Keyboarding: Home Row

This engaging and interactive digital lesson provides direct instruction and practice in the area of basic keyboarding techniques needed to type using the home row keys. The learners will gain knowledge about proper finger placement and posture.

Teacher-Facing Resources

Type:Lesson

Estimated Time:13 minutes

Grades:2-5

Score Type:Automatically Graded

Available Language: English

Vocabulary: finger placement, home row keys, key, keyboard, keyboarding, letters, posture, punctuation, reach keys, touch keys

Primary Objectives:

Student learns proper posture for keyboarding.
Student learns to identify touch keys.
Student understands reach keys.
Student learns to type basic punctuation (without using the Shift key).
Student learns to type home row keys.
Student learns to type letters without looking at the keyboard.

Secondary Objectives:

Student learns and practices using technology for real-world application.

Subjects:

Ergonomics

Technology Education > Information Technology > Basic Operations and Concepts > Ergonomics

Input Devices: Mouse, Keyboard, Remote Control, etc

Technology Education > Information Technology > Basic Operations and Concepts > Input Devices: Mouse, Keyboard, Remote Control, etc

Keyboarding

Technology Education > Information Technology > Basic Operations and Concepts > Keyboarding

It might be helpful to post a diagram of a keyboard where students can view it. For this lesson, label the home row, touch keys, and middle keys. Touch keys are the F and J keys, which have raised bumps or lines on them.
In this lesson, fingers are numbered to help describe to students which finger to use to type letters. The numbering is from 1 through 4, with Finger 1 being the index finger, Finger 2 the middle finger, Finger 3 the ring finger, and Finger 4 the little finger.
You might want to spend time watching students type and encourage them to use correct keyboarding finger placement and posture. While the hunt-and-peck method might seem faster to students at this point, remind them that in the long run, they'll be able to type much faster if they learn proper typing techniques.
In the You vs. Kangaroo game at the end of the lesson, students are rewarded with Australian-themed prizes, such as didgeridoos, sport boomerangs, freshwater crocodiles, cork hats, and Waltzing Matilda music boxes. If students do not beat the kangaroo, they receive Vegemite and butter sandwiches, shark-bitten surfboards, and stolen Emu eggs. Each prize is accompanied by a picture and a short description or fact about the item.
Students must type 70% of the letters correctly in each exercise to earn a point. Further, students earn 1 point if they beat the kangaroo at the end of the lesson. Students should take the lesson more than once to strengthen their keyboarding proficiency.

You might want to have the class work together to create typing exercises for themselves. To do this, write the home row letters on the board. Then have the class work together to create words from the home row letters. Write the words on the board below the home row letters. After the class discussion, have students type the home row letters and words into a word processing document to create a practice sheet. Students should then print their practice sheets and save copies in a folder. Later, after creating practice sheets for subsequent keyboarding lessons, students can combine their practice sheets to form individual or class typing practice books.