Microsoft Excel Grade Book Spreadsheet Assignment

Excel is a software spreadsheet application program and as a teaching tool it could be used
for several learning or classroom management purposes. Because of the focus of this class
and its relationship to the classroom, we are going to focus on Excel as a grade book
management tool rather than as a learning tool.
To begin, the main thing you need to know about Excel is that the spreadsheet is divided
into cells, which are determined by rows and columns. Rows are numbered across and
columns are lettered down. You can type into each cell numerical or informational data.
Then, by adjusting the width and height of rows and columns or adding lines and color, you
can create customized spreadsheets. Even though there are many ways you could use this
software, again the reason we are taking time with this tool in class is to learn how to use
this software to create a grade book. Simply, by adding formulas and functions to cells you
can input percentage grades and keep track of your students grades automatically.
In this short assignment, you will learn how to:
1. Format cells in Microsoft Office Excel
2. Create formula cells to keep track of grades in Excel
3. Create a lookup function cell to automatically track a students letter grade
To complete this assignment, follow the instructions in this handout. When you are
finished, submit this assignment into WebCT. You will be graded on how well you followed
the instructions in this handout.
Step1: Open Microsoft Office Excel. When you open the software, it looks like this.

Step2: IncolumnA/Row1, Iwantyoutotrytypinginatitleornamethatwillhelpyouto

identifythisspreadsheet.(Forinstance,ifIwasteachingasixthgradeclassImightput
somethinglike:LanguageArtsGradeBook6th GradeDaraFraleyStewartElementary
2008). GoaheadandmakeupyourowntitleandstarttypingthatintotheRow1/Column
A.Afteryoufinish,Iwantyoutonoticethreethingsaboutwhathappened:
1. Morethanlikely,thetextofyourtitlewentacrossseveral cells.
2. Butyour textislocatedin row1/ColumnA.Note: Eventhoughyoutype
informationintoacellanditcutsacrosstheothercells,theinformationis
onlystoredinthecellwhereyoubegantyping.Also,realizethatasyoutype,
thisinformationisnotonlystoredinthecellbutitisalsostoredinthebox
abovethespreadsheet,too.Andifyouwanttoeditthetext,sometimesyoull
havetoeditthetextinthebox ratherthaninthecell.

3. Iwantedyoutonoticethatatthebottomofthespreadsheet,therearetabs
titledsheet1,sheet2,sheet3,andafourthtabwithanicon.Thesetabs
showyouthatyoucanhavemorethanonespreadsheetinyourfile.Youcan
doubleclickonsheet1andrenameit.Youcanclickonthelasttabandcreate
anewspreadsheetandhave4insteadof3.

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Step3: Doubleclickonsheet1andrenameyourspreadsheetthatmatchesthetitleyougave
yourspreadsheetin Row1/ColumnA.
Step4: Addanothersheetbyclickingonthepapericon.Youshouldhave4sheetsinyour
filewhenyouturnitintoLiveText.
Step5: LetsgoaheadandsaveyourExcelspreadsheetnow. Youcanalwayssavethisto
yourTdrive.NamethisassignmentBasicExcelGradebook_lastname.
(example:BasicExelGradebook_fraley).
Step6: Now,letscreateafakegradebook.Weneedtocomeupwithsomefakedatalike:
1. Fakenames
2. Fakeassignments
3. Fakescores
Canyoudosomethinglikethisbelow?

StartinginRow3,ColumnA,IcreatedtextformyfirstcellandcalleditStudentName.
Then,bygoingacrosstherow,Icreatedtheheadingsforthefakeassignmentsandlabeled
themaccordingly:homework1,homework2,homework3,quiz1,quiz2,paper1,paper2,
HWavg,QZavg,PRavg,Total%,Grade.Then,goingdowncolumnA,Icameupwith10
namestorepresentmystudents.

Step7: Now,toputlinesaroundallthecellsIhighlightedthecellsandwenttotheborders
optioninthefontgroupunderthehometabandselectedallborders.

Anytime,youwanttochangethewayaborderaroundacelllooks,justselectthecellyou
wanttoeffectandselecttherightborder.Forinstance,Ithenselectedthecellsalongrow3
andselectedthethickbottombordertogivetheheadersofthespreadsheetandthickeredge.

