Keyboarding

  We use our first 10 minutes of each computer  class to practice our  keyboarding skills.  Students in grades 2-5 are taught and expected to keyboard using the "home row" technique.   

        Learning the homerow technique is very important!  With their fingers always in the same position, they can memorize where their fingers need to go to  type each letter without looking down.  After they have memorized positioning, they can type without having to think about the location of the letters on the keyboard. Instead, their mind can focus on  the content of what they  are composing.  As they get older and have to type more lengthy items for school and for their careers, this will be of great benefit to them.                               

      Students may lose participation points if they have to be reminded several times during a class period to "go home".   

      Below are the links for the keyboarding programs used with each grade level. 

4th and 5th grade:  Typing.com

4th and 5th grade use typing.com.   The program awards students stars for each lesson  based on speed and accuracy.   The students are made aware of lesson progress goals for grading purposes. Students can calculate their score  for each lesson by dividing  the number of stars they scored by the possible number of stars.  Students are able to re-type any lesson if they are not satisfied with their score as they go, but not after I  record their score.  

Typing.com  gives on-screen guides for key location and finger use. 

3rd grade: Typing Club

3rd grade uses TypingClub.   The program awards students stars for each lesson  based on speed and accuracy.   The students are made aware of progress goals for grading purposes. Students can calculate their score on a lesson based on the posted scale.  5*= 100%, 4* =90%  3*= 80% 2*-70% 1*=60%  0*= 50% not completed= 0%  Students are able to re-type any lesson if they are not satisfied with their score as they go, but not after I  record their score.  

Typing Club displays the keyboard on the screen with finger overlay to guide students. 


2nd grade (and 1st grade, during  3rd and 4th quarter) use Dancemat typing, and are guided by lively characters to introduce them to the home row position. Second graders are given two meetings to practice a lesson, and are graded on the third rotation.  They are given 10 minutes, and are scored on how many screens they progress through in those 10 minutes. 

This program displays the keyboard on the screen with finger overlay as well as  instant feedback and narration to guide students. 

Kindergarten & 1st grade : Keyboard Zoo

Kinders and 1st grade use Keyboard zoo.  Because they are working on locating letters on the keyboard and still  practicing letter recognition, they are not expected to use the homerow technique.   They are practicing locating letters on the keyboard, since they are not found in ABC order. In the  2nd and 3rd quarters, 1st grade is introduced to the homerow position using Dancemat, but are not graded on their Dancemat scores. 

Keyboard zoo shows students the letters on the on-screen keyboard and gives instant feedback and letter highlighting to guide them to the correct key.