Session 2: Keyboard Mastery & First Typing
At a glance: pupils can find home row without looking, use the key control keys correctly, and type and select their first sentences in Notepad. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6
Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, pupils can:
- Name the four keyboard zones and say how a desktop keyboard differs from a laptop keyboard.
- Explain what Spacebar, Enter, Backspace, Delete, Caps Lock and Shift do, especially Backspace vs Delete.
- Rest all ten fingers on home row using the bumps on F and J.
- Open Notepad from the Start search, type the four drills, and select words with double-click and click-and-drag.
Before the session
- Check that every keyboard works, including Shift, Caps Lock and the Insert key. Laptop keyboards may have Insert on the Fn layer.
- Make sure Notepad opens by typing notepad into Start on each PC. On older Windows versions you may need to click the search box first.
- Turn off Caps Lock on every station before pupils arrive.
- Open The Living Keyboard lab on the projector PC and test that real key presses show up. Keep an offline copy on USB.
- Write the four Page 5 drill lines on the board.
Running order
| Time | Activity | Workbook | What the mentor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Recap of Session 1, the proverb, and keyboard zones | Page 1 | Pupils start up safely. Ask them to point at each zone on their own keyboard. |
| 10–22 min | Control keys, Backspace vs Delete, Check Your Knowledge | Page 2 | Demonstrate in Notepad on the projector using the GHANA example. |
| 22–32 min | Home row and posture | Page 3 | Eyes-closed bump check. Walk round correcting flat wrists and fingers. |
| 32–47 min | 3D lab: The Living Keyboard | None | Demonstrate on the projector, then pairs try the missions. |
| 47–57 min | Shift vs Caps Lock, top symbols, panic buttons | Page 4 | Show the Caps Lock light. Explain Insert/overtype; demo it in LibreOffice or Word only if a PC has one (Notepad does not do it). |
| 57–77 min | Notepad drills and selection practice | Page 5 | Pupils type all four drills, then double-click "Ghana" and drag across "Welcome". |
| 77–90 min | Review and sign-off | Page 6 | Go through the answers together, then sign off. |
Key ideas and how to explain them
- Ten fingers, not chicken pecking: use the workbook's proverb "Tikro nkɔ agyina" (one head does not hold council): we do better when we share the work. Typing with one finger is slow. Ten fingers share the work.
- Backspace vs Delete: "Backspace eats backward; Delete eats forward." Use Figure 2.1. Put the cursor between A and N in GHANA, then press each key in turn so pupils can see the difference.
- Home row anchors: the bumps on F and J let you find home without looking down. Fingers curved "like holding a small egg", wrists floating, like a pianist.
- Shift vs Caps Lock: Shift is for one capital (about 95% of the time). Caps Lock is a megaphone that stays on until you tap it again. Shift also unlocks the top symbol on a two-symbol key.
The 3D lab
Use The Living Keyboard. On the projector, demonstrate the first mission (click the 3D keyboard, then press any real key and watch it go down), then the bumps mission (press F and J). In pairs, pupils do the Backspace mission, colour the keys by "Fingers" (each colour shows which finger presses that key) and finish the home-row drill using the "Start home-row drill" button. Remind them of the lab's own hint that accuracy matters more than speed. The "Zones" colouring uses the same four zones as Figure 2.0: Function, Main Alphanumeric, Navigation and Numeric Keypad (desktop keyboards only).
Common mistakes and quick fixes
| Pupils often… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Hold Shift down for too long or forget to release it | Hold, tap, release. Say it aloud as a rhythm. |
| Leave Caps Lock on and type everything in capitals | Point to the light. One tap turns it off. |
| Find words vanishing as they type (in Word or LibreOffice) | They pressed Insert by mistake. Tap Insert once (Page 4 panic button). |
| Press Spacebar twice or hit it with a finger | Both thumbs rest on the bar. One tap per space. |
| Go back to pecking with one finger once the drills start | Bring them back to F and J. Slow and correct beats fast and wrong. |
When things go wrong
- No internet: Notepad and the drills work fully offline. Run the 3D lab from your USB copy, or replace it with a printed keyboard diagram and colour-the-fingers on paper.
- Not enough PCs: pairs take turns of one drill each. The partner watches the typist's hands and checks fingers against Figure 2.2. Swap roles every drill.
- A PC freezes or the power goes: the typing practice is not being saved today, so nothing important is lost. Pupils can practise home row on a paper keyboard or on the desk while they wait. Restart with the Session 1 startup sequence.
Answer key
Check Your Knowledge (Page 2) Press Backspace 2 times. The cursor is after the last r, so Backspace removes the two extra r's and leaves "computer".
Finger-to-key mapping
- Left pinky: key A.
- Left ring: key S.
- Left middle: key D.
- Left index: key F (with the tactile bump).
- Either thumb: Spacebar.
Written review questions
- Shift gives just one capital, so you type "Kofi" correctly. Caps Lock would give "KOFI", and you would have to remember to turn it off afterwards.
- Backspace erases the character to the left of the cursor. Delete erases the character to the right.
- F and J.
Support and stretch
- Needs more support: let them practise Drill 1 only, slowly, saying each letter aloud. Use the 3D lab's "Fingers" colouring as a guide.
- Finished early: they type their own name, school and town in Notepad using Shift correctly, then use double-click to select and replace one word.
Evidence for sign-off
Before you sign, watch the pupil do all of these:
- Find F and J with their eyes closed and place all ten fingers on home row.
- Type Drill 2 and Drill 4 in Notepad with correct capitals and symbols.
- Correct a typo with Backspace without wiping the whole sentence.
- Double-click a word to highlight it.
Safety and wellbeing
Check posture often: sit upright, wrists floating, take short breaks to shake out the hands. Keep food and drink away from keyboards. If pupils type their own details, a first name and school are fine; home addresses and phone numbers are not. Praise accuracy, not speed, so slower typists do not feel left behind.