LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Mystery Message Word Processing

Students learn basic word processing skills and eventually reveal a "Mystery Message."

A lesson plan for grades 3–4

By Mary Rizzo

Learn more

Legal

This page copyright ©2008. Terms of use

Learning outcomes

Students will learn basic word processing skills including spacing, use of capitals, deleting/replacing text, cut, copy, and paste.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30 - minutes

Materials/resources

None

Technology resources

Computer
Word Processing program

Pre-activities

This is a beginning word processing lesson and is teacher directed.

Activities

  1. Using the lesson plan attached, the teacher will demonstrate proper word processing skills.
  2. The teacher will model the typing and editing of the sentence, “The process of learning to type may seem hard at first. With practice, it will get easier, Take my word for it.”
  3. The lesson plan shows the step-by-step process of selecting and then replacing or deleting text, copy, cut, and paste skills. When complete, the Mystery Message, “Word Processing is easy! Word Processing is cool!” is revealed.
  4. You may choose to have students print their final document. If you do so, have them type their name on their document.

The lesson plan link above is a Word document. If you have trouble opening it, there is a plain text version you can open.

Assessment

By observing students as they word process, you will be able to determine if they are mastering the skills. Having another adult monitor as you demonstrate would be helpful.

Although the purpose of this lesson is guided practice, you may choose to have students print their final document so that you can see that they ended up with the correct final two sentences. However, there are many students who are wise enough to realize they did not follow directions and could easily delete and retype what they are supposed to have.

I feel that frequent monitoring and asking questions gives you a better feel for how well the class has grasped the concepts.

Supplemental information

Lesson plan:

Related websites

N/A

Comments

Without proper instruction, students may not learn the most efficient method of word processing. This lesson gives them the guidance they need to become effective word processors. Increasing their comfort level will ultimately help increase speed and accuracy when they realize that ‘mistakes’ are so easliy edited.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Computer Technology Skills (2005)

Grade 3

  • Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of computer and other technologies.
    • Objective 2.07: Demonstrate correct finger placement for home row keys. Strand - Keyboard Utilization/Word Processing/Desk Top Publishing
    • Objective 2.08: Use menu/tool bar functions (e.g., font size/style, line spacing) to format and change the appearance of word processing documents as a class/group. Strand - Keyboard Utilization/Word Processing/Desk Top Publishing

Grade 4

  • Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of computer and other technologies.
    • Objective 2.07: Recognize, discuss, and use proper keyboarding techniques. Strand - Keyboard Utilization/Word Processing/Desk Top Publishing
    • Objective 2.08: Use menu/tool bar features (e.g., print preview, Spell Check, thesaurus) to edit and make corrections to documents as a class/group activity. Strand - Keyboard Utilization/Word Processing/Desk Top Publishing