Tech Tips Tuesday

Exploring Fonts

Since I started creating fancied up classroom resources I've become a lot more aware of different fonts. Fonts can add to the message or detract from it. Some fonts are easy for beginning readers to read and are a good model for handwriting. Others are more difficult to read and are used for their decorative element. Students are fascinated by fonts as well and love to see their words displayed in different ways.

With that in mind I created a simple Word template for students to use to explore fonts. I taught them how to select text and change font. They then changed the word document to display fonts they like, fonts that are easy to read and fonts that are difficult to read. They finished by changing the font to three different sizes.

I added a new category to my Teachers Pay Teachers store - Easy Freebie. As the name suggests, it's easy for me and free for customers, with no fancy cover pages or special effort. My first Easy Freebie is the Word template I created for this lesson. Feel free to download and use it.

Another aspect to my recent exploration of fonts, is the creation of my own fonts using iFontMaker. I love to experiment with different styles - reminding me of the calligraphy I enjoyed as a teenager. This app makes the whole process very fast and somewhat therapeutic. The font can be converted to a file that is simple to download and install to your computer's fonts. I have made a few so far and have used some in my TPT products. Here is one I created that I call "Sticks":