Purpose: Students will develop composition skills by mastering basic grammar elements such as punctuation and capitalization, ensuring correct sentence structure, and refining their proofreading and editing abilities. Additionally, students will distinguish between informal and formal composition, recognizing appropriate contexts for each. Ultimately, the goal is to empower students with the tools to express themselves effectively through keyboarding while adhering to language conventions.
Procedure:
1. Ask students if they know what composing means. (to make or form by combining things, parts, or elements.)
2. Ask students about common ways they compose. (blogging, posting to social networks, texting, etc.).
3. Brainstorm with students a list of all the abbreviations and acronyms used in today’s informal communication, like texting. (TBH = To Be Honest)
4. Brainstorm with students a list of situations in which informal communication is acceptable and when formal communication is preferred.
5. In a blank document, have each student choose a particular font, color, size, and style.
6. Give everyone a starter sentence to type at the top of their page.
7. Once everyone has finished typing the sentence starter, begin a timer and have each student start to compose an original story. At the end of the given time, say ‘switch,’ and students will move to another computer and add to the story. Students will rotate to a new computer as many times as desired.
8. Have students return to their original seats once rotations are completed and proofread and edit their stories, checking for consistency in grammar, tense, syntax, and proper voice.
Materials Needed: Word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs and a Sentence Starter.
Time Required: Teacher’s discretion
Variations:
Students can be encouraged to add text abbreviations and acronyms as often as possible throughout the story creation.
Have some or all students share their ‘team typing’ stories.
Have students compose an adult’s guide to informal language among teens...with both teen translation (informal composition) and adult translation (formal composition).
For an added challenge, use the KeyMaster® Keyboard to blank out the learner’s keys.
Download this Lesson Plan as a PDF Here: LOL to BRB!
Visit our Keyboarding Teacher's Blog for more classroom ready resources!