Teaching Guide |
Krazy Keyboarding for Kids |
|||
produced by |
|||
|
Aim:
This course is designed to give elementary level students the opportunity
to learn and develop touch keyboarding skills which can be used with confidence
and enjoyment for a lifetime.
Rationale:
Students must be prepared to work within the technological framework
of the 21st century. Research has found that children with keyboarding skills
are able to compose faster and create documents that are neater in appearance
as well as easier to edit. Keyboarding is the penmanship of the computer age.
Just as skill with a pen fosters the ability to communicate in writing, keyboarding
extends that ability into the area of word processing, electronic communication,
and desktop publishing. The development of proper keyboarding skills now, will
help the student in developing life long skills that will be beneficial to them
in the real world.
Students generally prefer writing on a computer as opposed to writing in longhand because it is more fun and because recopying is not required. Students are stimulated to compose when they can work quickly and the ability to touch type helps their hands keep up with their minds.
Additionally, since the computer is a useful writing tool the student who knows how to touch keyboard will generally achieve greater gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary, word study skills and spelling skills. Keyboarding provides many positive benefits for students who have difficulty learning. First of all, keyboarding improves the writing ability of these learners as it does for all young students. students can compse more quickily and do not have to worry bout correct letter formation. Students with eye-hand coordination problems often experience frustration when their writing is disorganized, and poorly formed. Written documents that are neat, legible and readable help improve the confidence and self-esteem of these students. Lerning keyboarding may help students with learning disabilities become better organized, improve fine motor coordination and eye-hand coordination, and their ability to self-correct.
Keyboarding requires practice and repetition. We feel this
program will interest students and give them the desire to want to practice
and repeat the lessons. We believe along with researchers that students need
to learn the patterns of keystrokes uninterrupted by immediate corrections,
and that speed and accuracy skills should be developed separately. We also believe
that if the student is given a solid foundation in keyboarding their speed will
develop as they concentrate on typing words and phrases rather than single letters.
The goal of keyboarding is to give elementary level students the opportunity to learn and develop touch keyboarding skills which can be used with confidence and enjoyment. While integrating touch keyboarding into other subject areas in which keyboards/computers are used as a tool.
Keyboarding objectives for elementary
grades
-The student will demonstrate:
-Proper body/hand/finger position of efficient keyboarding operation
-Correct use of the home-row position and its anchor keys
-Correct pairing of fingers to keys
-Firm and even stroking of the keys
-Proper direction of the fingers from their home-row positions to the target
keys and back to home position
-Control of the keys by touch
-Ability to use a Word Processor when keyboarding
Standards
The students will be able to use touch keyboarding skills correctly
The students will use correct posture, hand and arm positions.
Students will use alphabetic keys and correct fingering positions
Students will develop keyboarding accuracy and speed when completing assignments
for all curriculum areas.
The audience for this unit will be middle school students. This lesson can be adapted for students of all grade levels.
-Ability to move each finger independently
-Knowledge of the alphabet
-Basic computer hardware knowledge (monitor, screen, mouse)
-Basic functions of a computer
-Desire to learn to use proper keyboarding techniques
-Need for keyboarding knowledge
-It is extremely difficult to retrain students who have developed improper keyboarding skills (two finger hunt-and-peck, for example).
-For this reason we will reach our goal through direct instruction by the teacher
which includes the careful monitoring of each student.
-Motor skills such as keyboarding are usually composed of a sequence of movements:
- A finger quickly strikes a particular key and then returns to the home key.
As each finger moves to hit the desired letter, the other fingers must remain
anchored to the home row.
- Fine motor movements require extreme precision. When the beginning typist
attempts to learn these movements, he or she must have a visual frame of reference
to initiate his or her understanding. A simple verbal presentation of keystroking
procedures can promote misunderstanding. Modeling, performed by the teacher,
is an important facet in developing fine motor skills.
- Once a student has learned proper keyboarding habits, the skills must be used,
reinforced, and refined. Significant time can be spent by teachers instructing
students in keyboarding methods, only to find that the students have limited
access to keyboards in later grades and little or no reinforcement of the skills
taught. In essence, the initial instruction has little worth to the student
as he or she matures. A program where there is a reason for the student to acquire
the skill, an outlet for the student to use the skill, and a method by which
all teachers reinforce and refine student skills is needed.
Getting Started:
1. Explain to students that there are several basics to successful keyboarding. these basics include learning to:
-sit with proper posture
-hold the wrists correctly
-strike the keys correctly
-return their fingers to the Home Row keys
-avoid eye strain
2. Refer to Webactivity 1 on Ergonomics & the Introduction to keyboarding for info on the above mentioned items.
3. Print Correct Fingering Worksheet information on this sheet can be found in the worksheet section
4. Begin with Lesson 1- Home Row Keys- Ample opportunity should be given to students to become acquainted with the home row keys before moving on. At this point you may want to move on to Web Activity 2- Learning the Basics; Lesson 2 -Review Home Keys can be completed at this time
5. The remainder of the lessons can be completed in sequential order with students switching to web activities to receive additional practice after completing the lessons,
Teachers:
-For maximum skill development the focus of instuction
should first be on fundamental techniques of keyboarding. this includes finger
placement and posture/ergonomics. The teacher must focus on HOW
the student keyboards rather than how much the student is able to produce.
- Teachers must model keystrokes in keyboarding instruction.
- Teachers must commit time daily to encourage proficiency in their students'
keyboarding skills.
- Teachers must use methods of keyboarding instruction that take into consideration
the way in which the keyboard will be used.
- Teachers should envision keyboarding as a cumulative skill and therefore should
provide keyboarding instruction over a wide range of grade levels incorporating
it into word processing lessons.
- Teachers must provide direct instruction
to prevent incorrect patterns during warm-ups
- Teachers must circulate around the room making suggestions on correct posture
daily
- Teachers must observe individual student's techniques
- Teachers must provide repetitive drill for developing skill
- Teachers must provide variation of types of drill to keep student interest
high
- Teachers must provide dictation to develop rhythmic stroking
- Teachers must provide motivation through praise and short competitive drills
- Teachers must provide instructional materials at the student's level of comprehension
- Teachers must make use of software tutorials to reinforce instruction, not
to replace instruction
-Teachers must make use of online keyboarding tutorials to help reinforce instuction
*Teachers must be aware of how their students use the keyboard every time a student sits in front of a computer. PROPER keyboarding techniques should be used EVERY time a student uses the computer for word processing.
Students:
- Students should develop keyboarding skills just prior to the time they
will apply the skill.
- Students must commit to practicing their keyboarding skills on a daily basis
if they want to become proficient.
-Students must remember in the beginning the goal is to work on TECHNIQUE not speed or accuracy.
-Students should keep track of the lessons they've completed so they will know where to begin the next time.
-This lesson is best utilized in a computer lab where the teacher can walk around the room and comment/praise students who are utilizing the correct posture & technique for completing the lessons. If used at home the parent should also monitor the students' posture & keyboarding techniques.
-Keyboard
-paper keyboard sheets to be used at home
-worksheets
-colored pencils or crayons for coloring keys on keyboard
-text (if available)
-Worksheets
-Scores from Web activities
-Quizzes
-Timed typing exercises
-Teacher observation
-Peer to Peer observation related to technique