Creating Graphic Organizers
Using Microsoft Word
Description:
Using Microsoft Word students will be able to create a
variety of graphic organizers for their CultureQuest projects
- Students
will organize information and ideas
- Students
will import existing and create new graphics to illustrate their ideas.
Activity: Creating Graphic Organizers
- Open Microsoft
Word.
- On the
Menu Bar, choose File, then Page Set Up.
- Change
the Top, Bottom, Right, and Left Margin measurements to half an inch. (.5)
- In Page Setup change the Paper
Size: Orientation to Landscape.
- If the
Draw toolbar isn’t visible (usually at the bottom of the screen), on the
Menu Bar, select View, then Tool Bars. Select the Drawing
Tool by clicking it with the mouse.
- The Draw
Tool Bar will appear on the computer screen. It will look like this:
7
- The
Draw Tool Bar contains many tools that are useful in creating flow charts,
Venn diagrams, story maps, causal chains, time lines, sequencing,
character webs, and others.
- Click
the AutoShapes Button on the Drawing Tool Bar. A pop-up menu will
appear. Move the mouse over the choices on the menu and other pop-up menus
will appear. Click on the shape you wish to use.
- The
mouse tool will change to cross hairs. (+) Position the cross hairs
where you want the shape to be placed.
(Usually we start with a shape from Basic Shapes) example:
(Use arrows in Auto Shapes to
connect the shapes to sub ideas)
- Drag
the mouse to create the shape on the document.
- The
shape contains “handles” that are represented by squares on
the corners and sides. The shapes also include yellow diamond shapes that
can be used to manipulate the shape.
- Move
the shape around the page by placing the mouse in the middle of the shape
and clicking and dragging with the mouse to the desired location.
- Position
the required shapes on the document. Example: Sequencing Chart
- To add
the text to the shapes, click the Text Box Button on the Drawing Tool Bar.
- Position
the mouse on the inside of the shape you wish to type in. Draw the Text
Box within the shape using the mouse. Type in the contents. The Text
Box also has handles to manipulate its size and shape. To make it easier
to adjust Text Boxes or AutoShapes, push down the Alt Key while
manipulating the mouse on the shape handles.
- Click
on the outside of the shape to see how the text looks inside the
shape. If part of the shape is
missing after adding the text, it means that the Text Box is covering it.
- Think
of each shape and Text Box as having a white background. It is part of
the white background that is covering the shape behind it.
- To
make the Text Box transparent (clear), select the Text Box with the mouse
so that you can see the outline and the handles of the Text Box.
- Select
the Fill Color Tool (paint can) on the Drawing Tool Bar. Select “No
Fill”.
- Select
the Line Color Tool and select “No Line”.
- Select
the shapes by clicking once with the mouse, and then use the Fill Color
Tool and Line Color Tool to change the color.
- Use
the Line and Arrow Tools from the Drawing Tool Bar to connect the
AutoShapes. The Drawing Tool Bar
also contains tools to create different colors, patterns and thickness of
the arrows and lines.
- Here
are some examples of the Graphic Organizers that can be created:
- Story
Maps
- Venn Diagrams with
WordArt
- Character
Webs
- Retelling Chart
- Cause and Effect
Diagrams