Put together a reference guide that lets people know where they can go in your community to get the help they need or the items they want. Look at the following example:

Reference Guide Example

Think about the following questions and suggestions, and discuss your ideas with your partner. You might want to write your ideas on a sheet of paper.

• What are some important, fun, or helpful places in your community that people need to know about?
• What might people find or see at each of place?
• Where can you find information about the places?
• How might you organize the information in columns and rows so it looks nice and is easy to read?

Remember to use the rubric as a guide as you plan, do, review, and share.

For help on how to do certain skills, look at the following groups in the Help Guide:

• Graphics Group 9: Adding Special Effects
• Word Processing Group 1: Getting to Know the Word Processing Software (NOTE: This group name will change depending on the Help Guide version being used.)
• Word Processing Group 2: Typing and Changing Words
• Word Processing Group 3: Changing the Look of Your Words
• Word Processing Group 5: Adding Pictures to Your Pages
• Word Processing Group 7: Working with Tables

1. Start the word processing software, and open a new, blank document.
2. Make an artful title, such as a WordArt or Fontworks title, for your reference guide. Move the artful title to the top of the page.
3. Below the title, insert a table with the number of columns and rows that you and your partner decided on during the planning stage.
4. Think of names, or labels, for each column in your table. Then, insert a new row at the top of the table, and type the labels at the top of each column.
5. Look at the information you and your partner wrote down. Type the information in the table.
6. Change the look of the words in your table.
   
   

Challenge: Change the alignment or position of the words between the left and right borders of each table box or cell. You can also change the alignment between the top and bottom borders. (See the Reference Guide Challenge Example at the end of this section.)



7. Apply an AutoFormat to the table. Be certain to try different options before picking one.
   
   

   Challenge: After applying the AutoFormat, you might want to change the width of the columns to better fit the information. The table might also look nice if you change the row height so they are all the same. (See the Reference Guide Challenge Example at the end of this section.

   
   
8. Save your work as directed.

Reference Guide Challenge Example

Look over your community reference guide. Make sure it has the following elements:

• Artful title that explains what type of information is on the page
• Table with a list of places in your community and information about what people might find or see at each place
• Labels at the top of each column
• AutoFormat that makes the table look nice

If any elements are missing, add them now. If you want, make other changes, as well. Remember to save your work when you are finished.

Be prepared to discuss your answers to the following questions:

• Why might people find your community reference guide helpful?
• What was the hardest thing about inserting and using a table? How did you and your partner manage to work your way through that task?
• What other types of information might you put in a table?