PowerPoint for Teachers: Designing a Classroom Newsletter
Overview
This module serves as an introduction to designing classroom resources using PowerPoint, a user-friendly program often used to create slideshow presentations. If you want to create eye-catching newsletters for your classroom—even with little to no knowledge of design or educational technology—PowerPoint is the tool for you!
Introduction
Hello teachers!
Do you relate to the struggle of searching the web for professional, well-designed newsletter templates on Teachers Pay Teachers—only to be discouraged by the price tag? Maybe you would prefer to create your own classroom newsletters, but you're disheartened by your lack of experience with complex programs like Photoshop. You could type up a simple newsletter in Word, but word processors are inefficient for designing visually interesting documents.
If this sounds like you, let me introduce you to the magic of PowerPoint. You likely have experience using PowerPoint already; after all, it is the most popular program for creating presentations. However, PowerPoint is also the perfect tool for creating visually stunning newsletters for your classroom. It is powerful, yet easy to navigate. If you understand the basics of creating a new file, inserting basic objects and shapes, and exporting your document, you have all the skills needed to make unique newsletters on PowerPoint!
Creating Your Newsletter Template
When you create a new presentation on PowerPoint, your document will not resemble a newsletter. Instead, you will see a blank, wide-screen slide with two text empty boxes in the middle. To transform this blank slide into your newsletter template, you will need to adjust some settings.
First, change the size of your presentation to fit a regular sheet of paper. Go to the "Design" slide and select "Slide size." Choose "Page setup." You will see a pop-up box. Change your paper settings to match the paper you will use for your newsletter. Also, change the orientation of your slide if you want a vertically-oriented document.
Once this step is complete, your newsletter is ready for some design elements!
Designing Your Newsletter
Now that your document is set up, it is time to focus on design! The first step is to determine what information you want to be conveyed in the newsletter. Do you want to have separate sections for school events, academics, and important updates? You can include anything you'd like, but make sure to keep your content in mind when designing the structure of your document.
Next, it's time to insert some basic objects. You could simply insert a title and some textboxes and call it quits, but you want an attractive newsletter, right? You aren't just writing a newsletter; you're designing one.
The first step is to create some boxes. These can be used for sectioning out the different topics in your newsletter. To insert shapes, go to the "Insert" tab and choose your shape. In this case, select the rectangle tool.
Using the rectangle tool, create your main boxes. Change the color of the outline to black—or your preferred color—and change the inside color to transparent. You can also play around with line width, transparency, and style. Feel free to add other shapes and objects. In the following example, I combined rectangles and triangles to create a flag for each section's label.
Adding Content to Your Newsletter
Now that your newsletter has some structure, it is time to add text boxes. Text boxes will hold the majority of your newsletter's content—the title, labels, and paragraphs of text. You can choose your preferred font, but make sure it is easy to read and does not distract from the other elements of your design! I recommend downloading fun fonts from the internet. You can find free font packs on teacherspayteachers.com.
After your text boxes are added, your newsletter might look something like this:
When inserting text, there are some design guidelines to keep in mind. First, make sure your text elements are aligned. I centered my title and subtitles and kept my paragraphs left-justified. You can align your text differently, but make sure it is aligned in a way that does not make your design difficult to process! On this note, make sure your shapes are properly aligned as well.
Additionally, choose a font color that is easy to read. A great way to accomplish this is to provide contrast! If your background is white and your text is dark, it will be a lot easier to read the text.
You might also want to include images in your newsletter. You can insert various types of pictures in the "Insert" tab.
Play around with the different types of pictures you can add. Insert your own pictures, stock photos, icons, or other images! If you are including images from the internet, make sure you are in compliance with any copyright restrictions.
It is also important to avoid overwhelming your design with too many images. A busy design might make it difficult for your students and students' families to comprehend the information presented in your newsletter. When too many elements are forced into a design, the viewer can experience cognitive overload, so make sure each element of your newsletter is purposeful and relevant!
Once you are done playing around with your design, your newsletter might look something like this (but with more textual information—this is just an example):
While this example has minimal content, it is a great starting point for a visually-pleasing classroom newsletter. As you may have realized by now, creating a newsletter like this requires little to no knowledge of design or educational technology! Using PowerPoint, anyone can create an eye-catching document for students and families.
Exporting Your Newsletter
The final step is to export and print your newsletter. Fortunately, this is the easiest step of all! When you are satisfied with your design, go to the "File" tab. Here, you can choose to save your file, export it as a PDF or image, or print your newsletter. You can even save your file as a template. This might be useful if you will be creating newsletters every week and you want to keep a consistent style.
Once your file is saved, exported, or printed, you're done!
I hope this module helped you understand that creating the perfect newsletter is not an impossible task. You don't need to waste time searching for pricey templates—nor should you settle and create basic (boring) newsletters on Word. PowerPoint is simple, and it is the only tool you will ever need! Happy designing!