Now,ifyoulookatmyexampleclosely,youshouldnoticethatIhaveaproblemwithafew
ofmycolumns.Lookatcolumnsa,bc,d.Youseehowthetextisnotshowingin thecell
completely?Thereasonwhy thetextisbeingcutoffisthecolumnwidthistoonarrowfor
thelengthofthetext.Icanfixthisbyadjustingthecolumnwidth,whichisonepointtothis
lesson howtoformatcells.
Step8: GototheHomeTabinExcelandlookforthegroupcalledcells.Fromthislocation
youcaninsertcells,deletecells,andformatcells.Clickontheformatbuttonandanew
windowappears.

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Noticethatunderformatcellsyoucanadjustrowheight,columnwidth,renamesheets,
move,copy,ordeletesheets.
Step9: ChooseColumnWidthandanewwindowlikethisoneappears.

Step10: Change8.43to15andhitok.(MakesureyouareontheHomework1cellandthe
widthofthecellwillchangeto15.

Step11: JustrepeatthestepsoncolumnA,C,andD oryoucandoitquicklyby

highlightingthecellsbyclicking,holdinganddraggingoverthefourcellsandthenrepeat
thestep.Itwillformatall4atthesametime.

Allfourcellsarehighlighted,gotoformat,columnwidth,changethenumberto15.

After thecellshavewiden.

Step12: Goingbacktoformatcellagainlookfortheformatcellsoptioninthepulldown
window.Whenyougotoformatcellitbringsupabrandnewwindowwhereyouhavemany
formattingoptionstochoosefrom.

Step13: Forexperimentationsake,weregoingtoadjustthestudentnamecolumn.Clickon
Row3,ColumnAandgototheHomeTab.Lookforthetextorientationbutton.Itslocated
intheExcelgroupcalledalignment.

Step14: Changethestudentnametextsoitrotatesup.
Step15: Thenadjusttherow3heightto80andthecolumnAwidthsoallthetextofyour
studentsnamesshow.
Step16: Inthestudentnamecell,centerthetextalignmentandthecellalignmenttomiddle.

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Ifyoufollowedallthestepssofar,yourspreadsheetshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

Step18: Letsgoaheadandaddsomecolortothecells.Youcanselecthowyouwantto
coloryourspreadsheet.Heresmyexample.

Tocoloryourcellsjusthighlightthecellsyouwanttocolor,selectthebucket,andchoosea
color.Thosearethebasics(formattingrowandcellwidthandheight,selectingalignments,
borders,andcolor)toformattingandcustomizingthelookof spreadsheetsinExcel.

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Step19: Now,letscomeupwithsomedummydata(fakescoresfortheassignments).
Youllhavetodecidehowmucheachisworthbecauseyoullneedthatinformationfor
gettingtheaveragestoyourHomework,Quiz,andPaperassignments.
Imgoingtoleavethenumbersanddatauptoyou.Itcanbeworthaslittleandasmuchas
youwant.Inmyexample,thehomeworkwillbeworth100points,quizzeswillbeworth20
points,andthepaperswillbeworth50points.Thehomeworkwillcomprise40%ofthe
grade,quizzes30%ofthegrade,andpapers30%ofthegrade.Heresmyspreadsheet:

Now,noticehowallthetextisrightaligned.Icanchangethatbychangingthetext
alignmentbygoingtothestandardalignmenticonthatweallusewhenweworkinWord.

So,everythingiscenteredalignedandIhavemydummydatainplace.Now,letsdothe
formulassowecancomeupwithanaverageofthehomework,quizzes,andpapers.

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Step20: Letsstartbydecidingwhatkindofaverageyouwant.Doyouwantasumofallthe
homeworkandwhatthestudentmade?Or,doyouwantanaverageofthesuminrelationship
totheworthoftheassignments?Dependingonyourgradingmethod,youllhavetochoose.
Mostoften,teachersgotheaveragerouteratherthanthesumroute.Illshowyouboth.
Step21: TogetasumofAdamshomework,clickinColumnI/Row4.Now,youalways
starttheexcelformulasthesame,whichis:
=SUM(column/row:column/row)
Forthisexample,Itypedin=SUMandthenIhighlightedthecolumnsIwantedtoaddup
andthisiswhatExcelgavemeinreturn,=SUM(B4:D4).TheHWAVGis273.

WhatshappeningisExceliscomingupwiththesumforrow4columnbtodandinthecell
wheretheformulaislocated.Itisgivingmethetotalsumofthepoints273.Now,what
happensifIwantedanaveragebasedonthetotalvalueoftheassignmentswhichis300
points?Thisishowwecangetthepercentageratherthanjustthesum.

