Newsletter Guide

What are Newsletters?

According to Dictionary.com, a newsletter is “A printed report giving news or information of interest to a special group.” Newsletters typically include informational pieces that include who, what, when, where, and why (the Five W’s of journalistic or informational writing!). MS Word or Publisher are used to format these informational pieces into a publishable document. For ideas on how to use newsletters in a classroom, check out the lesson plan at Education World (available at http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0076.shtml).

Advantages for use in the classroom:

• Excellent method of organizing materials around a theme or publishing studies students have conducted
• Useful for focus activities or evaluation of comprehension
• Can be used in small or medium group activities
• Students can be taught how to create their own newsletters using any topics relevant to class

Disadvantages for use in the classroom:

• Filling print areas may be overwhelming for some students; may require group construction
• May take large amounts of class or computer time to complete

See samples of student-created newsletters:

• World War II
• French Club
• Texas

Your task is to create a newsletter using MS Publisher. You may choose to create a "student sample" or a mock-up of what you would expect students in your classroom to create for you as a product OR you may choose to create a newsletter that students would use as part of a class assignment.

Make sure that your newsletter meets the criteria from the checklist. Your newsletter may vary depending upon the template, but should include the following:

• Two pages of information (articles that could serve as a sample assignment OR information a student would use during classtime)
• A minimum of two columns on both pages with .5 inch (1.27 cm) margins
• A banner (usually includes a graphic but should include your name and the date)
• A minimum of 3 graphics somewhere in the newsletter (not counting the banner graphic)
• One URL resource included somewhere in the newsletter
• Titles of articles and body text of articles should be in a different font with a different font size AND color
• Text in all articles should be justified (not left aligned, centered, or right aligned but justified!)

2) Construct your newsletter:

Use the tutorial found on the Intel Teach to the Future CD-ROM. The tutorial begins on page 5 of Module 4 and continues to page MOD4.22. The tutorial includes a great deal of newsletter planning materials to help you set up your newsletter on pages MOD4.5-4.12 and you should read these materials closely. However, ALL of the steps you will need to use Publisher to create the newsletter begin on MOD4.13.