As I sit here watching a group of 3rd graders eagerly typing away at their keyboards, I find myself aghast that I haven't written about Dance Mat Typing before. Imagine your kids ending up at typically the rear of the program simply because everything is usually so wired at this time in addition your children seem to be stalking behind because other people are typing utilizing almost all ten fingers (eight hands on the alphabetical keys, as the two thumbs are located over typically the space bar”) whilst your current children can only free no more than the particular two index finger.
That being said, although students will need additional typing practice after completing all the levels, Dance Mat Typing is still a fantastic introduction to the typing keyboard, and it will begin preparing the students who use it for more difficult typing challenges and practice found elsewhere. Dance Mat Typing Stage 12 which is the last in the game focuses on teaching children how to capitalize using the two Shift keys.
Get creative and use your typing skills to create a collaborative story in a shared digital document. Underneath the cartoony design, Dance Mat Typing is straightforward typing practice, providing a brief but very good introduction to touch-typing for younger students. As with other forms of computer-assisted typing instruction, Dance Mat Typing can be used by the whole class or one student. However, the fact that they do not type any particular character does not make them any less important as you will hardly fail to use Shift when typing.
Dance Mat Typing could easily be a stand-alone station or could be split by stage into a daily warm-up activity to help students gain fluency with typing for other forms of digital production. For some students, there would be some value in repeating the game once or twice after the initial completion, but for most students, it would be better to move on to a bigger typing challenge once this game is mastered. Dance Mat Typing is a free online game that teaches kids to touch-type using the home-row method.
When they're all done with each level, students can print out a certificate of accomplishment that lists the mastered keys, and students can keep practicing by typing passages and getting feedback on accuracy and words per minute. Dance Mat Typing offers accessible and introductory typing practice, but teachers may want to look elsewhere for something more directed, engaging, and comprehensive with more extensive practice. Dance Mat Typing does not require signing up or logging in; the program's simple interface and clear instructions may well allow kids to use it without adult assistance.
