How to Create an Electronic Classroom Newsletter

Get students involved with an electronic classroom newsletter.

Get students involved in their educational community, expand their vocabularies and empower them to become better writers by developing an electronic classroom newsletter. Use the platform to announce upcoming events and inform parents and other classes about current projects while working collaboratively with your group of students. A newsletter can be formatted using many different software packages, on a Mac or PC, but Microsoft Word (or similar free programs such as OpenOffice and NeoOffice Writer) keeps the project simple with a familiar word processor.

Instructions

Create a Nameplate

1. Launch Microsoft Word or similar software.

2. Click the "Table" drop-down menu, select "Insert," then "Table." Create a table with one row and one column and click the "OK" button.

3. Type out the name of the electronic classroom newsletter, as decided by the class. Center the title within the text box by highlighting it and clicking the Center Align button within the formatting toolbar.

4. Get creative with the nameplate. Highlight the title, click the "Insert" drop-down menu and select "Picture," then "Word Art" to change the shape of the title. Try different colors, font styles and background colors to see which fits your group best. Save your work as a template for future issues.

Gather the Story

1. Assign editorial roles to each student or have them vote for classmates to fill these roles: reporters, editors, designers and advertisers.

2. Send the reporters to gather stories and advertisers to talk to other classrooms or faculty about upcoming events and announcements. Editors will review each submitted story and create a headline, designers will put the newsletter together in the Word format. Simplify roles for younger students.

3. Carefully read through each submission and offer tips that could improve the story. Settle on an editorial style like AP or Chicago or let students use their own voice. Review the Five "W"s of reporting (who, what, when, where and why) to flush out each story.

Format

1. Return to your Word newsletter template.

2. Click below the nameplate. Select the "Insert" drop down menu, choose "Break," then "Section Break." Select the "Format" drop-down menu, choose "Columns." Within the column menu box, choose two, three, left or right aligned columns coordinating with the amount of material gathered for the newsletter.

3. Ask classroom editors and/or designers to type stories or copy and paste them into the template. Between or within stories, create breaks to add headlines, photos and breaks where appropriate. Within the "Insert" drop-down menu, select "Break," then "Column Break" to hold a spot for material added later.

Make it Interesting

1. Add photos and clip art to the newsletter. Select the area where you'd like the image to appear. Within the "Insert" drop-down menu, choose "Picture," then "From File or Clip Art." Peruse Word's clip art library, or browse for a student-taken photo on your computer.

2. Add boxes around important stories or announcements. Within the "Drawing" toolbar, select the square icon and set the cursor near the text you'd like to highlight. Click the mouse and draw a box around the story; release to set the box in place. The box will cover the story, to eliminate the box's fill to see the story, click the paint can icon and click "No Fill." Play with line color, pattern, fill and texture to see which fits your newsletter best.

3. Upon completion, print copies of the newsletter to distribute within the class, other classes, faculty, staff and parents.

Tips & Warnings

• Have students read through a recent local newspaper to get a feel of appropriate content and style.

References

• Education World: Create a School Newsletter with Word
• Colorin Colorado!: Creating Your Own Classroom Newsletter