Hello, my name is Mr. Little, welcome to today's computing lesson.

The title of the lesson today is called "Placeholders in Templates," and that's from the unit Desktop Publishing.

I know, if you work hard and try your best, you're gonna be a superstar in today's lesson.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to plan the layout of a document by choosing a suitable template.

Throughout the lesson today, there are three key words that I want you to look and listen out for.

The first key word is template.

Let's do my turn, your turn for each of the key words.

My turn, template, your turn.

Brilliant.

And a template is a pre-made layout of a document, so we're gonna be looking at lots of different templates today.

The second word is orientation.

My turn, orientation, your turn.

And the orientation is the direction a page is set up to face, and there are two orientations we're gonna look at today.

The third key word is placeholder.

My turn, placeholder, your turn.

Brilliant.

And a placeholder is an area on a template where text or images will go.

So, remember to look and listen out for those key words.

So, a template is a pre-made layout of a document.

Template often has spaces for text and images, so you don't have to start from scratch.

It's a little bit like a shortcut to get something done.

You're using a template, and it's done some of the work for you to guide where you might wanna put text and images.

So, let's have a look at two examples of templates.

First of all, here's a newsletter template.

So have a look here.

The image has got placeholders for title, placeholders for text, placeholders for images.

So if you were writing your own newsletter, you could use this template instead of making your own.

And here's a template for a certificate.

I wonder if you've got a certificate before.

So on a certificate, there might be placeholders for a name, the title of the certificate, and the date.

Again, these templates are curated, so you don't have to start from scratch.

Templates can also help make documents look neater.

They sometimes save you time too, by organising where text and images are.

So in this newsletter template, we've got pre-designed spaces for text, images and the title.

And this template is similar to other newsletters you might have seen before.

And a layout, that's the way things are arranged.

So on this newsletter template, the layout of the title, text and images is already made for you.

So, let's have a check for understanding.

What are templates?

Are they A, images in the document, B, tools to draw around on a device; or C, pre-made layouts of a document?

Well done if you selected C, templates are pre-made layouts of a document.

And here's another check for understanding with a true or false statement to decide upon.

So is this true or false?

Templates can save you time and make documents look neater.

It's true, well done if you selected that.

Now templates for the same document can have different layouts, so they don't always look the same.

Let's have a look at these newsletter templates with different layouts.

So, I'm gonna show you three different newsletter templates.

Can you spot what's different about them?

What do you notice?

The first template on the left hand side has a section for a title, text and images.

That template in the middle has a placeholder for a subtitle too, doesn't it?

And there is also a text box on the bottom right-hand side of that template.

Whereas that third template doesn't have any placeholders for images.

It just has two placeholders for text.

Well done if you noticed any of those differences.

So when you make a piece of work or create a piece of work using a template, often you can choose which way round you'd like the page to be read.

This is called, here's one of our keywords, the page orientation.

And generally there are two page orientations.

You might have heard of these before.

First of all, there is the orientation portrait.

Let's try and say that word together.

My turn, portrait, your turn.

So, one page orientation could be portrait and the other is landscape.

My turn, landscape, your turn.

What do you notice that's different about those two page orientations?

The portrait orientation is taller than it is wide.

I always remember it's a bit like a portrait picture, which is often of a person's face or whole body.

And a really great way of remembering it is like a giraffe or even a door frame.

Giraffes or door frames are often taller than they are wide.

Giraffes have that really tall neck, don't they?

So, they're taller than they are wide.

And often most doors are taller than they are wide.

So, human beings can fit through them.

The landscape orientation is wider than it is tall.

A really great way of remembering landscape is the start of the word.

It includes land.

If you were looking at land around you, such as a park, perhaps beaches or hills or mountains, you would want a wide view to see as much as possible of that land.

So, have a look here.

I've drawn a picture of some mountains.

I wanna see as much of that land as possible.

And that orientation is landscape.

Let's have a check for understanding here.

Which template shows the landscape orientation?

Is it A, B or C?

It's B.

Well done if you selected that.

And true or false?

The image shows a portrait template.

It's true.

So remember those two orientations, portrait and landscape.

And here we've got a portrait orientation.

Let's say hello again to Jacob and Sophia because they're gonna help with our practise tasks today.

Jacob asked Sophia what templates are and what the difference between portrait and landscape is.

So in this practise task, I want you to help Sophia answer by filling in the blanks.

And I'm gonna put a word bank at the bottom, but you don't need to use all the words.

So, I want you to help Sophia complete this sentence.

Templates are something, layouts of documents.

Portrait and landscape are types of page, something.

Portrait is something, then it is something.

And landscape is something, then it is something.

And there's the word bank to help you.

So pause the video, and have a go at the task.

Let's take a look at the answers about what Sophia should have said to Jacob.

So, she should have said, templates are pre-made layouts of documents.

Portrait and landscape are types of page orientation.

That's one of our keywords again.

Portrait is taller than it is wide.

And landscape is wider than it is tall.

Thanks for helping Sophia and Jacob.

In the second part of today's lesson, we're gonna choose a template layout.

So Jacob here has said to Sophia, when I use templates, there are rectangles or boxes already on the template when I start.

Sophia replies with, these are called placeholders.

There's our third keyword, placeholders.

Let's learn all about those now.

When you're using templates, there are often placeholders.

