How to Build a Quick Model

The DNE comes with four models

•	Basic Shapes

•	Colored Shapes

•	Stylized Circles

•

Roles

The first three are composed of generic objects, so the models can be modified very easily to build a model better suited to your needs. These three models are provided as templates that you can use to build your own models. The fourth ("Roles") is an example of the sort of model you can make if you start from scratch and create custom graphics.

Let's say you are a teacher and you are building a model for your students to follow when writing an essay. The model is designed to have five types of objects, corresponding to five phases in the essay-writing process:

1.	Preparation (includes NEs like "Choose a Topic" and "Set a Thesis")

2.	Research (includes NEs like "General Research" and "Reasons for Thesis")

3.	Rough Draft (includes NEs like "Point Form Notes" and "Write Rough Draft")

4.	Writing (includes NEs like "First Draft and Final Draft")

5.	Submission (includes NEs like "Submit Essay")

You can quickly build a five-object model from any of the three general models. Simply open a model, rename the graphics you want to use to represent the objects you need, delete the objects that you don't need, and name the model for whatever you are going to do with it

The model needs five different types of objects, so I need a model template that has five (or more) objects in it. I am going to use the Stylized Circles model, which has fourteen available objects:

stylized circles

So first, I rename the first five objects so that they are the objects I need:

1.	I click the first object, Burgundy. Then I click Rename and rename the "Burgundy" object as Preparation.

2.	I repeat the process four more times, renaming Red to Research, Tan to Rough Draft, Bronze to Writing and Purple to Submission.

When the five objects I need are covered, I get rid of the rest of the objects. I don't need them in this model:

1.	I select the next object after Purple (Blue) - and click Delete.

2.	I repeat the process for all the objects after Blue.

Now the model has only five objects, and they are all named for the different phases in the essay-writing process. So the model is finished, and I only have to save it. I want to save this under a new name (probably something to do with essays), so that I don't lose the Stylized Circles model template, which I might want to use later to build other models:

1.	I click Save, and

2.	I call the new model Essay.

The new Essay model is now ready to be used the next time the DNE is opened.