Student Made Laptops

Students will:

• Be able to practice and familiarize themselves with the placement of keys on a keyboard, when they are away from a keyboard. 

Vocabulary Words:

1. Laptop: A laptop is a computer that is portable.

2. Keypad: The keypad is the place on the computer that has the alphabetic and numeral keys.

To prepare for this lesson:

• Teachers will collect cardboard for the students to create cardboard replicas. 
• Take a photo of a laptop and its keyboard and enlarge for students to see and use to create their cardboard laptops. 
• Here is a photo of a keyboard from Pixabay that can be used as an example. 
• Decide what the students will use (crayons, markers, pens, colored pencils) on the cardboard. 

See Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students.net site in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

1. Explain to the students that they are going to create their own laptop with cardboard. They will look at the picture or an actual laptop and draw the keyboard keys on it. 
2. Explain to them that all keyboards are similar and the keys are in the same place for them to learn how to keyboard. 
3. Each student will need cardboard. 
4. Either a photo of the proper order of the alphabetic keypad will be displayed for students or while they are at the computer so they can copy the correct order. 
5. Students will draw each of the keys in the correct order on their laptop cardboard replica. They may also draw the monitor and make their laptop personalized. 
6. Once the laptops are completed, have the students practice using the correct fingering and placement while typing their names, words, or a sentence.

Different options for assessing the students:

• Observations
• Check for understanding
• The teacher will go around and observe that the students are using the correct fingering.  This will carry over when they are using an actual computer/laptop.