NEWSLETTER ASSIGNMENT

Imagine that you are teaching in your intended classroom. Think about all the activities that have taken place this week and consider the important events coming up next week. Create an attractive newsletter that you will send home to the parents of your students to inform them of these activities and events. Save your newsletter, both as a webpage. Turn in so that I can see your columns, layout, etc. and upload the newsletter to your web site.

Producing a Newsletter

Newsletters are used by schoolteachers and administrators to inform parents of activities that have occurred and to notify them of upcoming events. School newsletters are often produced by the principal or PTA. Classroom newsletters can be produced by the teacher and/or the students.

Print Shop, ClarisWorks, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, and Adobe PageMaker are some of the many kinds of software that can be used to produce each issue of the newsletter. Print Shop, PageMaker, and Publisher have ready-made templates, which you can customize, however you may not always have access to these tools. Not to worry! Creating a newsletter in Word or ClarisWorks is not difficult. Just follow these steps and you will have an attractive, professional newsletter to send home to parents. I found that Newsletter Wizard is loaded on many of the computers in the college labs. To use this go to File, click on New, click on Publications, then on Newsletter Wizard. This will open a template that use can customize and save as your own document. Just replace each section with your own material. However, for simple newsletters I prefer to use Word and the table function.

1. Open a new document.
2. Create a masthead by selecting a font size large enough to fill the page with the title of your newsletter. Center the title. A graphic or logo inserted on one side or either side of the title is attractive.
3. Add a line in 12 or 14-point type under the title to identify the publishing organization, volume number, and date. This can be contained in a 1 x 1 cell table.
4. Select the Table tool on the toolbar and choose two (three at most) columns. When your newsletter is complete, go to TABLE Properties, click on Borders and Shading and choose the color white to eliminate the lines from your document. Type your copy as you want it to appear in columns. Insert a table and create columns for page 2. You can save the document as a template to customize for each issue of your newsletter, which you will save by date.
5. To write a headline above each story increase the font size by one-third. For example, if you are using a 12-point font, make the headline 16 point. Headlines should be highlighted with bold type.
6. Insert graphics or photos using the insert button on the toolbar or selecting Insert and then Picture. Either select a picture from the clipart library or go to file and browse for the image you want to use.
7. It is best if the newsletter is 2 pages printed back to back. The back page of the newsletter will have the same columns as the front, but no masthead.
8. Save your newsletter as newsletter.htm and upload it to your web page. Be sure to hyperlink your newsletter to your homepage.
   

Hints for School Newsletters

• Use only two or three fonts, preferably related.
• Write brief stories in plain language.
• Include student names in stories whenever possible.
• Include parent names to thank them for contributions of time and/or materials and to recognize their involvement in school activities.
• Use photos (if you have parent permission).
• Provide a calendar of upcoming events or important assignments.
• PROOFREAD!
• SPELL CHECK!
• Use the same color paper for each issue so that it is easily recognized and parents become accustomed to looking for it.
• Send the newsletter home on the same day each week.