Using the mouse

For young children, the mouse will be the primary interface they use with the computer. Although most do not have any difficulty correlating the movement of the mouse with the movement of the cursor on the monitor, they do often get confused with clicking, double clicking, and click and drag. This is the introductory lesson in mouse use for a Kindergarten class. It is spread over three days to accommodate short attention spans. A lesson plan for grade K Computer/Technology Skills and Information Skills
BY RALPH WAGNER

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RELATED TOPICS

Learn more about computer parts, mouse, technology skills, and word processing.

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Learning outcomes
Students will use the mouse to draw lines and shapes in varying colors with a draw/paint program.

Teacher planning
TIM E REQUIRED FOR LESSON
1.5 hours

M AT E R I AL S / R E S O U R C E S
White paper (enough for each individual in the class) Black, red, green markers (enough for each individual) Prepared posters or transparencies of pencil icon and color menu from the draw/paint program you will be using. Picture books on mice, shapes, letters, numbers (teachers choice--optional)

TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
Computer with mouse Draw/paint program (KidPix preferred but ClarisWorks, MECC Easy Painter, etc. will be fine) LCD display, EIKI, or any monitor projection device.

Activities
D AY 1
(in lab)

Classroom teacher reads appropriate mouse book of his/her choice. Any book is acceptable. The choice is dependent upon whether the teacher would like to extend the computer mouse lesson into a classroom biological or story mouse lesson. Hold up computer mouse and elicit discussion on similarities/differences with a real mouse. Some sample questions might be: How is this mouse like the one in your story? How is it different? Pass the mouse for students to examine. Gauge students knowledge by asking if students know what a computer mouse is used for. Demonstrate mouse/cursor correspondence using monitor projection (or with students gathered around monitor). Let several students handle the mouse. Other students can provide directions--i.e. Make the cursor go up, down, left, right, etc. If time permits, let each student practice moving a mouse on the mouse pad with the computers turned off. Stress that the mouse pad is the mouses home, and that he never leaves his house. (Note: while demonstrating mouse movement, you may wish to show how to make a movement across the screen by picking up the mouse and placing it down.

Adults, who often equate the pad with the monitor screen, have difficulty with this, but children usually do not. It is not a central part of this lesson, however, and I have found that most children will intuitively reposition the mouse)

D AY 2
(in lab)

Preload KidPix (or your draw/paint) program on a computer with screen projection capability and have paper and markers available for each student. Demonstrate making a line using the mouse. Important: verbalize each step and use correct terminology. Use the mouse to put the cursor on the pencil icon. Click the mouse button to select the pencil. Let go of the mouse button. Move the pencil cursor to the middle of the screen.

Demonstrate drawing a line. Again, verbalize the steps: Click and hold down the mouse button. Make a line. Let go of the button and put the pencil cursor somewhere else. Click and hold the button. Make a line. Repeat the above steps and have the children explain what you are doing at each step.

Demonstrate changing color. Do not forget to verbalize! Pass out markers and paper to students. Post the blow-ups of the pencil icon and the color menu in front of the room. Direct the students in the activity. As the instructor points to the pencil icon, students are to hold up a black marker. As the instructor (and students) say, Click, students are to uncap the markers. As instructor and students say, Let go, they move the markers over the papers. As instructor and students say, Click and drag, they are to make a line on the paper. When the instructor points to a new color, students are to exchange markers (Click cap the current marker and uncap the new marker). Continue activity and circulate through room to observe that students are following directions.

D AY 3
(in lab)

Classroom teacher will read counting book, shape book, or alphabet book appropriate to his/her curriculum goals of the moment. Load each computer with KidPix or draw/paint program and have the application running when students arrive. As students sit at the computers, give them time to practice moving the mouse and watching the corresponding cursor movement. Emphasize no clicking at this time, just moving and watching. You may wish to give them some directions, i.e. Move the cursor in a circle. Make it go back and forth.

Finally, guide children as in the previous activity, except that this time they will have a mouse instead of a marker. Again, use the blow-ups and verbalizations. As children gain confidence and facility with the mouse, instructions can become more complex and individualized, Draw a red circle. Make a blue square. Draw a yellow 2. Make an orange s. This will depend upon the book the classroom teacher has read in class and should reinforce his/her curricular objectives.

An added bonus: As children become proficient, their exercises can be saved and put together in a slide show for parents; i.e., one child could make squares of various colors, another could make different sized and different colored letters, etc.

Assessment
Students produce lines of various colors by moving the mouse in a draw/paint program.

Supplemental information
COMMENTS
I realize that this lesson plan is probably longer and more detailed than most for such a simple skill. However, not all students are familiar with a mouse/computer interface, and for most kindergartners, the mouse will be their main interface. I feel that giving them a solid base in this simple manipulative skill will give them the confidence necessary to tackle more complex skills later on. And it will certainly give them the ability to navigate the icon-driven programs of early childhood software.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY SKILLS (2005)

Kindergarten

Goal 1: The learner will understand important issues of a technology-based society and will exhibit ethical behavior in the use of computer and other technologies.

Objective 1.02: Identify, discuss, and use common hardware terms/concepts (e.g., CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse). Strand - Societal/Ethical Issues

Objective 1.03: Identify and discuss correct and responsible use and care of computers and resources (AUP/IUP). Strand - Societal/Ethical Issues

North Carolina Essential Standards

O I N F O R M AT I O N AN D T E C H N O L O G Y S K I L L S ( 2 0 1 0 )

Kindergarten

K.SE.1 Remember safety and ethical issues related to the responsible use of information and technology resources. K.SE.1.1 Identify examples of responsible use and care of technology hardware and software. K.SE.1.2 Remember internet safety rules. K.SE.1.3...

Practice your mouse skills

This is the way I hold the mouse when I'm at the computer. If you hold the mouse with a right I'm actually right handed, but I use my hand. left hand for the mouse. I keep my finger on the left button. To single click I gently press down and then release the mouse button. To double click, I quickly press the button twice in a row. I keep my finger resting on the button, I do not take my finger off while double clicking. I've seen people raise their finger up to click or double click. For clicking that works, but for double clicking it is easier to leave your finger on the button and press down twice. To drag, I press the mouse button down, and keep it down. Then I move the mouse. In some programs you drag and drop items. You first click on the object you want to drag, hold the mouse button down, and then drag the object to some location. Now you release the mouse button and the object is in a new location.

Practice movement, Single clicking, and double clicking

Make sure your mouse pointer is inside the applet for things to work.

Please wait for the applet to load some images. The box above will turn yellow when it's finished.

You can practice single clicking and double clicking the left or right button on your mouse. When you single click or hold down the button on your mouse, the same button will light up on the screen. If you double click a button, it will light up with a picture of a butterfly. To double click, lightly press the button twice quickly. You can practice moving your mouse, by moving it inside and outside the applet to have the picture of the mouse appear or disappear.

NOTE: Java has no way of detecting both buttons being down.

Practice Dragging And Dropping Something With The Mouse

Click on the red box and hold down the mouse button. Now drag the mouse in any direction. You will see that the box will move with you. When you release the mouse button, the box is where you left it. If you need to reset the box, click the applet and then press the R key on your keyboard.