💻 TechnologyGrade 3Lesson 2
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Format Text: Bold, Italic, Font Size, Alignment

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Identify common text formatting options in a word processor
  • 2Describe what each formatting action does to text on screen
  • 3Apply bold, italic, font size, and alignment changes to improve a document
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Mini Lesson

When you type in a word processor, you can change how your text looks. This is called formatting. Formatting makes documents easier to read and helps important ideas stand out.

Common Formatting Options

  • Bold — makes text heavier and darker so it stands out.
  • Italic — slants the text to the right, used for titles or emphasis.
  • Underline — adds a line under the text, often for links or headings.
  • Font size — makes text larger or smaller on the page.
  • Font color — changes the color of the letters.
  • Highlight — adds a color background behind the text.
  • Left align — lines text up at the left margin (most common for paragraphs).
  • Center align — centers text in the middle of the page (great for titles).
  • Right align — lines text up at the right margin.

How to Format Text

  1. Select (highlight) the text you want to format.
  2. Click the formatting button in the toolbar (B for Bold, I for Italic, etc.).
  3. The text changes immediately on screen.
  4. To remove formatting, select the text again and click the same button.
Formatting ToolbarA toolbar showing Bold, Italic, Underline, font size, and alignment buttons.Formatting ToolbarBIUA+A-LeftCntrRightBold TitleNormal paragraph text here.This is italic text.Larger font = bigger on screen.Bigger font!
Before and After FormattingTwo document panels showing unformatted text on the left and formatted text on the right.Before vs AfterBEFOREMy AnimalThe dog is fast.It is friendly.No formatting.AFTERMy AnimalThe dog is fast.It is friendly.Formatted!Formatting makes your work easier to read.
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Do not use too many different styles in one document — keep it simple so your writing is easy to read.

Vocabulary
Format
To change how text looks on the pagee.g. I format my title to make it stand out.
Bold
A heavier, darker text style used to emphasize wordse.g. Important words look better in bold.
Italic
A slanted text style often used for titles or emphasise.g. Book titles are usually shown in italic.
Font size
How large or small the letters appeare.g. I made the heading a bigger font size.
Alignment
Whether text lines up on the left, center, or right of the pagee.g. Center alignment looks great for a title.
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← Lesson 1: Review: Computers, Keyboards, and File ManagementLesson 3: Create and Save a Word-Processed Document →