Lettering for Classroom Displays November 30, 2008
Posted by Linda in : classroom display , trackback
How do you do your lettering for classroom displays?
Are you a traditionalist with hand cut double lettering or are you happy to use printed titles? Perhaps you prefer to buy ready made titles or download free ones.
Whatever you choose there are resources available online to make your life easier. I thought I’d do a list of a few of my favourites and perhaps you can add some of your own if I miss any out.
Hand Cut Lettering Resources
The old fashioned way - wooden templates and coloured paper . You can buy a range of wooden templates from a number of UK suppliers.
Brightideasteaching is a good place to start looking as they have good quality wooden Sassoon font templates.
Occasionally shops like The Works have sets of lower case wooden letters and numbers. These are much lower quality but they can be useful.
Have a good look on ebay as retiring teachers sometimes sell their unwanted stuff.
Of course you could make your own. They won’t be wooden but they’ll still work. Just print out a set of Sassoon font letters the size you want, cut them out and laminate them yourself.
You can also buy sets of pre-cut and laminated display letters but they are not ideal. Never enough high frequency letters unless you are madly extravagant and buy several sets!
Free Lettering to Download and Print
Sites with free sets of letters to download and print are another solution. If you do this remember they aren’t really free. You should take into account the cost of printing them, especially in colour. When you’ve printed them out don’t forget to laminate them.
Newest site for this (and quite a few other free resources) is Mrs Pancake. Some of these letter sets are great fun but don’t forget the lettering isn’t meant to overwhelm the children’s work. Use some of the patterned lettering with caution!
Making Your Own Banner Headers - using Word
- Open Word
- Change to layout to landscape
- Change font - either use something plain like Ariel, or choose a fancy font. Some schools have handwriting fonts like Sassoon.
- Change the font size by typing in the number you want. You can type in 200 and press enter to create massive text.
- Change the colour of the text
- Use print preview to check how it will look. It cost nothing to check but ink is expensive!
- Make any changes and re-check in pre-view
- Make sure landscape is selected in ‘print preferences’
Using Novel Materials - a note of caution
You can use all kinds of materials for your lettering. Wrapping paper or wallpaper can look effective. It will usually need to be laminated to prevent curling. Even plain brown paper or fabric can work. Just be sure that you can see your titles clearly from a distance and always choose a font suitable for your class. Year 1 might have been happier with a less distracting font. 
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