like it was on the paper, it has a spelling errors. Read on to see how to correct the word. Notice that Word automatically identifies that word by placing a wavy red line under it. This means that Word does not have that word in its dictionary. It may be spelled wrong, or you may have used a word that is less common. Either way, Word wants you to be aware of it. Now follow one of these procedures: 1. To correct an individual word: A. Click the right mouse button (also called "right-click") on the word you want to correct. B. Word gives you a list of possible corrections for the word in question. C. If you see the correct spelling listed, then click that spelling to make the correction. If you don't see the correct spelling, then click Spelling to display the Spelling dialog box and type the correct spelling. 2. To spell-check the whole document: A. Click the Spelling button on the toolbar or click on Tools from the Menu Bar and choose spelling and grammar. B. Notice you may also choose to ignore the suggested corrections if you know the word to be correct, and even add the word to your dictionary so that the spell checker

4 will not identify it as misspelled in the future. This is quite helpful with proper names or special terminology that you use often in your word processing work and that wouldn't be found in most dictionaries. Inserting new paragraphs 1. Place the insertion point at the end of your introductory paragraph and press Enter twice to start a new paragraph. 2. Type the following paragraph: You should expect Jason to bring home a textbook called Algebra I each day. There will be homework assignments based on this book at least three times per week. 1. Press Enter twice. Finalizing the letter 2. Type: Sincerely, 3. Press Enter three times. 4. Type your name. Zoom Controls 1. Click the Zoom Control button on the standard toolbar. The zoom button looks like this but may contain a different value. 2. Click 75%. The Zoom Control feature allows you to see more of your document on the screen at once. The document is fully editable at any size.

5 Formatting text 1. Since a textbook title be written would in italics, you can go back and format the title now. A. Select the title of the book. Note: To select text, click before the first word of the selection, holding the mouse button down, drag the mouse until all the words in the selection have been highlighted. To select a single word merely double-click the word. To cancel the selection of a word or group of words, click anywhere away from the selection in the white area. or B. Format text by: Using the Format menu. On the Format menu, click Font to display the Font dialog box. Here you can see the various fonts and font styles, sizes, and effects available for formatting your text. In the Font style list, select Italic. Click Ok. Using the Formatting toolbar. Select the text you want to format. Click the Italic (I) button. You can also change the font and font size by selecting a font name or font size in the drop down lists or by typing the name or size in the boxes. 3. Change the font in your letter to "Arial " You do this by selecting the text and choosing this font from the droplist on the toolbar

6 or from the Format style list under the format menu. 4. Change the size of the font of your letter to 16. You do this by selecting the text and choosing this size font from the droplist on the toolbar or from the Format style list under the format menu. 5. Save the new changes by : 1. Going to File and choosing Save As 6. Name your document 7. Click on Save Printing the document 1. On the File Menu, select Print Preview. This will show you how your document is going to look. Select Close to go back to the document. You may edit it or print it now. A good way to space the document is be in Print Layout View and change the Zoom Control Box to 25%. In this view you can edit the spacing and be looking at the changes. 2. On the File menu, click Print. The Print dialog box appears. From here you can verify the type of printer you are using, choose the number of copies you want, choose whether to print all or a portion of a document, and even bring up another screen with more options. For this time, let's keep it simple. 3. Click Ok to print. Turn in your printed assignment or your document.