Placeholders are empty areas on a template that show you where text or images will go.

Often placeholders are shown by a box, a dashed line or a blank space.

Sometimes the box will have dashed lines.

Here's what I mean by a dashed line.

Let's have a look at this example.

It's got four placeholders.

This template's got four placeholders on.

I'm going to show you two.

There's one placeholder here for title and one placeholder for an image.

There are two others.

There's one by that dashed line that shows where to put an image and one for text at the bottom there.

One of the benefits of using placeholders is that it helps keep a document neat and organised when you're working on it.

It shows you where you might wanna place the parts in the right place.

So on this example, for this newsletter template, these placeholders show me where I'm gonna put the title, show me where I'm gonna put the images, and I can put an image somewhere else too.

And it will show me where I can put text also.

That helps keep my newsletter neat and organised while I'm working on each part.

So, let's check our understanding with a short answer question here.

I want you to fill in the gap.

An empty area on a template where text or images will go, usually shown by a dashed box, is called a.

Well done if you said placeholder.

Let's go back to Jacob because he's been asked to design a newsletter for his class.

He asked a really interesting question.

Is it easier to start from scratch or to use a template with placeholders?

What do you think here?

Should Jacob start on a blank document from scratch, or should he use a template with placeholders for the newsletter for his class?

I think he should use a template with placeholders.

Let me explain why.

Often it will be quicker for Jacob to use a template because it's pre-made.

So, some of that work that Jacob might need to do has been done for him.

That means he can complete his newsletter quicker because it's got lots of placeholders on where he might put text or images.

Often it can be easier to change.

Those placeholders can be moved around, and you can edit and you can change them if you wanted to.

It also helps keep his work organised.

Those placeholders give him something to work with, a starting point for him to work with.

It's nice and neatly organised.

And that builds on the final point that often it can be neater when you use a template.

So, using a template is a really great idea.

Let's look at what a newsletter template will usually have on it in terms of its placeholders.

We've looked at a few of these examples already today.

So, here's a newsletter template.

Let's look what placeholders we've got.

We've got placeholders for the newsletter title.

We've got placeholders for images, and we've got placeholders for text.

And sometimes you might have more than one of each of those.

Let's take a look at a different newsletter template that has four placeholders for text and two placeholders for images.

And this is from the software Canva.

Notice here how the placeholders don't have a box around them, either a dashed line or a line.

And they are just using text or images to hold the place of what needs to go there.

So we've got a placeholder for text at the top, a placeholder for text at the bottom.

More placeholders for text as the subheading.

Again, more placeholders for text on the right hand side and two placeholders for images.

And look there, they're different sizes too.

And that's absolutely fine.

I want you to decide if this statement is true or false.

It is easier to start with a template when creating a newsletter.

It's true.

Remember, using a template is often quicker.

It often makes things neater and more organised.

And it's a little bit of a shortcut, gives you a little bit of a head start on what you're creating.

Now, when you're choosing a template, you must think carefully about what you're creating and which type of template you might need to use.

If you're creating a birthday card, for example, that template might be different to a newsletter.

Or if you're creating a school timetable, that template might be different than a party invitation, for example.

So, you must ask yourself these questions.

What am I creating?

Is there a template I could use?

And do I need the template to be portrait or landscape?

Those two page orientations we had at the start of our lesson.

Time for a task now.

So Sophia says, I'm going to make a newsletter for my class, but start without a template.

I want you to explain to Sophia how a template could help.

And I want you to use the sentence starters below.

So a template is useful because.

Using a template can help when.

And it's a good idea to use the template because.

For the second part of the task, Jacob says, I found these templates I could use for my newsletter.

So, we're gonna see those in a moment.

And I want you to select one of those templates you want to use and describe its layout.

You can view the templates on Canva by clicking on this link below, or you can look at some that might be made for you.

So, there's the link.

And let's look at Jacob's four templates he could use.

So remember, you need to select one you want to use and then describe its layout.

Tell me how many placeholders it's got, whether they're placeholders for text or images or what's different about the one you've chosen.

So let's see what you might have said to explain to Sophia how a template could help.

You might have said the template is useful because it's often quicker and neater.

You might have said something like a template or using a template can help when doing desktop publishing.

Or it is a good idea to use a template because it can be easier to edit and change.

And let's have a look at what Jacob's chosen and his explanation that might be similar to yours.

Jacob says I have chosen to use this template.

The orientation of the template is portrait.

Remember, it's taller than it is wide.

Jacob said there are placeholders for two images, placeholders for a heading and a subheading and two placeholders for text.

So, Jacob's chosen a suitable template layout for his newsletter here.

That's the end of today's lesson.

But before we finish, let's have a summary of what we've learned.

Templates are pre-made layouts of a document, and they are really useful because they do some work for you.

They come pre-made and they help keep things organised, neat and often save you time if you're doing some desktop publishing on a document.

There are two page orientations, portrait and landscape.

Remember, portrait is taller than it is wide.

Remember, a bit like a giraffe.

And landscape is wider than it is tall.

Remember, if you're looking at some land, you'd wanna see as much of it as possible and have a nice wide view of it.

And finally, placeholders are areas on a template that show you where text or images go.

And sometimes placeholders can be shown as a dashed line, as a box or an empty space.

Hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

See you again soon.