Teachers’ notes

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Speech and thought bubbles This technique should be introduced by the teacher modelling it as she scribes suggestions of what two characters are saying to each other. At Year 2 children will be able to use this technique if they are provided with a template of two graphics and two speech bubbles ready for text entry. In Year 3 children should progress to inserting speech/thought bubbles to given graphics. Speech bubbles are linked to play-script writing and work on the conventions of writing direct speech. In Year 4 children should be able to set up their own graphics and speech/bubbles. In Year 5 the technique is linked to work on fables where it is used to summarise the moral. Entering text into a speech bubble Inserting speech or thought bubbles Text size in speech/thought bubbles Moving and resizing speech/thought bubbles Making a bubble come from a character’s mouth or head Changing the colour of speech/thought bubbles Entering text into a speech bubble 1. Click inside the speech bubble – a border of diagonal lines will appear, this indicates that you are in text entry/edit mode. 2. Enter the text as you usually do – it will appear inside the speech bubble. If you make mistakes edit as usual. 3. Click inside the second speech bubble and enter speech. 4. Save by clicking on File/Save As and rename the file – it will add to a useful bank of examples of direct speech and can be revisited in the future. Back to Top Inserting speech or thought bubbles 1. Make sure the Drawing toolbar is switched on – it usually appears at the bottom of a document. 2. If the Drawing toolbar is not on right click on the grey area to the right of the toolbars at the top of the page – this will display the available toolbars. If Drawing is not ticked click on it to turn it on. 3. Click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the word AutoShapes then point over the word Callouts. In the top row of the Callouts box there are three speech bubbles and one thought bubble – move the pointer across to the right then up to click on the one you want. 4. When you move over the document you will see that a cross (like an addition symbol) has replaced the pointer. Click approximately to where you want the speech/thought bubble to appear, hold down the mouse button and drag down diagonally then let go the mouse button (the further you drag diagonally the larger the bubble) – as you let go of the button the bubble will appear. It will have a diagonal border indicating that it is in text entry mode. Text size in speech/thought bubbles 1. The text size can be altered before or after it has been entered. To alter the size/font before entering text first make sure that the diagonal border indicating text entry mode is showing. 2. To change the size of the font click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the number showing the current font size on the Formatting toolbar. Click on the size you want – it will replace the number in the box. If you wish to change font click on the Font box on the Formatting toolbar and overtype with the first three letters of the font you want, e.g. cre for Creepy, then click anywhere in the document – the font required will have appeared. 3. To change font size /font after entering text do this as you would when editing ordinary text – select the text then make the changes as described above. Back to Top Moving and resizing speech/thought bubbles 1. Click on the edge of the speech bubble – a four-headed ‘move’ arrow will appear – click, hold down the mouse button, drag and drop where required - a spotty border will appear with eight white handles. 2. If the speech bubble needs to be larger click on one of the corner boxes, hold down, drag and drop. You can enlarge the bubble after text has been entered – the text adjusts to the new size bubble. Making a bubble come from a character’s mouth or head 1. Click on the edge of the diagonal border to change it to a ‘spotty’ border – in this mode you can alter the appearance of the speech bubble. When the spotty border is showing a yellow diamond is displayed at the point where the speech bubble ‘issues’ from the graphic – clicking and dragging on the diamond makes it possible to put the point of the bubble close to the character that is ‘speaking’, wherever it is on the screen. Changing the colour of speech/thought bubbles 1. The spotty border needs to be showing – if it is not click on the edge of the bubble or on the diagonal border to activate it. 2. On the Drawing toolbar click on the dropdown arrow to the right of the Fill Colour button (the paintpot), select the colour you want by clicking on it. 3. If you want the second bubble to be the same colour just click on the Fill Colour button because it is set on the colour you have chosen. Back to Top