Session 3: The Desktop & Programmes
At a glance: pupils can name the parts of the desktop, open programmes two ways, control windows with the three buttons, and switch between Paint and Notepad. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6
Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, pupils can:
- Identify the wallpaper, desktop icons, taskbar and system tray.
- Explain what a programme is and open one from a desktop icon or the Start search.
- Use Minimise, Maximise/Restore and Close, and move and resize a window.
- Run Paint and Notepad together, switch between them, and choose correctly in the "Save changes?" box.
Before the session
- Check Paint and Notepad open from Start search on every PC. Newer Windows PCs have the new Paint, which is fine for drawing.
- On Windows 11, check each PC's Notepad setting (Settings ⚙ → When Notepad starts → Open a new window) so one pupil's text is not shown to the next user.
- Put at least one programme shortcut on each desktop so pupils can practise double-clicking an icon.
- Check the taskbar is visible at the bottom and not set to auto-hide.
- Open the Window Wrangler lab on the projector PC and test it. Keep an offline copy on USB.
- Be ready to show Alt + Tab on the projector.
Running order
| Time | Activity | Workbook | What the mentor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Typing warm-up | – | Pupils open the typing trainer (Typing in the menu, or the warm-up banner on the session page) and do the 10-minute warm-up. Walk round checking posture and home-row fingers. |
| 10–20 min | Startup and desktop anatomy | Page 1 | Compare the screen to a school desk. Pupils point to the four zones on their own screen. |
| 20–30 min | Programmes, two ways to open, icon types, Check Your Thinking | Page 2 | Open Calculator by icon and by search. Pupils sort icons into programme, file and folder. |
| 30–41 min | Window anatomy, the three buttons, move and resize | Page 3 | Demonstrate each button slowly. Pupils copy you on Paint. |
| 41–53 min | 3D lab: Window Wrangler | None | Demonstrate on the projector, then pairs try the missions. |
| 53–63 min | Multitasking and switching methods | Page 4 | Show taskbar click, background tap and Alt + Tab. Act out the minimise panic button. |
| 63–78 min | The Artist & Writer lab | Page 5 | Pupils draw in Paint, write in Notepad and switch three times. Circulate. |
| 78–90 min | Closing properly, review and sign-off | Pages 5–6 | Walk through Save, Don't Save and Cancel. Go through answers, then sign off. |
Key ideas and how to explain them
- The desktop is your work table: your exercise book, pen and ruler sit in front of you at school. The screen holds your tools in the same way.
- Programmes are tools for jobs: you would not cut timber with a hammer. Paint is for drawing, Notepad or Word for writing, Calculator for sums, a browser for the internet.
- Minimise is not Close: minimise "parks the window on the bottom shelf". It is still open and safe. Close shuts the programme completely. This is the most important idea in the session.
- Active vs inactive window: the active one sits on top with a coloured title bar. Click anywhere on the other one to wake it up.
The 3D lab
Use Window Wrangler. On the projector, demonstrate the first three missions: double-click the Paint icon, minimise it with the – button, then bring it back from the taskbar. This is the panic button on Page 4 in action. In pairs, pupils then maximise with the □ button, open a second programme (the lab uses Word, whereas the workbook uses Notepad; the idea is the same), and close a programme with ✕. Draw attention to the lab's hint "Always save your work first!" as a lead-in to the "Save changes?" box on Page 5.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
| Pupils often… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Panic because the window "disappeared" after Minimise | Point to the taskbar icon with the glowing line and click it once. |
| Click Close when they meant Minimise | Remind them the three buttons go "hide, grow, shut", from left to right. |
| Try to drag the window from the middle instead of the title bar | Only the empty top strip moves the window. |
| Resize by accident, or cannot find the double-headed arrow | Move very slowly to the very edge or corner and wait for the pointer to change. |
| Click Don't Save without reading the message | Read the box aloud together before clicking anything. |
When things go wrong
- No internet: nothing here needs the internet. Use the USB copy of the lab, or demonstrate the window buttons on a real Paint window on the projector.
- Not enough PCs: pairs share. One draws in Paint, the other types the Notepad sentences, then they swap. Both must switch windows themselves at least once.
- A PC freezes or the power goes: nothing is being saved today, so pupils just restart and reopen Paint. If one programme hangs, wait for the spinning circle to stop.
Answer key
Check Your Thinking (Page 2) Paint (MS Paint). TuxPaint is also correct if the school has it. Any drawing programme from the table is fine.
Match the window button to its purpose
- [ − ] Minus: hides the window temporarily down into the taskbar.
- [ □ ] Single square: expands the window to fill the entire monitor.
- [ × ] Red X: shuts down the programme completely.
- Title bar drag: moves the window to a new spot on the screen.
Written review questions
- Minimising hides the window in the taskbar while the programme is still open and the work is safe. Closing shuts the programme down completely, and it asks you to save first if there is unsaved work.
- The bottom-right corner, in the system tray.
- Cancel.
Support and stretch
- Needs more support: practise only the three buttons on a single Paint window until they are confident, then add the taskbar click to switch windows.
- Finished early: try Alt + Tab to switch windows, open Calculator as a third programme, and arrange all three windows so part of each one shows on the screen.
Evidence for sign-off
Before you sign, watch the pupil do all of these:
- Point to the wallpaper, an icon, the taskbar and the system tray.
- Open Paint and Notepad using Start search.
- Minimise, restore, maximise and move a window, and resize it from a corner.
- Switch between Paint and Notepad using the taskbar.
- Close a programme and explain what Save, Don't Save and Cancel would each do.
Safety and wellbeing
Saving is not taught until Session 4, so tell pupils it is fine to choose Don't Save for today's scrap drawing, but only after reading the box. Pupils never close or delete anything belonging to someone else on a shared PC, and ask before touching a neighbour's screen. Keep pupils' sentences to the workbook text or harmless descriptions of their drawing.