Intro to Word Processing Class Outline

Class Description:
This class will provide an introduction to the word processing program, Microsoft Word. Learn how to create a
simple document, edit and format text, correct spelling errors, and adjust the margins. Class will also cover how to
save, print, and open files.

Class Length: 2 hours

Introduction:
Word Processing programs allow users to develop a wide range of documents such as letters, memos, résumés, and
reports. Unlike a typewriter, once you create a document on screen, you can edit the text, format words, insert
sentences, move paragraphs, correct spelling mistakes, and adjust the margins. Microsoft Word is a powerful tool
that allows users to create professional looking documents quickly and easily. This class is targeted at beginning
users and is intended to provide the basics for using a word processing program.

Objectives:
ƒ Learn basic navigation skills to effectively use the Microsoft Word program.
ƒ Create a simple document, edit text, and check for spelling errors.
ƒ Format the document and adjust the page layout.
ƒ Preview, print, save, and open files.

Exercises:

1) Understanding Word Basics 3) Formatting the Document

† What Is a Word Processing Program? † Change Font Formatting
† Access Microsoft Word † Modify Paragraph Formatting
† Explore the Word Window † Adjust the Margins

2) Creating a Simple Document 4) Saving and Printing the Document

† Enter Text † Save File to Disk
† Navigate and Select Text † Access Print Preview
† Edit Text † Print the File
† Check Spelling Errors † Open a File

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Accessing Microsoft Word

1. Click the Start button on the taskbar at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
ƒ The Start menu opens.
2. Click on Office 2003.
ƒ A submenu opens.
3. Click on Word.
ƒ The Microsoft Word program launches.

Taskbar
Start Menu

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Microsoft Word Window

Close/Exit

Maximize/Restore
Title Bar Standard Toolbar

Minimize

Menu Bar Formatting Toolbar

Ruler

Horizontal Scroll Bar

Status Bar

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Microsoft Word Menus

Shortcuts appear next

to the command and
can be used as a quick
method for activating a
command bypassing
the menu.
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 Microsoft Word Standard Toolbar

Cut
New
Copy
Open

Save Paste
Borders Insert Excel
Worksheet
Format
Painter
Show/Hide

Print Zoom

Undo

Print Preview
Drawing

Redo
Columns

Spelling and
Grammar
Insert Table
Insert
Hyperlink

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 Microsoft Word Formatting Toolbar

Font

Bullets
Numbering
Style
Font Size Decrease
Indent

Line Increase
Spacing Indent

Borders
Bold Font
Color

Highlight
Italic

Justify

Underline

Align Right

Center
Align Left

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Cursors and Keys

Cursors

Arrow Flashing Cursor

I-Beam
(pretend it’s flashing)

Keys

Space Bar: Inserts one space between words.

Enter Key: Creates a new paragraph and moves the cursor to the next line.

Tab Key: Automatically moves the cursor in one half-inch increments.

Word Wrap: Text will automatically flow to the next line while you are typing in the Word program. You
do not need to press the Enter key to get to the next line, unless you wish to create a new
paragraph.

Capitalization: Press the Shift key and the letter you wish to capitalize.

Caps Lock Key: When this key is pressed, a green light will display on the right hand side of the keyboard. All
letters typed will be capitalized.

Insert Key: When this key is pressed, it turns on Overtype mode. This mode allows users to type over text
while editing a document.

Back Space Key: Deletes one character to the left.

Delete Key: Deletes one character to the right. Enter Key

Tab Key
Back Space Insert

Shift Space Bar Delete

Caps Lock

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 Navigating and Selecting Text

Navigate Use the mouse by

simply pointing and
In order to effectively use the Microsoft Word program it clicking at the desired
is important to know how to move around the document. location. A blinking
You can use both the mouse and keyboard to navigate cursor appears.
through a document.

Keyboard Action Moves… Shortcut Keys Moves…

Í one space left Control + Í one word to the left
Î one space right Control + Î one word to the right
Ï one line up Control + Home beginning of the document
Ð one line down Control + End end of the document
Home beginning of the line Control + Page Down top of next page
End end of the line Control + Page Up top of previous page
Page Up up a screen length
Page Down down a screen length

Select
You may wish to make a certain word bold, underline a phrase, or increase the size of the text for the entire
document. Before any of these actions can be performed, you must select the text you wish to change. There
are a number of ways you can select text, both with the mouse and with the keyboard.

