MS Publisher

3:30pm – 4:15pm: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 & Wednesday, September 24, 2008

National Technology Standards for Teachers:

• Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
o c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of
digital-age media and formats
o d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and
use information resources to support research and learning
• Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
o a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to
improve student learning;

Teachers Will:
• Explore the availability of MS Publisher’s templates: newsletters, calendars, brochures, and
business cards.
• Create a business card to provide parents with current information about themselves and their
classes.
• Design and describe our school by publishing a brochure about the building in which they work
(curriculum, AYP, extracurricular activities, athletics, special events, plusses for our district).
• Manipulate a template to create a simple newsletter about what has happened in their class thus
far this year.
Procedure:
1. Introduce MS Publisher – different from Word; must insert text boxes to write, headlines,
graphics, captions, etc.
2. Explore the beginning page of publisher – examine all the different possibilities to make either
from a blank version or use a premade template that you can customize to your liking.
3. First Activity – create a business card for their personal class. Choose a premade template to
start with and then customize it. Add name, address, phone contact, email, wikispace, etc. Add
graphics and format font if needed.
4. Second Activity – work with a partner or group of 3 to create a brochure about their building.
What are the pluses of their building or grade level. List items such as curriculum, special
events, upcoming activities, discipline procedures, attendance, class times, sports, anything
special they would like to share. These brochures will be shared with the rest of the group using
the “teacher computer” screen. Discuss how to:
• align text • picture captions
• insert graphics (format the • 2 or 3 column text boxes
graphics – tight, square, etc.)
• linking text boxes to allow
• increase/decrease font size overflow of text.
 5. Third Activity – Display a sample newsletter from my class last year. Next choose a template to
customize as a newsletter for their classroom. Then work on creating their newsletter: wizard, page
numbers, color options. Review using various columns of text and linking text boxes to allow for
text overflow. Practice changing fonts and adding borders around text boxes. Add pictures and
captions; format the pictures around the text.
6. EXTRA: If time allows, create a poster without a template. Practice inserting text boxes and picture
files. Formatting the various objects: font changes, alignments, layout (send back, bring front), text
wrapping (tight, square, in front, behind), and use the drawing tools to create other objects.
Closing:
• Teachers will share with the group what they have created and how they may use these ideas in their
classes.
Assessment:
• Monitor the teachers while they are performing each of the tasks described above; help when
needed.
• Ask teachers to email me activities they do in their classes in order for it to be shared with others
later in the year.
• Teachers will complete the ACT 48 evaluation page