| Grade Level | System Requirement | Product Number |
|---|---|---|
| Grades 3-6 | Apple 128K | A248 |
| As budding reporters, your students must master keyboarding before their employer-an international agency-will send them on a mission. They learn keyboard elements and correct techniques and then move on to games designed for keyboarding and word-processing proficiency. Once their training is complete, students receive a certificate revealing the destination of their first mission as full-fledged reporters. | ||
Introduction
CommuniKeys is a language-based keyboarding program for third- to sixth-grade students. It introduces good keyboarding technique in lessons consisting of real words and sentences based on high-frequency vocabulary and reinforces keyboarding in activities that emphasize language skills.
CommuniKeys consists of two instructional programs that rely on recent research in both keyboarding and language arts. Unlike many keyboarding programs that introduce and practice keystrokes using nonsense patterns such as “fgf dfd,” the first program, Lessons, provides guided practice in target keys with words and sentences. Students progress by using individual performance as a goal for each successive lesson. At regular intervals, as students complete groups of keys, they learn a little more about the expedition and gain access to new activities.
The second set of programs, Activities, provides practice and application of keyboarding skills in games and language arts activities. Early activities are based on keyboarding skills (BBox, Odd One Out, Scramble, etc.), and later activities are based on language arts activities (What Can It Be?, Listmaker, Starters, Letter, etc). Students gain access to activities as they come to milestones in the introduction of keys. After they have “earned” an activity through the lessons, they have access to it at any time by selecting the Activities option from the main menu.
Management Options are a significant feature of CommuniKeys. Teachers can set instructional variables and review student records. These records consist of current key, best typing speed, and best accuracy. Variables include speed goal (5 to 40 words per minute), accuracy goal (1 to 4 errors), language level (normal/advanced), and mastery (1to5 words or sentences typed at the current speed and accuracy goal).