Wordbars

A Wordbar sits beneath the Document and provides vocabulary support.

 

Each grid contains words/phrases sorted by topic or alphabetically.

 

The objective is to provide inspiration, guidance, and a reference point for spelling/pronunciation.

Create

Click  in the Smart Tab ribbon tab and choose a Wordbar design:

 

• Word bank with topic tabs - a grid will be created for each paragraph of words. To ensure your text is organized correctly, read the help text in the box before typing.
• Word bank with alphabetical tabs - words will be sorted into a set of A-Z grids.

Type your words into the main box. Click Paste to add text copied from elsewhere. You can Filter out common words to make the Wordbar more topic-specific.

 

To include multiple words in one cell, surround them with brackets e.g. (orange juice).

 

Click OK to start editing.

 

Alternatively, you can choose the Writing Frame design. This template contains several sentence starters that you can change in Edit View.

Edit View

To enter Edit View at any time, click  in the Smart Tab ribbon tab.

 

The grids in the Wordbar are listed in the left sidebar. Click a grid to select it.

 

The selected grid and its settings are displayed on the right.

 

Grid Name

 

Type in this box to change the grid's name (used to label the grid's tab).

 

Words

 

Type your words into this box (or paste in text copied from elsewhere). They will appear as cells in the preview below.

 

To include multiple words in one cell, surround them with brackets e.g. (orange juice).

 

A grid can contain up to 24 word cells.

 

Cells

 

Choose the cell layout:

 

• Standard
• Maximize Height - cells are easier to see and click.
• 1st Cell Across Top - useful for including a title or sentence starter.

To change the ordering of your words, click the Order box:

 

• Alpha - words are ordered alphabetically (in rows or columns).
• Fixed - words stay in the supplied order.
• Random - words are shuffled randomly each time the grid is viewed.

To limit the number of columns, click the Columns box (this may limit the number of displayed words).

 

Appearance

 

To change the grid's background, click  and select a color.

 

Edit a Cell

 

Click an individual cell to select it. This will outline it in red and show different settings.

 

To change the cell's text, type in the Cell Text box.

 

To have the cell send different text to the Document than is displayed, select Send Other Text.

 

To change the cell background, click  and select a color.

 

Click anywhere outside the cell to unselect it.

 

Add Grids

 

To add another grid, click  in the left sidebar and then Add New Grid.

 

To add multiple grids at once, click  in the left sidebar and then Add Multiple Grids. Type or paste your text, and then click Create.

 

Arrange Grids

 

To change a grid's position in the sequence, drag it to a new location in the left sidebar.

 

Right-click a grid to Duplicate or Delete it.

 

Apply Settings to All Grids

 

Click this in the left sidebar to apply the current grid's settings to all grids in the set.

Go

To start using your new Wordbar, click  in the Smart Tab ribbon tab.

 

Click a cell to send its content to the Document above. To hear it spoken, right-click it (or use Sound Shift).

 

Use the grid tabs above the Wordbar to move to another grid.