Publish a School Announcement

Overview

In Week 3, students apply login, file-organization, saving, and submission routines while producing a professional one-page school announcement. They build on earlier word-processor practice by revising text, organizing information, formatting consistently, inserting bullets and a simple table, and collaborating responsibly.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Create and revise a clear one-page announcement for a school audience.
• Apply headings, consistent formatting, bullets, and a simple table.
• Save and submit a document using an agreed filename and folder structure.
• Collaborate digitally by giving useful feedback without changing another person’s work without permission.

Success criteria

• I can create a clear heading and organize information for my audience.
• I can use consistent font, spacing, bullets, and a simple table.
• I can revise my writing for accuracy, clarity, and professional tone.
• I can save, locate, and submit my file using the required naming format.
• I can give or respond to digital feedback respectfully.

Curriculum links

• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
• Use technology to produce, publish, interact, and collaborate with others.
• Organize information clearly, including appropriate formatting and supporting details.
• Produce clear, coherent writing appropriate to task, purpose, and audience, using a formal style.

Lesson structure (50 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Warm-up and retrieval. Teacher displays the opening question and procedure reminder and asks, “What makes a school announcement easy to trust and act on?” Students silently identify two features, then share with a partner. Teacher reinforces the Week 3 routine: log in, open the correct folder, save early, and submit only the requested file.

2. 5–15 min · Explicit modeling. Teacher projects the model announcement sequence and demonstrates opening the word processor, creating a document, and saving it as LastName_SchoolAnnouncement. Teacher models a one-page announcement about a school club or event: a descriptive heading, a short purpose paragraph, a bulleted list of key details, and a two-column table for date, time, location, or contact information. Students watch for each success criterion and record one formatting choice they notice on the announcement planning and quality-check sheet.

3. 15–23 min · Guided practice. Teacher provides a deliberately unorganized announcement and leads students through improving its heading, paragraph order, bullets, and table. Use the guided editing example to pause after each change and ask why it improves clarity. Students make the same changes in a practice document or follow along, then complete the first checklist items on the announcement planning and quality-check sheet.

4. 23–39 min · Independent production task. Teacher assigns students to create a one-page announcement for a real or fictional school event, such as Spirit Week, a service project, or a technology club meeting. Students plan on the announcement planning and quality-check sheet, then produce the document independently. They must include a clear heading, formal tone, concise paragraph, at least three bullets, a simple two-column table, consistent formatting, and accurate details. At minute 30, teacher prompts everyone to save; at minute 37, students run the checklist and correct errors.

5. 39–45 min · Responsible collaboration and submission. Teacher explains that partners may comment on clarity and formatting but may not overwrite another student’s document. Students use the word processor’s comment or sharing feature, where available, to give one specific suggestion, then accept, reject, or respond to it. Students save the final version in the class folder as LastName_SchoolAnnouncement and submit through the class platform or designated folder. Teacher checks filenames and folder locations while circulating.

6. 45–50 min · Closure and exit ticket. Teacher displays the review and exit-ticket prompts. Students answer on the bottom of the announcement planning and quality-check sheet or in the learning platform: “Name one formatting choice that improved clarity,” “What is the correct filename and submission location?” and “What is one respectful collaboration action?” Students submit the completed document and exit response before leaving.

Resources

• Student computers with a word processor and Internet or school network access
• Projector or interactive display
• the announcement modeling and review deck
• the announcement planning and quality-check sheet
• Teacher-created unorganized sample announcement
• Class folder and submission location
• Sample event details and approved school images, if desired
• Headphones for students who need text-to-speech or reduced-distraction support

Assessment

• During modeling and guided practice, check student responses about audience, organization, formatting, and formal style.
• Circulate during independent work using a quick checklist: heading, paragraph, bullets, table, consistency, filename, and saved location.
• Review the submitted document and exit response for clear organization, appropriate formatting, responsible collaboration, and correct file management.

Differentiation

• Provide a planning template, sample event details, sentence starters, a formatting menu, and a partially completed table for students needing support. Pair students strategically for verbal rehearsal, while each student creates and saves an individual document.
• Support EAL students with an illustrated word bank for event details, including date, time, location, purpose, contact, and deadline; allow oral planning before drafting.
• For students with SEN, provide enlarged directions, keyboard shortcuts, chunked checkpoints, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, or teacher/peer scribing as appropriate. Seat students near the teacher or display.
• Extend confident students by requiring a stronger call to action, more precise audience-focused language, a revised table layout, or a short explanation of how their design choices communicate relationships among details.

Classroom management and contingencies

• Seat students so screens are visible during demonstrations and establish “screens down” as the signal for attention. Students use only the assigned folder and approved tools; no personal accounts or unrelated browsing.
• If the Internet or submission platform fails, students save locally or to the designated network drive using the required filename, then show the file to the teacher or submit when access returns.
• If a student cannot log in or the word processor is unavailable, provide a paper planning copy or allow drafting in a basic text editor. The student can transfer and format the work when access is restored.
• Keep two spare devices available if possible. Students should not share passwords; partners may troubleshoot using the displayed procedure card without taking control of another student’s account.

Homework/extension

• If unfinished, complete the announcement and submit it during the next class or approved study period.
• At home, identify one real school announcement and write two sentences explaining how its organization and formatting help the reader. Students should not use personal accounts or share school files outside approved systems.