Title: "Creating a Holiday Newsletter!"

Grade Level: 7th and 8th graders, Level 1 ESL

Time:  1 hour

Grouping: Whole Group, then Individual

Objective of Lesson:  Students will learn how to use The Student Writing Center and learn new
holiday-related key words to produce a newsletter illustrating graphics and information about
different holidays.

Materials: chalk, chalkboard, twenty Macintosh computers equipped with the Students Writing
Center, and 20 copies of the teacher’s sample holiday newsletter.

Set or Motivation:  10 minutes
 Winter is a special season, in which we celebrate many different holidays.  What are some
of your favorite holidays? This is your chance to tell us about your favorite holidays, choose
pictures that represent these holidays and make and share the newsletters with the class.  First, let
us list some holidays on the board and discuss what things remind us of these holidays.  For
example, pumpkins remind us of Halloween, and a Menorah remind us of Hanukkuh.

Stating Objective(s): Today you will become familiar with the Student Writing Center by creating
a newsletter about the different holidays that we celebrate.
 

Procedure:  40 minutes

Instruction
1. Ask students to name their favorite holidays and talk about the holidays as a group.  Write
these examples on the board for the students to see.
2. Move the students to the computer side of the room.

Student Participation
1. Hand out the sample newsletter as a guide that tells about different holidays and shows
graphics that represent that holiday for students to use as a model.
2. Each teacher will take three or four students to one area to aid them.
3. After opening the program The Student Writing Center and clicking the options of "newsletter" and "heading," have students put their name in the heading.
4. a. Have students move to the first column and choose a picture (by telling them to click on the
        “Holidays” folder from the different graphic categories and select an object/image).
    b. Have students adjust the size and position of the image to fit it in the column by using the
        arrows along the borders of the graphic.
    c. After several pictures are chosen and students understand the process of choosing pictures, move 
        on to the next step.
5. Have students write the name of the object and the related holiday in a sentence in the first column under or next to the first graphic.  Tell them to do the same for the rest of the graphics selected. Give them time to work on it on their own.
6. Individually show them how to change fonts, colors, sizes, styles, and alignment.
7. Have them repeat the steps above with additional holidays after they are happy with the first
few holiday graphics/sentences.
8.  Have students save their newsletters on the desktop and print them out by guiding them
through the steps.

Closure: 10 minutes
1.  Have students share their newsletters with the class.
2.  Talk with students about what they learned today, and review the benefits of the Student Writing Center with the class if time permits.
3.  Collect newsletters from students for grading.
 
 

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