Mouse Selects… Keyboard Selects…

Click, hold, and drag specified area Control + a entire document
Double click a word word Shift + Í one character to the left
Triple click a word paragraph Shift + Î one character to the right
ÜSingle click the arrow line Shift + Ï one line up
ÜDouble click the arrow paragraph Shift + Ð one line down
ÜTriple click the arrow entire document Shift + Home to beginning of line
Shift + End to end of line
Control + Shift + Home from cursor to beginning of
document
Shift Clicking Control + Shift + End from cursor to end of
1. Point and click the mouse where
you would like the selection to document
begin Control + Shift +Ï from cursor to the beginning
2. Hold the Shift key
3. Point and click the mouse where of the paragraph
you would like the selection to end Control + Shift + Ð from cursor to the end of the
paragraph

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Editing Text

Inserting Text
After you have typed a paragraph, or sentence, you may wish to add a word, or phrase.
Simply click where you would like to add text and begin to type.

1. Choose a poem from the following selections by author Shel Silverstein, after making your choice begin to type.

TWO BOXES HOW MANY, HOW MUCH, PUT SOMETHING IN

Two boxes met upon a road How many slams in an old screen Draw a crazy picture,
Said one unto the other, door? Write a nutty poem,
“If you’re a box, Depends how loud you shut it. Sing a mumble-grumble song,
And I’m a box, How many slices in a bread? Whistle through your comb.
Then you must be my brother. Depends how thin you cut it. Do a loony-goony dance
Our sides are thin, How much good inside a day? 'Cross the kitchen floor,
We’re cavin’ in, Depends how good you live 'em. Put something silly in the world
And we must get no thinner.” How much love inside a friend? That ain't been there before.
And so two boxes, hand in hand, Depends how much you give 'em.
Went home to have their dinner.

2. After the last line of the poem type: by Silverstein

3. Click after the “y” in the word by.

4. Press the Space Bar and type Shel.
5. The author’s name has been inserted between the word by and the last name (by Shel Silverstein).

Deleting Text
You may wish to delete text within a document you have created. Simply select the text you wish to discard and press
the delete key on the keyboard. The backspace key deletes one character to the left and the delete key deletes one
character to the right.

1. Type: =rand(8) to insert eight paragraphs of generic text.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox
jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

2. Select the words fox and jumps (fox jumps).

3. Press the Delete key—the words fox jumps are deleted.

Moving Text
When preparing a draft of a document, you may realize that you would like to move a
paragraph from the beginning to the end of the document, or move a sentence from one
paragraph to another.
Cut
1. Type the following three sentences (The library is my
Copy
favorite place. I love to read. Books rock! ). Paste

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(Note: this exercise is continued from the previous page)

2. Select the sentence The library is my favorite place.

3. Click the Cut button on the Standard toolbar-- the sentence disappears.
4. Click at the end of the first sentence (I love to read.) so that the cursor flashes after the period.
5. Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar-- the sentence reappears.

Copying Text
You may wish to copy text from one paragraph to another, or copy a paragraph from one document to another
document.

1. Select all three sentences (I love to read. The library is my favorite place. Books rock!).
2. Click the Copy button on the Standard toolbar.
3. Click at the end of the sentence and press the Enter key twice.
4. Click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar—a copy of the sentences is inserted in the space below.

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Undo and Redo

Often times while you are working on a document, you may delete text mistakenly, type something erroneously, or
move text accidentally. If you make such mistakes, they are very easy to correct it.

Undo
The Undo command allows you to reverse the last action performed. If you made more than one mistake, you can
keep clicking the Undo button to undo multiple actions. The down pointing arrow next to the Undo button lists all
actions that you have performed.

Redo
The Redo command reverses the last action of the Undo command. So if you accidentally Undo an action click the
Redo button. To see a list of actions that have been undone, click the down pointing arrow to the right of the Redo
button.

Steps
1. Select the entire document (you can use the shortcut by pressing Ctrl and the A keys).
2. Press the Delete key.
3. All of the text has been deleted.
4. Now click the Undo button.
5. The text reappears (the last action has been reversed).
6. Now click the Redo button.
7. The text disappears (the last action of the undo command has been reversed and the text is once again deleted).

Undo
List of actions
you can redo

List of actions
you can undo Redo

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Checking and Correcting Spelling Errors

A spelling or typographical error can be costly especially on such important documents as cover letters, résumés,
and reports. Microsoft Word has several different mechanisms in place to catch these errors and correct them.

