This short presentation offers a few suggestions for elementary age students as they begin composing documents on the computer using Microsoft Word.

1. A Few Tips to Help
When Writing a
Paper Using a Word
Processor
Composing on
a Computer

2. 1st Ideas,
2nd Composing
Jot down ideas,
do research then
start composing free
style (worry about
proper sentence
structure and correct
spelling later).

3. If the paper
you are
writing is
about your
experiences
(when no
research is
necessary)…
…type short
words or
phrases about
what you
want to say.
Next, go back
and fill in the
detail.

4. Content First,
Pretty Later!
Type what you
want to say and
don’t worry about
font, font color,
font size or text
alignment until the
very last stage of
your writing.

5. NEVER use the Backspace key to navigate
back to correct an error in your document!
It’s the long, hard way to make a correction. Instead, finish
the initial draft, then move the cursor to the word that
needs to be corrected and make the change.

6. Don’t Waste Time Thinking of a Title!
Type your
paper first
and add the
title later.
Don’t get
blocked
because you
can’t think of
a title…just
keep writing.
Unless your teacher wants a specific title!

7. If you see a wavy red underline, it means the underlined
word is spelled wrong. Move the mouse pointer over the
word, click the right mouse button and you can
select the correct spelling from the pop-up list (of
possible words) that appears. The words listed may not
always include the correct word.

8. If you see a green wavy underline, it means there is a
grammatical error in the text. Move the mouse pointer
over the underlined text and click the Right Mouse
button. Word may suggest some changes, but the
solution is to reword your text.

9. Quick Keys for Navigation
To move quickly through a document using keystrokes
• Ctrl + Left Arrow
jumps to the
beginning of the
previous word
• Ctrl + Right
Arrow jumps to
the beginning of
the next word
• Ctrl + Home
jumps to the
beginning of the
document
• Ctrl + End jumps
to the end of the
document