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Step22: Intheformulaboxabovethespreadsheettypeindivideby300.Itshouldlooklike
this:=SUM(B4:D4)/300
Seewhathappened.273turnedinto.91.Thatstheaveragegradefortheassignments.

Now,Icanrepeatthisformulafortheotherstudentsbydraggingtheformuladownontothe
othercellsoftheIcolumn.

Step23: TogetthequizandpaperaveragesIwouldrepeatsteps2223intheJcolumnand
theKcolumn.Iwouldhavetochangethevalueofthepossiblepointsbutthatsit.Soheres
howitshouldlookwhenImfinished.

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Nowifyoulook,youllnoticeIhavesomeunusualscoresinrow9.Itshouldbe100andnot
1.ThereasonwhyIhaveunusualpercentagesisthatmycolumnsarenotsetfortheright
typeofdatainformation.
Step24: Tofixthis,weneedtoformatthecells.First,highlightallthecellsthatyouwantto
changeandthengotoFormatintheHomeTab(sameplaceweadjustedrowandcolumn
widthandheight)andselectformatcells

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Step25: Selectpercentagewith 0decimalplaces.

Noweverythinglooksalotbetter.

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Step26: Now, togetthetotal%ofalltheassignmentstogether,rememberthisisall

weightedonhowmucheachassignmentisworth.Forinstance,thehomeworkwasworth
40%ofthegrade,quizzesareworth30%,andpapersarealsoworth30%.Inthisexample,
wedonotwantasumbutjustaformulathattalliesthenumbersforus.Thisishowitshould
lookinmyL4cell.
=(I4*0.4+J4*0.3+K4*0.3)*100
AndifIcopythisformuladown,herearethepercentagesbasedon100%

Butthisisntright.Wedonotneedtobaseourformulaon100%becausethisisasumofthe
averagesalready.Removethe/100from theformulaandyourcalculationswilllooklikethis.

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Ok,thisisthelaststep ofthisassignment.Letscreateagradingchartandattachalookup
functiontothelettergradecellssothatwhenthepointschange,thelettergradewill
automaticallybeupdated.

Step27: Createagradingchartlikemine.

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Step28: Makesurethechartscellsaresetatpercentageswithnodecimalplaces.Typein.6,
.7,.8,.9togettherightpercentagedisplay.
Step29: Also,startwiththelowestdenominatorforthegradedletter.Forinstance,90%is
thebottomoftheAbracket,80% isthebottomoftheBbracket,andsoforth.(Becauseyou
arelearningaspecialfeatureinExcel,thegradingchartmustbesetupinthisfashion orit
willnotwork).
Step29: ClickinAdamsgradecell(M4)andthenclickontheinsertfunctionbutton.

Anewwindowappears.

Step30: SelectLOOKUPandhitOK.

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Anotherwindowappears.Inthiswindowwehavetodoafewthings.

Step31: Thelookup_valuewillbethecellwith thetotal%ofthestudentsscore.ForAdam,

IwouldclickinL4.0.91isreferencedtotherightofthelookup_value.

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Step32: TheLookup_vectoristhegradingchart.Iclickandhighlightthechartandit
automaticallyputsintherangeofcellsforme,O6toP9.

NoticethatthereferenceistheAinthegradingchart.Now,add$beforeeach
Lookup_vectorpositionsoitlookslikethis:

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Step33: HitOK andAisreferencedinthegradecolumnforAdam.AsIaddmorepointsin
thegradebookandIcreateanabsolutereferencebyaddingthedollarsignstotheformula,
nomatterwhereIputthegradingchartonthespreadsheet,thegradeswillalwaysbe
referencedfromthegradingchartintomygradebook.

Step34: Now,copythisformulaontotheothercellsandthelettergradeisautomatically
referencedforeveryonefromthegradingchart.

Step35: Ifyouwanttotestyourgradebook,changeanyofthescoresforthestudentsor
changethepercentageofthelettergradeandseewhathappens.

Required Elements:
1. Personal title of grade book at the top of the spreadsheet
2. Four sheets in the spreadsheet, the first spreadsheet named appropriately
3. A minimum of 10 names of students in the grade book
4. A minimum of 3 homework assignments, 2 quizzes, 2 papers (1 extra credit point for
anything you add that is more than the minimum requirement in this category and is used
in the total % score)
5. Customized spreadsheet (color and borders and size)
6. Either a percentage or number score in all the average and total columns
7. A grading chart
8. A Lookup Formula in the Grade cell.