Unit 3A    Combining text and graphics

This is probably the most important of all the Year 3 units and it deserves careful consideration. The transferable skills the children acquire will be applied across the whole curriculum and especially in literacy.

To download a file:

  1. click the right hand mouse button;
  2. choose "Save Target As";
  3. specify a place to store the file (often the Desktop is a good place).
Key objective Can use text effects and add pictures to word processed documents QCA Website
Activity 1
Making Calligrams		 Download the file "WORDS", select text and change fonts and font effects to generate 'calligrams'. Avoid the use of WordArt for this activity.
Select text using:
  • click and drag
  • double-click
  • triple-click
  • Shift + arrow

Choose Font from the Format menu.

Use Ctrl +[ or ]To change the size of selected text incrementally.

 WORDS
Activity 2
Editing text by replacing words		 Download the file "Nice". Change 'nice' for more powerful adjectives. Use the thesaurus tool by either RH click (Word 2000 or later) or Shift + F7. Nice
Activity 3
Adding Clip Art to text
 		 Download the file pyramids and illustrate by adding clipart.

From the Insert menu choose Picture and then Clip Art. Search the database using appropriate keywords and insert clipart.

Follow the link to the Clips Online and search the online database.

Experiment with the Picture Toolbar, particularly the text wrapping tool (with the dog icon). The Picture Toolbar should appear when a picture is selected. If it does not, RH click on the picture and choose Show Picture Toolbar.

 Pyramids
Activity 4
Adding photographs		 Take a photograph on the Sony Mavica camera. The Mavica saves pictures onto floppy disk.

Put the disk in the floppy disk drive of the computer. From the Insert menu choose Picture and then From File.

Pull down the menu to the RHS of the Look in: box and choose 3½ Floppy (A:). Click to select the picture you want and press the Insert button.

Again, experiment with the Picture Toolbar.

 Click here for details of the Sony Mavica range of cameras
Activity 5
Punctuation marks.		 Download the file "BFG" and  edit out the # characters, replacing them with apropriate punctuation marks.

Consider the application of editing skills in the literacy hour. discuss differenion.

 BFG
Activity 6
Producing a class magazine		 Discuss the practicalities of this.

Set realistic expectations. Appreciate that commercial page layout requires a high degree of ICT skill and usually uses frames and objects. These are only really introduced in Year Five.