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Things to Do > Computer Resource Center > Electronic Curricula

Cut, Copy, and Paste

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Summary:
In this lesson students will learn the basics of cutting, copying and pasting within a MS Word Document. This is a beginner level exercise designed to teach the basics of mouse maneuvering, highlighting and commands within the Edit drop-down menu.

Overview:

Skill Level: Beginner MS Word

Activity Goals:
Develop competency in using the mouse to highlight and select specific text
To learn and practice the skills of cutting, copying and pasting text within a Word document

Materials Needed:
Computers (no more than 2 students per workstation)
MS Word

Prerequisite Skills:
Basic knowledge of MS Word and basic computer functions
Basic typing skills

Procedure

Worker Bee
By: Chris Chapman

I rise to an alarm resounding,
Hot water to wake, hot food to make,
Teeth to check, wrinkles to lay, children to clothe
clocks to race, waves and stares in haste, trains to chase
Their backs, to my desk, my eyes do trace
From his boss, to my boss, to my bills goes my check
Drousy suns, avoided crowds, and days to forget
Juggled pans, growing kids their smiles reflect
Homework checked, beds unmade, TV's put to rest

I work for myself and my kids
I survive for my kids and myself

  • Type the above poem in a new document, and save as Student's name.workerbee
  • Highlight the Poem, "Worker Bee". [To highlight text: With your mouse, click at the beginning (or the end) of the text you want to highlight, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the mouse pointer until you have selected all the text you want to highlight.]
  • Copy the Poem , To Copy: on the Menu bar go to Edit>Copy
  • Go To File>New. Your cursor will be flashing on a blank page, the text in the Title Bar will say Document1- Microsoft Word
  • Paste the Poem, To Paste: on the Menu bar go to Edit>Paste
  • Repeat exercise with Cut instead of Copy to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the two commands.
  • Repeat the exercise in a number of ways to ensure that students are comfortable with these commands. The title only can be cut and pasted at the bottom of the poem. The by line can be copy and pasted to the bottom of the poem.
  • Dragging: Demonstrate dragging by highlighting a line of text and dragging it to another location on the page. Explain that Dragging can not be done between pages of text, only cut, copy, and paste can be performed between documents.