Spell-it: provides a visual cue to errors within a document

ƒ The Spell-it feature places a wavy red line underneath words not recognized by
the main dictionary and a green wavy line underneath possible grammatical or
typographical mistakes.
ƒ Simply right click the word(s) with this underlining to open a shortcut menu with
possible suggestions which you can either change or ignore. Right click for the
shortcut menu, and (left) click to make your selection.
ƒ Words that are in uppercase or words with numbers are ignored by this checking
system.

AutoCorrect: Automatically corrects common errors as you type

ƒ Corrects commonly misspelled words (“teh” to “the”)
ƒ Capitalizes the first letter in a sentence
ƒ Capitalizes days of the week
ƒ Corrects accidental use of the caps lock key (“tHE” to “The”)
ƒ Corrects two initial capitals (“THe” to “The”)
ƒ Inserts special symbols (e.g. copyright and trademark)
ƒ To see a list of options click on the Tools menu and select AutoCorrect

Spelling and Grammar Checker: Checks for misspellings and grammatical errors

Click the Spelling and

Grammar
button on the Standard toolbar to check for
errors in the document. This checking system
will catch errors not detected by Spell-it and
AutoCorrect. You can either change or ignore
the suggestion. It is recommended to always
perform the Spelling and Grammar checker
before you print the document.

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Font Formatting

The default typeface, or font, as it is commonly referred to as, used for all Word documents is Times New Roman,
point size 12. However, there may be times when you would like to change the appearance of your document by
underlining certain phrases, making certain words bold, italicizing sentences, or changing the font size for the entire
document. You can make such changes using the formatting toolbar, or for more options, you can access the Font
dialog box.

1. A document should be open within the Microsoft Word program.

2. Select text within the document that you would like to change.
3. Click on the Format menu and select the Font command.
ƒ The Font dialog box opens.
4. You can change the font type, style and size. You also have the ability to select different
underlining styles, the color of the text, and other interesting effects such as shadow,
outline, or emboss.
ƒ Once you have made your changes, a preview displays at the bottom of the dialog box
showing how the formatted text looks.
5. Click the OK button to secure your changes.

Click the question mark in

the upper left-hand corner
to access context sensitive
help. Your cursor changes
into a large question mark.
Click on an option in the
dialog box to see a
definition.

Notes about Fonts

 72-point size is equivalent to 1 inch.
 Font sizes 10, 11, or 12 are used in
most professional documents.
 If you mark the “hidden” effect, the
text will not print.

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Paragraph Formatting

Changing the alignment of text, the indentation of paragraphs, or the space between lines are options that you can
select in the Paragraph dialog box. Making such formatting changes can help make certain parts of your document
stand out or make it more readable.

1. A document should be open within the Microsoft Word program.

2. Select the area you wish to format.
3. Click on the Format menu and select the Paragraph command.
ƒ The Paragraph dialog box opens.
4. You can change the line spacing (single, 1.5, or double), you can adjust the
alignment (left, center, right, or justify), or you can increase the spaces before or
after paragraphs.
5. Make your selections.
ƒ A preview will display at the bottom of the dialog box.
6. Click the OK button to secure your changes.

Click the question mark in

the upper left-hand corner
to access context sensitive
help. Your cursor changes
into a large question mark.
Click on an option in the
dialog box to see a
definition.

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 Accessing Print Preview

Before you print a document, you may wish to preview the document. Print Preview has different magnifications for
viewing the document. You can zoom in and out and make final adjustments before printing.

1. Click the Print Preview button on the Standard toolbar or click the File menu and select
Print Preview.

Print: send the document

to the printer
Zoom: zoom from
10% to 500%
percent
One Page: view
one page of
document Shrink to Fit:
decreases the font size
to reduce the number
of pages

Context Sensitive
Magnifier: Help: access help
zoom in and out topics
or click the
button to turn it
off and edit the
document
Close: return to the
Word window
Multiple Pages: view
multiple pages of Full Screen: view as much of
document at one time the document as possible
without toolbars and other
distracting elements
View Ruler: turn the ruler
on and off

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Adjusting the Page Layout

After you have edited and formatted a document, you may wish to make other adjustments such as changing the
margins, selecting a different paper size, or modifying the orientation. These actions can be performed in the page
setup dialog box.

1. A document should be open within the Microsoft Word program.

2. Click on the File menu and select Page Setup…

ƒ The Page Setup dialog box opens.

3. The Margins tab appears at the top left. By default, the top and bottom margins are
set to 1 inch. The left and the right margins are set at 1.25 inches. You can either
type the number for the margin setting you would like or use the arrows to increase
or decrease the current setting.

4. To adjust the orientation, there are two settings, portrait and landscape. By default,
Word documents print pages with the portrait orientation.

