Race Against the Clock

• Motivate your students to improve with a race against the clock.Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Many students are motivated to improve when a skill is tested in a race. Instruct your students to type a sentence that uses each of the letters of the alphabet: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Keep time with a stopwatch. As you call out times in five-second increments your students can write down the time it took them to type the sentence. They race against this time once a week to track their improvement.
  
  

Creative Typing

• Create and type a humorous story together.Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
  
  Creative writing and accurate typing are skills needed for this game. As a class, invent a silly character who gets himself into trouble. Instruct your students to type a short paragraph about a specific predicament this character finds himself in. After several minutes of typing, ring a bell and instruct your students to move one computer to their right. Again they must type their descriptive scenario adding to what is already on that screen. Ring the bell again and instruct the students to move to their right and type again. After your students have worked all the way around the room and are back to their own computer read the entire story together and share a good laugh.
  
  

Dictation

• Practice dictation skills with a popular song.Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
  
  Students love to listen to their favorite songs. Play a popular song with lyrics appropriate for school. After having listened to the song once instruct the students that they must type the first word of each sentence they hear. With their hands on the home row keys, press play. Assist your students by calling out the first word of each sentence being sung. Press pause when necessary to prevent feelings of frustration. Read through the list of words together when the song is over.
  
  

Fill in the Blank

• Create and type a silly story together.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Create a mad lib of sorts while practicing typing skills. Find an amusing story in a magazine or newspaper. Circle one word in each sentence. Vary the parts of speech of the circled words. Read the story aloud to the class. Rather than reading the circled word, call out the part of speech. Have students type a list on their computer of the missing words. When the story is over, call on a volunteer to fill in the blanks out loud as you reread the story. Share a good laugh together when the class hears the silly story.