“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables.” — Habakkuk 2:2
Lesson
What You Will Learn
- Create, save, and open a document in a word processor
- Format text: font, size, bold, alignment, and bullets
- Use spell check and print preview
- Type a simple business letter
Lesson Notes
What a Word Processor Does
A word processor, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, is used to type letters, résumés, and reports. You can change how text looks, fix mistakes easily, and save or print your work.
Formatting Basics
- Select text by clicking and dragging over it. Then use the toolbar to change it.
- Font and size: use a clean font like Calibri or Arial, size 11 or 12 for body text.
- Bold (Ctrl + B), Italic (Ctrl + I), Underline (Ctrl + U).
- Alignment: left, center, right. Most business writing is left-aligned.
- Bullets and numbering make lists easy to read.
Checking Your Work
Red squiggly lines mark possible spelling errors; blue or green lines suggest grammar changes. Right-click to see suggestions. Spell check helps, but it does not catch every mistake, so read your work out loud.
Use Print Preview to see how your page will look before printing.
The Business Letter
A business letter includes your contact information, the date, the recipient's name and address, a greeting, the body, a closing (Sincerely,), and your name. Keep it to one page.
Key Terms
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Font | The style of the letters |
| Format | How text looks: size, bold, alignment |
| Alignment | How text lines up on the page |
| Spell check | A tool that marks possible spelling errors |
| Print Preview | A view of how the page will print |
In-Class Activities
Format a Flyer
Type a short flyer for a church event. Make the title bold and centered at size 20, add the date and time in a bulleted list, and add one sentence of details. Save it with a clear name.
Letter Layout
Label each part of the sample business letter your instructor provides: sender's address, date, recipient, greeting, body, closing, signature.
Assignment: Type a Business Letter
Type a one-page letter to a church or community organization thanking them for their support of the Bridge to Opportunity program.
- Include all parts of a business letter.
- Use one clean font, size 11 or 12.
- Run spell check and read it aloud before turning it in.
Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.
Reflection Journal
Habakkuk was told to write the vision and make it plain. What vision do you believe God has given you for your life after this season? Write it as plainly as you can.
Prayer focus: Ask God to make His vision for your life clear and to help you write it plainly.
Weekly Reading & Devotions
Making the Page Work for You
A word processor is one of the most useful tools you will ever learn. With it you can write a résumé, a cover letter, a letter to a landlord, a note for your child's teacher, or a statement for a court date, and make each one look clean and professional.
Good formatting helps a reader. A clear font such as Calibri or Arial at size 11 or 12, left-aligned text, short paragraphs, and headings that stand out make a page easy to read. Too many fonts, colors, or sizes make it look cluttered. When in doubt, keep it simple.
Spell check is a helpful friend, but it is not perfect. It will not notice that you wrote their when you meant there, or form when you meant from. The best proofreading tool is your own voice: read your work out loud, slowly. Your ear will catch what your eyes skip.
The business letter is worth learning well because its format appears everywhere. Your address, the date, the recipient's name and address, a greeting, your message, a closing such as Sincerely, and your name. Once you know this pattern, you can write almost any formal letter with confidence.
Many women who complete this course write their first typed letter to someone who helped them: a chaplain, a teacher, a family member. There is something powerful about seeing your own words printed neatly on a page. It says: I have something worth saying, and I can say it well.
Think About It
- What is the first letter you want to write after release? ______________________
- Who would you like to thank in writing? ______________________
- What makes a page easy for you to read? ______________________
Daily Devotions for Week 4
Write the Vision
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.— Habakkuk 2:2 (KJV)
God told Habakkuk to write His vision clearly so others could run with it. Writing makes a vision real. When you write your goals plainly, you can see them, share them, and act on them.
Reflect: What vision for your future do you need to write down?
Pray: Lord, make Your vision for my life plain.
Do: Write your vision for the next year in three sentences.
Letters That Live
Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ… written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.— 2 Corinthians 3:3 (KJV)
Paul says our lives are letters that others read. Long before anyone reads your résumé, they read your character. God is writing a story in you that speaks louder than any page.
Reflect: What does your life “say” to the people around you?
Pray: Lord, write Your story in my life.
Do: Do one thing today that reflects the story God is writing in you.
Excellence in Small Things
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.— Colossians 3:23 (KJV)
A neat page, a spelling error caught, a letter formatted with care: these are acts of excellence. When we work as if for the Lord, even simple tasks become worship.
Reflect: What ordinary task can you do “as unto the Lord” today?
Pray: Lord, let my work honor You.
Do: Do one task today with extra care.
A Grateful Heart
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.— 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
Gratitude changes how we see our circumstances. Writing a thank-you letter is a practice of gratitude that blesses both the writer and the reader.
Reflect: Who deserves your thanks this week?
Pray: Lord, give me a grateful heart in every circumstance.
Do: Write or begin a thank-you letter.
Read It Again
The prudent man looketh well to his going.— Proverbs 14:15 (KJV)
Prudence means taking a second look. Rereading our work, and rethinking our choices, keeps us from avoidable mistakes. It is a small habit with big rewards.
Reflect: Where would a second look help you most?
Pray: Lord, make me prudent and careful.
Do: Reread something you wrote this week and improve one thing.
Module Quiz
- 1.
Which keyboard shortcut makes text bold?
- 2.
Which font size is best for the body of a business letter?
- 3.
What does a red squiggly line under a word usually mean?
- 4.
Spell check catches every mistake, so you don't need to reread your work.
- 5.
Name four parts of a business letter.