Adjusting the setting by

typing in a number or using
the up and down arrows to
increase or decrease the
settings.

Select either Portrait or

Landscape

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Printing the Document

Now that you have created a document, you probably would like to print a copy. If you are printing at a Milwaukee
Public Library, there is a charge of 15¢ per page. Before you print, you can specify which pages or how many copies
you wish to print. In order to make these selections, you must access the Print command from the File menu. The
Print button on the Standard toolbar simply sends the document to the printer.

1. A document should be open in the Microsoft Word program.

2. Click on the File menu and select Print.
ƒ The Print dialog box opens.
3. You can select the Page Range by indicating if you wish to print certain
pages, the current page, the selected area, or specific pages.
4. You may also print multiple copies of the document.
5. Once you have indicated your printing options you may click the OK button
to print.
6. Enter a username (e.g. your first name, initials, etc.) and press the Enter key.
7. Type in a password and press the Enter key (note use a password that is easy
to remember and in lowercase).

(Note: this exercise continues on the next page)

Remember to check the

total number of pages
of your document
before you print!

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PHAROS Print Stations

In order to print a document from a Milwaukee Public Library networked computer, you will need a new Milwaukee
Public Library card (see picture below). You will also need to add money to your library card. The following exercises
provide instruction on adding value to your new library card and printing from a PHAROS Print Station.

(Note: this exercise is continued from the previous page)

New Library Card

Adding Value to your Milwaukee Public Library Card

1. Locate the copier/printer in the facility.
2. Insert the Milwaukee Public Library card into the copier/printer’s
reader (note: magnetic strip down).
3. The reader will display how much money is currently on your
library card.
4. Add money using either coins or cash, however, you will not
receive change (note: make sure to add enough money so that you
will be able to print all pages, e.g. 15¢ for one page, 30¢ for two
pages, etc.).
5. Push the red button to eject your card.

Printing from a PHAROS Print Station

1. Locate the PHAROS Print Station (it is located next to the copier/printer). REMEMBER:
You must have
2. Insert your Milwaukee Public Library card into the reader (note: magnetic strip down). enough money on
3. Click anywhere on the screen to display the current list of print jobs. your Milwaukee
Public Library card
4. Click on the username you used for the print job. to print all pages of
5. Click the PRINT button located in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. your print job!

6. Enter the password you assigned to your print job.

7. Click the OK button.
8. Click the Log Off button to eject your Milwaukee Public Library card.
9. Take your card from the reader and pick up your documents from the copier/printer.

 Printing costs 15¢ per page at Milwaukee

Public Libraries.
 Your print job remains in the system for two
hours; if you do not print within that time, your
print job will be deleted.
 You can print your job from any Print Station in
the building.

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Saving a File to Disk

Once you have created a document, you may wish to save it onto a disk for later use. After it has been saved onto a
disk, you will always have a copy of the document if you wish to print another copy, or revise it for future use.

1. A document should be open within the Microsoft Word program.

2. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar or click the File menu and select Save.
ƒ The Save As dialog box opens when you save for the first time.
3. In the File Name box, type a
name for your file (e.g. “my
file”).
4. Click on the down arrow to the
right of the Save in box.
5. Click on 3 ½ Floppy (A:)
Drive.
6. Click the Save button on the
right hand side of the dialog
box.
7. The document has been saved--
the file name should appear on
the title bar (the blue bar at the
top of your screen).

Save Versus Save As

You can continue to work on your document.
As you add text or make changes, click the
Save button or press the Ctrl and S keys
periodically to save your work. The Save As
dialog box only opens the first time you save.
After that, your document will be saved in the
same location with the same file name. If you
would like to save the file in a new
location, or save a revised version of the
document, click on the File menu and
select Save As.

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Opening a File

You may have created a document, such as a cover letter or résumé, and saved it onto a disk. If you would like to
print another copy or revise the original document, you will need to open the file. Here are some steps you can
follow for opening a file that has been saved onto a disk.

1. Place your disk into the Floppy A Drive located on the front of the computer.
2. Open Microsoft Word (see page 2, “Accessing Microsoft Word”).
3. Click the Open button or click on the File menu and select Open.
ƒ The Open dialog box appears
on your screen.
4. Click on the down arrow to the right
of the Look in box.
5. Click on 3½ Floppy (A:) Drive.
ƒ Files saved on the disk will
display.
6. Click on the file you wish to open.
7. Click the Open button on the
bottom right hand side of the box.
ƒ The Document opens in the
Microsoft Word Window.

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