little hands in the computer lab
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Sample slides from my workshop, "Little Hands in the Computer Lab: Teaching Pre-Touch Typing Computer Skills to Kindergarten and First Grade Classes."TRANSCRIPT
Little Hands in the Computer
LabIntroducing pre-touch-typing skills to kindergarten and first grade classes
(Photos deleted to protect student privacy. )
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
Color the left-hand letters red.
Color the right-hand letters blue.
Many curriculum choices for older
elementary students.
But few for kindergarten and first
grade.
Challenges faced by early
elementary students in the computer lab:
size
A kindergartne
r’s hands
Adult hands
Copy text from a book
Keyboard
Lack of experience.
Tools I use
Overhead Projector
Solo Mouse
Solo Keyboard
POSTURE
INPUT – You talk to the computer.
OUTPUT – The computer talks to you.
Develop our MOUSE SKILLS
Use the mouse to
point, and click
… drag …
and release.
Practice making circles and ovals. Get a feel for the
mouse.
This snowman was made using only the
oval/circle tool.
Introduce the Space Bar.
Attempting to use the thumbprint to hit the space bar results in an
awkward and time-consuming motion.
A dot on the thumb helps students find the correct hand position.
What does
QWERTYmean?
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
KATE
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
KATE
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
KATE
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
KATE
Name _______________________________
Color the letters in your name!
KATE
Why the emphasis on typing the student’s name?
•Recognizing one’s own name in print is an Indiana state standard for kindergarten.
•Cross curricular activities reinforce the skill.
•Students can type names and use that as on-screen text for other lessons without having to follow book text.
Backspaceand
Delete
Anchoring hands!
“Anchoring” the hands on “a” and “;”
Our goal is NOT to teach proper touching typing.
Our goal is to teach that the hands have a proper resting
place when they aren’t working.
The divided keyboard
Students still aren’t properly touching typing, but by the end of first grade, we have students
who can …
•Name the parts of the computer
•Tell what each part does
•Classify each as “the computer talking to you” or “you talking to the computer”
•Find the letters in their names on a QWERTY keyboard
•Use the backspace key
•Use the delete key
•Use the tab key
•Hold hands in proper position
•“Type” without hands that “fly away”
*Students who are not afraid to use a computer
*Students who are ready to begin touch-typing
Marti Kramer Suddarth
St. Joseph Catholic School
512 N. Mulberry Street
Corydon, IN 47112