New School Programs

 A Seamless Curriculum 

I. LET’S LEAD – Building leadership skills in young children and speed and accuracy in typing

Keyboard Town PALS introduces a new program for kindergarten to fifth grade called “LET’S LEAD.” The “LET’S LEAD” program features the adorable puppets from the innovative “LEARN TO TYPE” computer keyboarding program.  This time, the charming puppets from Keyboard Town face new challenges that test their strength of character and build their leadership capabilities through conflict resolution.

Program Objective:

One of the goals of the “LET’S LEAD” values-based program is to teach young children to consider multiple solutions to everyday situations, to voice their opinions publicly, to take into consideration the opinions and needs of others, to internalize commonly shared values, and to build inner confidence.

A second important goal of the LET’S LEAD program is having students participate in-group discussions experiencing the dynamics of  conflict resolution and social interaction with their classmates.

A third goal of the LET’S LEAD program is for children to use their newly learned typing skills  by writing in their Student Journals as they expressive themselves creatively. The LET’S LEAD program therefore becomes an enrichment program to the “Learn To Type” CD-ROM.

Nine Leadership Skills

Each  puppet teaches one character trait:

  1. Respect: consideration or thoughtfulness; to pay due attention to and refrain from violating something.
  2. Courage: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
  3. Love: show kindness and charity to somebody.
  4. Not Giving Up: keeping up an activity or state already begun.
  5. Using Words Wisely: something said to express praise, approval, respect or honor; avoid conversation about the personal details of other people’s lives, whether rumor or fact, especially when malicious.
  6. Problem Solving: to find a way of dealing successfully with a problem or difficulty.
  7. Learning familiarity or understanding gained through experience or study.
  8. Confidence: self-assurance or a belief in your ability to succeed; to act in a proper, trustworthy, or reliable manner.
  9. Awareness: having knowledge of something from having observed it or realize that it is happening; notice what is going on in the world around you.

Important Facts:

  • The Teacher’s Edition is delivered in a CD-ROM format and contains a complete Student Edition, a Teacher’s Manual (printout for hard copy), PDF resources, and optional craft projects.
  • The “LET’S LEAD” program uses the PDF format for its portability, printability, and cross-platform compatibility. It will work on PC or Mac with the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader.
  • The Student Edition of the program is delivered on a USB wristband thumb drive.   Each child receives his or her own wristband. The students work must be saved (or printed) before exiting the program each time or the work will be lost. At the end of the year, each student’s thumb drive is his/her digital copy of work in “My Journal.”
  • Some schools choose another delivery system and download the Student Edition to network it through their computer system.
  • “My Journal” pages may also be printed to create a hardcopy version of each student’s “LET’S LEAD” Journal.
  • There is a list of  Technology Standards and Academic Standards on the Teacher’s Edition.
  • The Teacher’s Edition has several teaching tools loaded on the CD-ROM.
  • There are finger puppets  and classroom posters available for purchase.

 

 

II. Finger Puppets

Finger Puppets And The Independent Activity Lesson Book:

You have purchased the Learn To Type software and you have guided your students through the curriculum loaded on the Teacher’s Guide. The goal now is to cement the material learned on the video.  Students need to develop speed and accuracy.  However, the drudgery of tedious drills and exercises must be avoided. Drills and exercises bore even the most interested students causing frustration, stifling creative writing and bruising self-esteem.

KEYBOARD TOWN PALS has therefore made available the transcribed instructions from the video to teachers. This material is called “The Independent Activity Lesson Book.”

Each chapter in the Independent Activity Lesson Book corresponds directly with one of the home key street Finger Puppets. Using the Book and Finger Puppets will help students to acquire automatic performance.

 

Teachers may access the free Independent Activity  Lesson Book by clicking:

File/virtual journal Independent activity on the Learn To Type software menu page in the upper left corner.

Open the file and download copies of the lessons for yourself and copies for your students.  Now armed with adorable finger puppets and script you are able to reinforce the instructions as taught on the video while students are typing along.    There isn’t any Computer Lab time available? Have your students simulate the experience by closing their eyes and visualizing a keyboard on their desks. Have them place their fingers on the imaginary home key street row and make believe they are typing on a computer as you read the script aloud. Request that students also volunteer to recite the storyline .Being able to imagine the placement of the keys and retell the story is an excellent exercise in cognitive recall and accelerates the learning process.  This innovative approach also removes some of  the pressure  to use the Computer Lab which is always at a premium.