B”H
TEACHER’S MANUAL
Keyboard Town PALS introduces a new program for kindergarten to fifth grade called “LET’S
LEAD.” “LET’S LEAD” features the adorable puppets from the innovative “LEARN TO TYPE”
computer keyboarding program.
This time, the charming puppets from Keyboard Town face new challenges that test their
strength of character and their leadership capabilities. Each of the nine puppets teaches one
leadership skill.
Program Objectives
The goal of the “LET’S LEAD” values-based program is for young children to consider multiple
solutions to everyday situations, to voice their opinions publicly, to take into consideration the
opinions and needs of others, to internalize commonly shared values, and to build inner
confidence.
FYI: In today’s technologically advanced world, children who type properly at a young age have
an academic advantage over children who hunt and peck. Therefore, we highly recommend that
the “LEARN TO TYPE,” computer keyboarding program be taught either prior to or in
conjunction with the “LET’S LEAD” program. While learning to type, students are also
reinforcing basic academic skills in: sound recognition, sound discrimination, sound
correspondence, decoding, spelling, rhyming, blending, and letter combinations.
To learn more about “LEARN TO TYPE,” visit www.keyboardtownpals.com. Or call 866200-8881.
Facts
1. The Teacher’s Edition is delivered in a CD-ROM format and contains a complete Student
Edition, a Teacher’s Manual, PDF resources, and optional craft projects.
2. The “LET’S LEAD” program uses the PDF format for its portability, printability, and crossplatform compatibility.
3. The Student Edition of the program is delivered on a USB colorful wristband thumb drive.
Each child receives his or her own wristband. The students will save their work, edit their
work, and print their “LET’S LEAD” Journal entries.
4. Please make sure students save their work to the thumb drive each time before exiting or
the student’s work will be lost.
Standards
Technology Standards
The “LET’S LEAD” program complies with the following standards:
Equipment

Establish awareness of technology

Establish comfort with using technology

Locate on/off switches

Understands and treats disk and equipment with proper respect

Insert CD ROM disks and USB thumb drive

Start up and shut down hardware
Operating system

Communicates using related vocabulary: (i.e. login, file, print, exit, shut down, enter,
escape)

Recognizes pre-constructed buttons: (i.e.. enter first name, last name, login, next,
forward-back arrows)

Start up, save, and quit programs

Print a document
Ethical Use

Demonstrate appropriate on-line etiquette

Respect for the privacy of other students’ data and workspace

Respect for copyright laws
Keyboarding

Use and control mouse to point and click on screen

Function keys: delete/backspace, shift, space bar, enter/return, cursor keys

Fingering options: home keys, keyboard, locates keys with correct fingering, touch
typing

Recognize letter keys
Academic Standards
In general, the “LET’S LEAD” program strengthens reading, speaking, and listening skills.
The Poems address:

Hearing proper cadence

Auditory perception

Communication through speech

Critical thinking

Appreciation of poetry and rhyme

Visual discrimination

Cooperative learning

Cognitive recall

Oral vocabulary
Class Discussions address:

Rules of conversation

Speaking in complete sentences

Speaking aloud

Responding to questions

Repeating story highlights

Expressing an opinion

Listing facts in a logical sequence

Using expanded and descriptive vocabulary
The Stories address:

The “who,” “where,” and “what” questions

Logical predictions

Creative solutions
The Typing addresses:

Letter recognition

Letter discrimination

Decoding

Spelling

Rhyming

Blending

Letter combinations

Capital and lower case letters

Punctuation

Copying skills

Eye hand coordination
THE PROGRAM
Below are screen grabs of the program’s slides and an explanation on how to use each slide.
Students follow the program on their computers as the teacher projects slides on the wall or
smart board for group participation.
The “tickets” alert teachers and students to the action or activity on a slide.
“My Skill” ticket indicates that a new leadership concept is being taught.
“My Thoughts, My Words, & My Deeds” ticket indicates a class discussion or activity.
“My Journal” ticket indicates a student typing activity on the page.
TITLE PAGE
LOGIN PAGE
To login, students enter their first and last name.
“SO MANY CHOICES, SO MANY VOICES” PAGE
Read aloud and discuss the poem “So Many Choices, So Many Voices.”
SPEECH BUBBLE PAGE
The illustration from the “So Many Choices, So Many Voices” page has been duplicated and
enlarged. Speech bubbles have been added to increase the feeling of confusion. Read and
discuss the illustration and the speech bubbles. Then, do the following exercise with the class.
Begin by saying to the class:

“Everyone may speak at the same time when I give the signal. Can you
answer these questions?”

“Tell me a food that you think everyone should eat.”

“Tell me a food that you think everyone should not eat.”

“Tell me a food that you think is healthy.”
Now pick one student to repeat his/her answers as you ask each question again.
Then do the same with a second and third child.
Ask the class to answer the following questions:

“When you all answered at once, could you hear any, some, or all of your
classmates’ answers?”

“When only one classmate answered the questions, could you hear the
answers?”

“Did all three students answer the questions the same or differently?”

“Can you remember the healthy foods mentioned?”

“To learn about healthy foods, we could ask a doctor or a nutritionist to
visit our class. What if their list of healthy foods was different from your
classmates’? Whose advice would you listen to?”

