Handwriting

Below is the typical format that I use to introduce a new letter formation:

* Show the letter and name it. Review its sound. (If you have an adopted reading series such as Open Court or Houghton Mifflin, use the anchor letter/sound card that goes with the program.)

* Sing the Letter Formation Song. This is a song that our occupational therapist showed me. It is a reminder that we always write our letters from top to bottom. It is sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." When you sing, punctuate the word "top" by putting your pointing finger in the air and pushing a pretend button.

When you write a letter, start it at the top!
When you write a letter, start it at the top!
When you have to write a letter, then you better, better, better,
Oh, remember always start it at the top!

* Demonstrate the letter on the board. Write it BIG. (I practice uppercase and lowercase versions separately during the same lesson. If you show strokes for uppercase and lowercase at the same time with no individual practice by the children in between, it is too much to remember for some children.)

I demonstrate writing the letter on the board several times. I write it big a few times, then several times in a more normal size. If your system uses certain names for letter strokes, find out what those are so that your students will learn consistent names for them. For example, our system refers to the writing strokes as "slant left," "slant right," "slide right," "pull down straight," "forward circle," etc. There's no reason to make your first-grade teachers reinvent the wheel because you did not use the same terms that they do.

* Show children how to write the letter in the air with their pointer fingers using big arm movements. (When you model, remember to turn around with your back to them or reverse your movements, or you will show them how to write the letter backwards!)  After you show them, have them stand and write the letter in the air with you several times. (This also gets the wiggles out.)

* Model how to write the letter on the carpet in front of their body. Different textures can help the writing strokes "stick" for some children. Say the letter strokes as you write. Have them do this a few times. A variation of this is to have the children "write" the letter on a neighbor's back. (You will need to model this activity with several children before trying to do it whole-group. Otherwise, it could become a tickle-fest ...)

* STRETCH! Our occupational therapist taught me the following stretch that strengthens the muscles in the area between our thumb and pointing finger. We do the stretch before we write the letters on individual dry-erase boards. The children will need to spread out on the floor. They sit up straight with their legs stretched out (but together) in front of them. They then lean back slightly with their hands flat on the floor at their sides, fingers spread as far as they can spread them. Once their hands are in place, they lift themselves up and put their weight on their hands. (I will post a photo of this in August. It is easier to understand with a visual.)

The next step depends on whether you have time to practice writing the letters during small groups or if you need to have the whole class practice at the same time. For obvious reasons, you can pay closer attention and give more help during small groups. However, time does not always allow for that.

If I have to complete the writing lesson in a whole-group setting after the above activities, I do the following:

*Review again the name of the letter and how to write the letter several times on your dry-erase board. Tell the children that they will practice writing the letter now. I always have the children practice the letters on either dry-erase boards or Magnadoodles first before they ever try to do them on paper. There is a higher interest level, and they also do not worry about erasing as much as they do with paper. (See below for tips on handing out materials such as dry-erase boards.) Have the children practice on dry-erase boards or Magnadoodles for about 5 minutes. Walk around and see how they are doing. This is a time that you can intervene with several children if you see them having trouble. I am sure to stress quality, not quantity, each time we practice a letter. I tell them that I don't care if they only have 4 or 5 letters on their board if they have taken their time and done their best work.

* Following individual board practice, I have the children move to their tables and get a pencil. For whole-group letter formation practice, I always have the children write on the long, regular-sized sentence strips. I stock up on them at the beginning of the school year. I model how to fold the strip in half, and we use one half to practice the uppercase version and the other half to practice the lowercase version. Make sure to get the sentence strips that have the three guidelines on one side and a single bottom line on the other. That way you have a choice of whether or not you want the children to practice with guidelines. (At the beginning of the year, I have most children use the single-line side, and we work up to the three-guideline side as the year progresses.)

I like using sentence strips for writing practice for several reasons:
1) They are big, and the children think they are special tools. This increases interest level.
2) There is a choice of lines -- single bottom line or three-guideline style.
3) I have never had a problem with children not putting appropriate space between the letters when using the sentence strips.

