Word Processing/ Mail Merge Assignment

The Word Processing/ Mail Merge Assignment consists of three parts:

1. A classroom newsletter
2. A cover letter to parents that accompanies the newsletter
3. A mail merge

Part 1: Classroom Newsletter

For this assignment you will use your theme/topic as the focus of a newsletter to send home to your
students’ parents. Use the following directions to guide the composition and layout of your newsletter:

Preplanning –
1. Identify the grade level for which you are creating a newsletter
2. Identify the topic/theme that you are working on this semester
3. Identify other content (1-3 other subjects listed below) that you might cover in your newsletter
(some examples might include: a welcome to your classroom, a welcome to the beginning of the
school year, classroom activities or events, upcoming field trips, PTO meetings, need for
volunteers, school Fall events, etc.)
4. Create a title for your newsletter.

Designing your newsletter –

5. Create a “layout” of your newsletter. To do this, you will use a blank piece of paper and draw
boxes to identify where the various content areas of the newsletter will be placed.
6. The title of the newsletter will be centered across the top of the page.
7. The body of the newsletter will use a two-column format.
8. In your preplanning phase, you identified topics that you would include in your newsletter.
Identify, by providing appropriate subtitles, where each topic will be placed within your
newsletter.
9. The newsletter must contain at least two appropriate visuals (photographs, graphics, charts, or
graphs). Consider where the visuals will be placed and sketch an image of the visuals you will
use in the appropriate places on your design layout.
10. Your newsletter also must contain a table with at least 2 rows and 2 columns. Indicate the table
placement on your design layout.
11. Also, I want as little ‘blank-space’ as possible, and do your best to keep it to one page.

Part 2: Letter to Parents

This part of the assignment will be completed before the class on Mail Merge. For this part of the
assignment, you will be writing a letter to parents to accompany the newsletter that you designed in Part
1. The letter to parents must contain the following:
1. the usual components of a business letter (including date and inside address to parent),
2. at least two paragraphs,
3. the child’s first name must be used within the body of the letter at least twice. Avoid the use of
personal pronouns in the letter, and
4. the letter should be on letterhead stationary that you have created.
 Part 3: Mail Merge
The actual creation of the mail merge will be done in class. For this part of the assignment, you will
personalize the letter to parents created in Part 2 by including their name, address, and student’s name
within the letter. You will be creating data on five students in your class. You will need to “make up” the
following information for each of the five students:
1. Title that you would call the parent (Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc)
2. First name of the parent
3. Last name of the parent
4. Address 1 (Street address of the parent)
5. City
6. State
7. Postal Code
8. Home phone number
9. Child’s first name

To complete this assignment, turn in the 5 letters to parents and one copy of your newsletter.

Evaluation of Word Processing / Mail Merge Activity Points

Newsletter is complete (title, theme content, additional content, two visuals, table) and 2
design is correct (two columns, title centered across the top, visuals are appropriate for
content)
Letter is complete (including date and inside address to parent, at least two paragraphs 2
in length, and includes the child’s first name within the body of the letter at least once)

Merged fields correct 1

Spelling and grammar correct for all documents 2

3
Creative effort 3
Total Possible Points 10