Purpose: The purpose of this typing activity is to engage students in a fun and interactive way while reinforcing typing skills and promoting attention to detail. By incorporating movement and a holiday-themed story, students will enhance their typing accuracy and speed while also practicing spatial awareness. Additionally, this activity encourages teamwork and collaboration as students work together to accurately transcribe the story.
Procedure: This activity can be done as a whole class or in small groups of 3-4 students.
- Assign students a Directional Typing Poem that includes the words LEFT and RIGHT. Give students a paper copy of the poem or display it on a projector, one line at a time.
- Explain that as they type the holiday story, whenever they encounter the words "left" or "right," they must physically move to their left or right and continue typing on their partner's computer.
- Encourage students to communicate with their partners to ensure smooth transitions and accurate typing. Remind students to pay attention to spelling and punctuation while typing.
- Using a timer, allow students to begin typing the holiday story, moving left or right as directed by the text as quickly and error-free as possible.
- Once the typing activity is complete, instruct students to review the typed passage for errors.
Activity Variations: To extend the activity, challenge students to create their own holiday stories with directional cues, like LEFT, RIGHT, or UP (standing up), DOWN (sitting down), etc.
Small groups can work to type the poem as quickly and error-free as possible in a competition-style activity.
When using the KeyMaster® Keyboard, blank out learner‘s keyboards to promote touch type mastery.
Time & Materials: A Directional Typing Poem and word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Time Required: 30 minutes