Do you have difficulty making diagrams to go in your resources? Or maybe you don’t know what program to use? I got you! Number lines are amazing tools to use in the classroom, but you don’t want to spend forever creating them for resources.
Not to mention if it is a picture, it will often be quite blurry on your resource. Well it is time to STOP searching for the perfect one! In this post, I will show you how to make a number line in PowerPoint so you can have a template that you can it in use in your resources and worksheets over and over again.
Step 1: Insert a Line
Open a blank PowerPoint presentation. Then, insert a line by clicking “Insert” on the top toolbar, select “Shapes”, and select the line that best fits your needs. For example, I chose the line with the arrows on both ends to show that the number line continues in both directions.
Hold the shift key on your keyboard while you click on your slide and drag your mouse to create the line. Holding shift will make your line perfectly horizontal. Release holding down your mouse to form the line.
Step 2: Format Line
Format your number line to fit your needs. Double click the line to bring up the formatting toolbar. Adjust the color and thickness of your line to desire.
Step 3: Create a Tick Mark
Insert another line into your document by following step 1 again, but choose the line segment option. Format your line segment by following step 2 again.
Make sure that the line segment is completely straight up and down and resize the length of the line segment to fit your needs.
Step 4: Add Remaining Tick Marks to Number Line
Drag the tick mark created in step 3 onto your number line. Place it furthest to the left that you want the tick marks to go.
Determine how many total tick marks you will need on your line. Then, duplicate your tick mark by clicking and holding “ctrl d” (PC) or “command d” (MAC). Duplicate your tick mark until you have the total amount needed.
Adjust the last tick mark by dragging and placing it the furthest to the right you want the tick marks to go.
Next, select all tick marks by holding down shift or ctrl (PC)/command (MAC) while you click each individual one. Then, under “Home”, select “Arrange”, select “Align” and align them to your desire.
For example, I align my objects to the top, which means all objects will be in a perfectly straight line with the selected object that is closest to the top of the slide.
Step 5: Distribute Tick Marks Evenly
Next, you will distribute the tick marks so that they are proportionally spaced out from the first to the last one on your number line.
With all of your objects still selected, click “Arrange” on the toolbar, select distribute, and lastly distribute to your desire. There are two types of distribution, distributing horizontally or vertically. I chose horizontal since my number line is horizontal.
Step 6: Format Tick Marks
Format the tick marks to desire. For instance, you can make every other one shorter. To format more than one tick mark at the same type, select multiple tick marks that you want formatted the same way. Open the Format Shape and format to desire. For instance, I changed the height of every other one so that they were shorter.
Step 7: Add Numbers to Number Line
Insert a textbox into the presentation. Type one number in the text box. Change the font and font size as needed.
Drag the text box to its spot on the number line. Then, duplicate the text box and change the number. Lastly, drag the new number to its spot on the number line. Repeat the process until you have all numbers labeled and in their correct spots.
Step 8: Align Numbers
Align the numbers on your number line. First, selecting all of the numbers while holding down shift or ctrl (PC)/command (MAC) while you click each individual one. Then, under “Home”, select “Arrange”, select “Align” and align them to your desire. I again aligned my to the top.
If you want to make sure they are distributed evenly, under “Home” select “Arrange”, select “Align” and distribute them horizontally (only if it is a horizontal number line). Distribute vertically if you are creating a vertical number line.
Step 9: Group Number Line Pieces
Your number is formatted and finished. Next you will group all of the parts of the number line together. First, highlight the entire number line, right click, and group them together.
If you need a new number line, duplicate the number line and edit any individual parts of the number line. Make any adjustments needed. It is quicker to adjust parts of an already created number line than it is to start from scratch again.
I hope this tutorial was helpful! Being able to create number lines in PowerPoint has made it easier and faster for me to create worksheets and additional resources. Do you love making number lines in PowerPoint?! Comment below or tag me on Instagram and let me know!
Creating engaging resources doesn’t have to stop here! Head to LindsayBowden.com/Training to sign up for my free training on creating engaging teacher resources!
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