Click for larger versions.

* If you have time to have the children practice letter formation during small-group time, you can also have them practice on dry-erase boards or Magnadoodles, and then on sentence strips. You will simply be able to provide more personal attention for each child. However, there are some other kinds of handwriting practice that are more conducive to a small-group setting:

-- Practice "writing" the letter on different textures. You can go to the Wal-Mart fabric department and dig through their remnant tub and get a variety of different-textured fabrics to use in small groups. I cut the remnants into pieces about 10 x 10 inches and store them in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. When we use them in small group, you can let the children choose which texture they want and then stick it on a clipboard so it doesn't slide around during use. The children just form the letter with their pointer finger on the pieces for a different "feel." Some textures that I have used are fake fur, netting, silk, tapestry-type fabric, velvet, and the nubby shelf-liner. SEE PHOTOS BELOW. Click for a larger version.

-- Write the letters in a blob of shaving cream on a tray or the table.

-- Write the letters in a salt tray (You can see the letters being formed better if you pour the salt in a Solo colored plastic plate. White plates don't work as well.) You can make a group set of these (5 or 6) and store them by stacking the plates in a plastic tub. That way you do not have to refill the plates with salt each time you use them.

-- Finger-trace tactile letters. I have seen these done in sandpaper and also plastic ones with little nubs on them. You could make sandpaper ones on the Ellison cutter (but ask FIRST and make sure it is okay for you to cut sandpaper on it), then glue them to plastic colored Solo plates as a base. The tactile letters in the photo below are from Lakeshore Learning. http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

-- Write the letters on Magic Boards. These are from Lakeshore, but you can also find versions at Wal-Mart and teacher supply stores. The children love these! They are a sturdier version of the old cardboard magnadoodles.

These are some tips from our occupational therapist:

* If you have a child who is having a lot of fine motor issues, put their papers or dry-erase boards on a slant board. Standing at an easel or wall-mounted dry-erase board is also good for building hand strength. (SEE PHOTO) If you use a slant board, request a solid plastic one with a clip like the one on a regular clipboard. I do NOT recommend the foldable slant boards made out of a corregated type of plastic. We tried to use one of those last year, and the Velcro closure did not hold under the pressure of the child's hand and arm. The board kept buckling. Also, the corregated surface isn't good for writing! (Why they would make one like this, I have no idea ...) We had to layer several other sheets of paper under the child's work paper so that all of his work wouldn't come out with gap lines through it. So read the fine print before you order one.

* Have the child rainbow-write the letters. Our OT gave me a set of "hollow letters" to copy. I made some to post here on MS Word using the Moderne font and then selecting the "outline" feature under the Font menu. After I printed the letters, I took a black Sharpie and outlined the letters again before copying on the copier. The child practices the strokes of the letters inside the letter in several different colors. SEE PHOTO. Click here for my hollow letters in PDF form.

If practicing on sentence strips or dry-erase boards is not for you and you prefer to use paper, here are some different choices:

* Start with unlined, blank typing paper. This gives you a chance at the beginning of the year to see which children already have good fine motor control and which ones need the most practice. Also, I have read in many different sources that during writer's workshop or journal time, children tend to write MORE if they are not constrained by lines.

* Next, for those who are not ready for the three-guideline style (with the middle dashed line), try just a single bottom line to give the child an anchor for the letters. Click here for a template.

* Finally, move on to the three-guideline style (with dashed line). Some children will be ready for this the day they walk in the door. For others, you may want to wait a while. It depends on the child. (I personally feel that we want to focus on letter formation -- the strokes it takes to write the letter -- not necessarily whether those strokes fit between certain lines.) If you must use paper in the three-guideline style, consider using Frog Street's Smart Start Sky-to-Ground paper as an introduction. It gives the children a visual aid to remember where to start letters: a sun/cloud anchor for the top line, a dashed red line in the middle, and then a green ground line. The K-1 paper comes in two forms -- story form and story/picture form. You can find many online sites that sell this paper if you do a Google search for "Smart Start Sky-to-Ground." (SEE PHOTOS).