brinkley

As an elementary librarian, I regularly work with students on word processing and keyboarding skills in library class since my students do not have a separate technology class. With first graders, I work specifically on capitalization, punctuation, and putting one space between each word. Sometimes I will display a poem for them to type as a way to practice those skills. Another activity we do involves typing captions to describe a picture. I have always just used MS Word, but when I was reading about PowerPoint sidekicks, I thought that maybe next year I can use that format to introduce some typing activities. My first example is designed for first graders. Since many first graders are not strong independent readers, the audio feature will be very beneficial.

Here is one example that I could give students. I could quickly and easily create several more like it by changing the picture and the questions that students are asked to answer.

This is what it could look like after being completed by a student:

After students get comfortable completing simple starters like this one, I would show them how to browse clip art and change the picture so that they could write captions for pictures that interest them.

For a second example, I applied the activity to another grade level. Third grade students should have already mastered typing sentences and now be working on typing paragraphs. In this activity they use a photograph as a starter for a composition that is several sentences long. I typed the directions in the speakernotes area, but I also included an audio recording for students who need the extra support. After they complete this example, they could duplicate the slide, add a different picture from clip art and write another paragraph.