Instruct students to rest the left pinkie finger on the A key and the ring finger on the S key. Have them place the middle finger on D and the index finger on F.
Tell the students to place the right index finger on the J key and the middle finger on the K. Have them rest the ring finger on the L key and the pinkie on the colon and semicolon key. This completes the home row, where the fingers lightly rest when they are not actively typing.
Practice having the students remove their hands and find the home row. See if the students can accomplish this with their eyes closed.
Explain to the students that they will extend the left index finger to type G, R and T. Tell them to extend the middle, ring and pinkie fingers to type E, W and Q, respectively.
Instruct students to use the right index finger to type H, Y and U. The middle, ring and pinkie fingers type I, O and P, respectively.
Practice typing nonsense words using the home row and the upper row of keys.
Teach which fingers type the letters on the bottom row of keys. The left hand types Z, X, C and V. The right hand types B, N and M. The right hand is also responsible for most punctuation.
Practice finger placement and typing using the home row as the base.