Creating a worksheet and adding text

Activity 1: Creating a worksheet and adding text

1.      Open Microsoft Excel XP. A new workbook opens.

2.      At the top of the worksheet, right-click the B (column header) and click Format Cells.

3.      On the Number tab in the Category box, click Text and then click OK. This keeps the student numbers in this column exactly as you type them.

4.      Click cell A3. Type High Score. Click cell A4.

5.      Type a student name, last name first (for example, Adams, John). The list of student names is found in the blue section below. The words may not be entirely visible in the selected cell. The information is still there, and later, you will format the column so you can see all of the information.

6.      Click cell B4 or press TAB.

7.      Type in the student’s ID number. (Begin with 300 and go up to 317)

8.      Click cell A5.

9.      Type the next student’s name, press the right arrow, and type the student ID number.

10. Continue to type each of the names and student numbers for the students in one class.

11. Save your workbook as "Attendance Sheet"

Adding dates to the attendance worksheet

Activity 2: Adding dates to the attendance worksheet

First, let's give the worksheet a name. Double-click the Sheet 1 tab in the lower-left corner and type Attendance. 

1.      Click cell C2 to select it.

2.      Type the first date of class in mm/dd/yyyy order.

3.      With the cell still selected, place the pointer over the lower-right corner of the cell until the pointer turns into a + sign. (Fill Handle)

4.      Click and drag the pointer across the next 4 cells in the row. Excel automatically fills in the next four dates.

5.      Click cell H2 and repeat steps 2-4 to fill in the dates for the next week. For this exercise, two weeks will be sufficient.

6.      On the left side of the worksheet, right-click the row 2 header and click Format Cells.

7.      On the Number tab in the Category box, click Date.

8. In the Type list, select the date format you want and click OK. All the dates change to the selected format.

Days, months, and years   To display days, months, and years, include the following format codes in a section. If you use "m" immediately after the "h" or "hh" code or immediately before the "ss" code, Microsoft Excel displays minutes instead of the month.

Adjusting column widths

Activity 3: Adjusting column widths  

When “#######” appears in a cell, the cell is too narrow for the data to be displayed.

1.      Select the columns in your worksheet by clicking the A column header and dragging across to the last column in which you have dates entered.

2.      Move the pointer over the border between any two-column headers until the pointer changes to a double arrow.

3.      Double-click. The columns automatically adjust the width to the longest text in their respective columns.

4.      On the File menu, click Save As and type Attendance in the File name box.  

You may want or need to adjust the width of one or more columns in your worksheet in order to allow for better spacing between columns or to maximize the available space on the worksheet.

You have now completed this module. Take a few minutes to review and practice what you have learned.