“Would you like to meet some puppets who have stories about making
choices?”
“MAKING CHOICES? TRY THESE VOICES” PAGE
Read and discuss, “MAKING CHOICES? TRY THESE VOICES.” The nine puppets on this
page can help children make choices and diminish confusion. Ask the students if they would
like to meet these puppets.
THE OUR NAMES ARE… PAGE
On the “OUR NAMES ARE” PAGE introduces the puppet by name only.
LET’S TYPE NAMES PAGE
On the “LET’S TYPE NAMES” page, students type each of the puppets’ names.
THE OUR SKILLS ARE… PAGE
The “OUR SKILLS ARE…” PAGE introduces the skills.
LET’S TYPE SKILLS PAGE
On the “LET’S TYPE SKILLS” page, students type the skill associated with each puppet.
Below is a glossary of skill terms.
SKILL WORDS GLOSSARY
RESPECT: consideration or thoughtfulness; to pay due attention to and refrain from violating
something.
COURAGE: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by
fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
LOVE: show kindness and charity to somebody.
NOT GIVING UP: to keep up an activity or state already begun.
USING WORDS WISELY: something said to express praise, approval, respect or honor; avoid
conversation about the personal details of other people's lives, whether rumor or fact, especially
when malicious.
PROBLEM SOLVING: to find a way of dealing successfully with a problem or difficulty.
LEARNING: familiarity or understanding gained through experience or study.
CONFIDENCE: self assurance or a belief in your ability to succeed; to act in a proper,
trustworthy, or reliable manner.
AWARENESS: having knowledge of something from having observed it or realize that it is
happening; notice what is going on in the world around you.
THE PICK A PUPPET PAGE
On the “PICK A PUPPET” PAGE both the name and the skill appear. Point out again the skill
that is associated with each puppet. Refer to the puppet by name. The children are now
becoming familiar with the name of the puppet and its leadership skill. Click on any puppet on
the PICK A PUPPET page to begin teaching a skill.
Each month teach one leadership skill. We have chosen the “Sam-Courage” skill as our model.
These instructions apply to all nine skills.
LESSON ONE
LET’S LEAD WITH…PAGES (page 1)
Read and discuss the poem.
LET’S TALK ABOUT… PAGES (page 2)
Read and discuss the questions.
THE LET’S TYPE IN MY JOURNAL PAGE (page 3)
Read the directions on the top of the page aloud. On the board, write an experience chart based
on the group’s response to the directions. The younger children copy the experience chart in the
“my journal” typing area. Students who are capable may compose and type their personal
response to the directions. All students will save their work to the thumb drive before exiting the
program, or you may print a hard copy of that day’s work.
Please note that a child’s work must be saved each time before exiting the program, or
that day’s work will be lost.
LESSON TWO
STORY TIME (page 4)
STORY PAGES
(pages 5, 6 and 7)
Read the story once. Then read the story again, slowly. Some of the stories are open-ended.
Children are to be encouraged to discuss possible endings to the story.
LET’S TYPE AGAIN IN MY JOURNAL PAGE (page 8)
Read the questions on the top of the page and suggest that as the story is read again, the
children think about the answers to the questions. As the students answer in full sentences,
write their answers on the board. Students will then copy the answers in the “my journal” typing
area. Older students can work independently. All students will save their work to the thumb
drive before exiting the program or you may print a hard copy of that day’s work.
Please note that a child’s work must be saved each time before exiting the program, or
that day’s work will be lost.
LESSON THREE
LET’S FOCUS ON WORDS PAGE (page 9)
This is a vocabulary enrichment activity page. There are topic vocabulary words for each story.
Read the story aloud again. This time the students are to focus on identifying topic vocabulary
words (baseball). List the words that the students identify as topic words and have them copy
the list in the “my journal words” typing area. Students who are capable may do this exercise on
their own. You may encourage students to expand the list beyond those in the story. Ask the
students to use the topic words in full sentences. You may also point out the synonyms,
homonyms, or antonyms of some of these topic words. All students will save their work to the
thumb drive before exiting the program, or you may print a hard copy of that day’s work.
Please note that a child’s work must be saved each time before exiting the program, or
that day’s work will be lost.
LET’S JINGLE PAGE (page 10)
The final activity in each chapter is an easy to memorize mnemonic jingle. Chant both lines of
the jingle to the class so that they hear the lyrical message of the jingle. Then you recite the first
line and have the children respond by reciting the second line. Now, ask a student to play the
part of the “puppet” that is identified with that skill (Sam in this case) and lead the class in
reciting the first line of the jingle. The class responds by reciting the second line of the jingle.
Students may take turns being the puppet and leading the class in the recitation of the jingle.
Do this until a jingle can be recited automatically. Follow this pattern for each of the jingles.
END OF PROGRAM SUGGESTION: By the end of the school year, the children will have read
all the poems and stories and will have typed and printed the answers to all the questions.
Hopefully they will have also memorized the nine jingles. We suggest that any child who can
recite all nine jingles by heart should be presented with a, “I Know My Jingles!” certificate (PDF
included on the CD) whose value is to be determined by the teacher and may be redeemed by
the student. This coupon could be redeemed for something like a pizza party, a prize or a
coveted privilege. The recitation of the nine jingles could be performed at a school assembly,
on a parents’ visiting day, or for another class in the school.
FYI-You may purchase the Let’s Lead program with a full set of posters to use as a teaching aid
for this program. The set has ten posters. There are nine posters with one puppet and skill on
each poster and one poster with all nine puppets as seen on the Pick a Puppet page. These
illustrations are excellent visual aids for each lesson and may be used to decorate the
classroom and bulletin boards. For more information, please call, 1-866-200-8881.
In conclusion, we hope that the leadership skills taught in the “LET’S LEAD” program will result
in an increase in children’s self confidence as they become aware that either they have the
power to affect their surroundings, rather than allowing their surroundings to affect them.