Incorporating Creative Writing into Typing Practice:
Ideas for Engagement
Typing practice can often feel monotonous and unengaging for students. However, by incorporating creative writing into typing exercises, educators can breathe new life into this essential skill. Blending creative writing assignments with typing practice not only improves typing skills but also fosters imagination, self-expression, and writing skills.
Here are some innovative ideas to get you started:
1. Type a Short Story
Assign students to type a short story that can be completed within a 5-10 minute time frame. This exercise encourages creativity while practicing typing skills. You can provide prompts or let students choose their own topics.
2. Typing Prompts
Provide creative writing prompts that spark imagination, such as "A mysterious box arrives at your doorstep..." or "You wake up with the ability to fly...". Students type their response, practicing typing while exercising their creative muscles.
3. Timed Typing Sprints
Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and challenge students to type as much of a creative writing piece as possible. This exercise simulates real-world writing scenarios, where deadlines and time constraints are common, like standardized testing. Using All The Right Type's, 'Create Practice Text' with a maximum of 2000 characters, is a great way to create a custom lesson that they retype to test their WPM.
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4. Dialogue Typing
Provide a short dialogue scene and have students type it, practicing punctuation and quotation marks. This exercise helps students develop their typing skills while learning essential writing conventions.
5. Use your Typing Program as a Warm-up
Have students do 5-10 minutes worth of lessons time in All The Right Type to warm up their fingers and brains before they jump into creative writing exercises.
6. Typing Games with a Twist
Incorporate creative writing elements into typing games, such as typing a short story or poem to earn points. This approach makes typing practice more engaging and fun.
7. Typing Portfolios
Encourage students to build a portfolio of their typed creative writing pieces, showcasing their progress and skills. This approach helps students track their improvement and develop a sense of pride in their work. These portfolios can also be added to All The Right Types. "Customized Content" to be turned into lessons that can be shared with the whole class.
By incorporating creative writing into typing practice, educators can create a more engaging and effective learning experience. These ideas will help you get started on blending creative writing assignments with typing exercises, making typing practice a more enjoyable and rewarding experience for your students.
When students can touch type, they free their minds to focus on ideas, becoming more creative and effective writers.
