Eyes on the screen, fingers on the home row, one sentence at a time.
The big ideaCopy one sentence at a time: read it, type it, check it, then go on.
How it works
To type a short story, copy one sentence at a time: read it, say it quietly in your head, type just that sentence, then check it against the page.
Give each finished sentence a tick, and only then go on to the next one. Small steps keep your place, so nothing goes missing.
Copy exactly what is on the page, down to the very last mark: every capital, every comma and every full stop.
At the end, read your story out loud and fix any mistakes with backspace.
Each sentence goes round this way.
Example 1: One sentence
Read a sentence on the page and say it quietly in your head.
Type just that sentence, with your eyes on the screen.
Check it against the page, and give it a tick.
Example 2: Three sentences in a row
Do the first sentence: read, type, check, tick.
Do the second sentence the same way.
Do the third sentence, and look up at each full stop with your fingers resting on the home row.
Three ticks, and the story is safe.
Example 3: Read it out loud
When the story is typed, read the whole thing out loud.
Listen for a missing letter or a missing word.
Tap backspace back to the slip, fix it, and read that line again.
Words to know
sentence
A group of words that starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
check
Look at what you typed and compare it with the page.
tick
A mark that shows a sentence is finished and checked.
Watch out
Typing and typing with your eyes on the keys is how a whole sentence goes missing.
Check each sentence against the page before you start the next one.
Copy every capital, comma and full stop. Leaving one out is a slip.
Looking only at the keys loses your place. A ruler or a finger under the line keeps it.
Try it
After you type a sentence, what do you do before the next one?
What do you copy exactly?
What keeps your place on the page?
What do you do when the story is typed?
Answers: 1. Check it against the page · 2. Every capital, comma and full stop · 3. A ruler or a finger under the line · 4. Read it out loud and fix any mistakes
Try at homeMake up a tiny story three sentences long, and type it one sentence at a time. Check each sentence before you go on, then read the whole story out loud to a grown-up.
For grown-upsAsk your child to copy a three-sentence story from a page, ticking each sentence after they check it; praise the checking more than the finishing.
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