In Sessions 16 and 17 you learned to type, format and check a notice. Today you become a real document maker. You will add tables and pictures, control the page layout, add headers, footers and page numbers, and then make three documents people use every day: a formal letter, an event poster and a programme (order of events) for a school event.
Near almost every school or lorry station in Ghana there is a small shop with a sign saying "Typing, Printing, Photocopy, Lamination". People bring the shop owner a handwritten letter to the District Office, the words for a church or wedding programme, or a poster for a football gala. The shop owner turns it into a neat, printed document.
That shop owner is not using magic. They use the same word processor you use, with a few extra tools: a table for the order of events, a picture for the poster, the right margins (the empty border around the page), and a footer with page numbers. After today, you can do that job yourself.
A table is a grid that keeps information in neat lines, like a class timetable. A row goes across, a column goes down, each box is a cell, and the top row with the column names is the header row.
Insert: Insert tab → Table → move the mouse over the little grid (for example 3 across, 4 down) and click.
Add a row at the end: click in the very last cell and press Tab. A new row appears!
Add a row in the middle: right-click a row → Insert → Insert Rows Below.
Header row: select the top row, make it bold and colour it (Table Design → Shading). Borders: select the table → Table Design → Borders → All Borders.
Other programmes: LibreOffice: Table → Insert Table. Google Docs: Insert → Table. Tab in the last cell works in all three.
Insert: click where the picture should go → Insert → Pictures → This Device → find the picture → Insert. Pictures arrive far too big. To resize, click the picture and drag a corner handle.
Wrap text decides how words sit around the picture. Click the picture → Picture Format → Wrap Text (or the small Layout Options button beside it). LibreOffice: right-click the picture → Wrap. Google Docs: click the picture and use the small bar under it.
| Wrap option | What happens | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| In Line with Text | The picture sits on a line, like one giant letter. | A logo on its own line |
| Square | Words flow around the picture's four sides. | A photo beside a paragraph |
| Behind Text | The picture becomes the background. | A faint watermark (careful!) |
A good tailor measures the cloth before cutting. A good document maker sets up the page before typing. In Word, all three settings live on the Layout tab:
| Setting | Word (Layout tab) | LibreOffice / Google Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Margins | Layout → Margins → Normal or Narrow | LibreOffice: Format → Page Style → Page tab. Google Docs: File → Page setup. All three settings are in one box. |
| Orientation | Layout → Orientation → Portrait or Landscape | |
| Page size | Layout → Size → A4 (21 cm × 29.7 cm) |
The header is the strip at the very top of the page; the footer is the strip at the bottom. Whatever you type there repeats on every page by itself: the club name, the date, the page number.
BIH Tech Club.Other programmes: LibreOffice: Insert → Header and Footer → Header → Default Page Style; page numbers: Insert → Page Number (older versions: Insert → Field → Page Number). Google Docs: Insert → Headers & footers, and Insert → Page numbers.
Pressing Enter twenty times to reach a new page is a trap: add one line above and everything slides out of place. Instead press Ctrl + Enter. This inserts a page break: "start a new page here", whatever happens above. It works in Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs.
A formal letter goes to someone in an official role: a headteacher, a District Director, a company. It follows the same pattern you learn in English lessons. In the Ghanaian school format, it looks like this:
Seen from across the compound, in three seconds. One big title, one picture, and only the key facts: What? When? Where? Who can come? Use Narrow margins and big, bold, centred text.
The booklet guests hold at a speech day or funeral. A cover page (title, picture, date, venue), a page break, then a table: Time, Item, By. A footer with page numbers.
Esi typed this letter to her headteacher. In your team, find 5 mistakes as fast as you can. The first team to find all five earns 3 team points.
The club is holding an Open Day to show parents what you have learned. Warm up in the Page Layout Studio 3D lab on your session page (add a table and a picture, set the margins and orientation, add a header and footer), then make the real thing. Save all three in Documents > BIH_Practice > Notes.
OpenDay_Letter_YourName): new blank document → check Layout → Size → A4 and Normal margins. Type a letter to your headteacher inviting them to the Open Day, with all 8 parts from Figure 18.5. Right-align your address and the date (Ctrl+R); make the subject line bold and underlined. Fix every red squiggle.OpenDay_Poster_YourName): new document → Landscape, Narrow margins. A big bold title, centred. Insert the picture your mentor put in BIH_Practice > Images, resize it from a corner and set Wrap Text → Square. Add What, When, Where and Who in large text. Everything must fit on one page.OpenDay_Programme_YourName): page 1 is a cover (title, picture, date, venue). Press Ctrl+Enter. On page 2 type Order of Events (Heading 1), then insert a 3-column table: Time, Item, By. Fill in at least 6 events, pressing Tab in the last cell for new rows. Bold and shade the header row; add All Borders.BIH Tech Club Open Day in the header and a page number at the bottom centre. Check that both pages show them.| Check | Letter | Poster | Programme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page size A4? | |||
| Orientation used | |||
| Number of pages | |||
| Saved as .docx and PDF? |
Show and tell: hold up (or show on screen) your poster. Which part did your partner see first, from 3 metres away?
A. Yaw drags the side handle of the school crest and it looks fat and squashed. What should he do?
B. Naa needs the "Order of Events" to start on a new page. What is best?
C. Selasi's timetable has 7 columns and does not fit across the page. What should she try first?
D. Fatima starts her letter "Dear Sir/Madam,". How should she close it?
Question 1: Why is it better to add page numbers with Insert → Page Number than to type them yourself?
Question 2: Why do people send a letter or programme as a PDF instead of a .docx file?
Tick the column that reflects your confidence at the end of Session 18:
| Real Documents Competency | With Help | Almost Alone | All By Myself! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. I can insert a table, add rows and format its header row and borders. | |||
| 2. I can insert a picture, resize it from the corner and wrap text around it. | |||
| 3. I can set margins, orientation and A4 size, and add a header, footer, page numbers and a page break. | |||
| 4. I can make a formal letter, a poster and a programme, and save them as PDF. |
BIH JHS Tech Club · a Bozoma Innovation Hub programme · Your answers are saved only on this computer.