Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom

Text Formatting Activities

Learning keyboarding can be super boring and tedious for students. This set of formatting activities aims to bring engagement and a sense of purpose to the practice of typing. This blog post shares the rationale behind doing mystery text formatting activities plus has a bonus freebie you don’t want to miss. Keep reading! 
Click on this image to buy the Months set on TpT.
By the time students finish all 12 months they will have practiced each of the keyboard rows four times.

 

GET ALL OF THE TEXT FORMATTING ACTIVITIES
Advanced Text Formatting (special keys and characters)
 
 
Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
Students will also (hopefully) have a sense of pride over the final outcome and an understanding of the learning objective.
Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
Each month has 2 sets of directions pages. The first one is lowercase letters and the second one is uppercase letters. This is to give you choice to match your student keyboards. When the students actually
type the text, it should all be in lowercase to match the finished examples provided.
Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
 
 
 

Ways to add challenge:

 
Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
  • Have students Highlight the text with the color instead of changing the font color.
  • Have students add a line at the end that says what the shape is.
  • Have students add a clip art image that represents the design.
  • Have students type a reflection about how the activity went and what they might do
    differently next time.

Ways to provide supports (make it easier):

Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom

 

  • Provide students with a second sheet of paper or a flat edge like a ruler so that they
    can be looking at one line at a time.
  • Dictate the directions one line at a time to students.
  • Demonstrate each line as you go using a projector or screensharing software.

 

Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
 

STANDARDS ADDRESSED

Strand: Innovative
Designer
Standard: 4.b.
select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers
design constraints and calculated risks.
I Can Statements:
I can stick with a problem until it is solved
I can use the materials around me to help me solve a problem
I can create an original work using a digital tool
Strand: Empowered
Learner
Standard: 1.d.
understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
I Can Statements:
I can learn a new technology tool by exploring it.
I can find any letter or number on a keyboard.
Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom

Designs in the Months Set:

January: Snowman

 

February: Mitten

 

March: Kite
April: Umbrella
May: Flower
June: Tent
July: Beach Ball
August: Sun
September: Apple
October: Leaf
November: Acorn
December: Evergreen Tree

Free Bulletin Board Letters

 

In my Free Resource Library in the INSPIRE section, there is a PDF with bulletin board header letters that spell out MYSTERY TEXT FORMATTING that you can use in your classroom. Click on the image above to go there.

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Text Formatting Activities for the Computer Lab or Classroom
 
 

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One Comment

  1. Cindy Davidson says:

    Our internet was down, so I put my students onto Microsoft Word, and did January text formatting with them. They absolutely loved it! We will be doing this monthly. This activity is also great for creating bulletin boards. Thank you!

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