UNIT ONE

Hand Writing

Introduction

This unit explains the value of handwriting as an art and examines methods of helping students with
letter formation.

Unit Objectives: After completing this unit, the trainees will be able to:

 Explain the value of handwriting as an art

 Examine methods of helping students with letter formation
 Describe the importance of handwriting
 Follow the principles of handwriting
Introduction to handwriting
1. letter formation
2. Learning the alphabet
Section one
Specific Objectives: by the end of this session students will be able to:
 Explain activities to help with letter formation
 Explain about practical techniques for alphabet learning
 Use and practice specific language for letter formation
Resources and preparation
 Flashcards of individual letter cards
 Create the charts showing the formation of lower case letters and capital letters from activity
two and activity four
 Look at the four activities in activity three and decide which to demonstrate and which to
explain
 Cheek that you know to sing the alphabet song
Activity one
Pair work: examine ways of learning letters
Introduce the topic of writing to students and tell them that you are going to start the
section by demonstrating the difficulty that students have when they start to learn to write.

1. Ask the students to hold their pens in the opposite hand to normal. So if they are right handed
,they hold the pen in their left hand
2. Ask the students to write the following simple sentences ,holding their pen in this hand
“the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs”. This sentences uses every letter in the
English alphabet

3. After the students have completed their sentence put them in pairs. Ask the students to
compare their hand writing with their partner and discuss any problems they had. What caused
these problems?

Explain to the students their feelings are similar to the feelings experienced by young children when
they learn to write. The pen is unfamiliar in their hands. Before they can write properly, therefore
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they need to practice using a pen and controlling their hand movements. The best way to do this is by
asking them to write pattern, as they can concentrate on the shapes instead of thinking about the
names of letters and the new language patterns can also be used to make pictures, which makes the
practice more interesting for children.

Copy this table on to the board but leave the right hand barer empty

Useful patterns for pupils on practice these patterns will help

Ask the students to practice writing the patterns and to decide in pairs which patterns would help to
form which letters. Using the feedback complete the right hand sides of the board

Activity two: pair work: to practice helping students for learning letter formation

 Show students the following table which demonstrates the best way to form the letters
by the alphabet

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  Look at the letters s,p and t together and show students how to write them.
 On the board write the following words:

Down round over under up across

Explain that there are words that they should use to help their students learn to write the letters. Ask
the students to tell you how to write the letters d, w and n and follow their instructions as you write
them on the blackboard. If they make a mistake still write what they tell you and give them a chance
to correct it.

Put the students in to pairs. One student is A the other is B. A has to explain to B how to
write certain letters. Encourage A to use the six words on the board. B has to write down the letter
being explained. Follow the instructions accurately. Again if A makes a mistake they should decide
now to correct the instructions.

After a short period of time, ask A and B to change Over.

If possible have 4 parallel lines prepared on the board before the session. Ask one pair to
come up to the front of the class. A explains the letter formation to B and B writes the letter using the
parallel lines.

Ask the students, what is the purpose of the lines?

Elicit the ideas that the lines encourage neatness and help to keep the letters in proportion to each
other.

Activity three

Demonstration: Different activities to learn the alphabet

Explain that students usually learn the names of the letters at the same time as they learn to
write them. Below are listed three different activities that can be used to teach the alphabet.
Depending on your groups’ level and the time availability, choose at least one to demonstrate and try
to discuss the rest

1. Alphabet song

There is a single tune to sing the alphabet. Even if you do not know tune you can simply

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 group the letters together and make a tune up. Group the letters like this abcdefg, hijk, lmnop, qrst,
uvw, xyz..

Write the alphabet on the board and point to each letter as you sing the song. After each
group of letters ask the students to repeat. When the students are more familiar with the song, you
can choose one to read the alphabet from the front of the class.

2. Using letter cards

Give 26 pupils in the class a card with a letter of the alphabet written on it. Ask the students,
who have been given a card, to stand up and form a line in alphabetical order. Ask the
students to then say their letters in turn or point to a student and ask them to say their letter,
3. Saying the alphabet around the class
Go round the class and ask each student to say one letter from the alphabet. The students must
say the letters in the correct order. If they make a mistake they must go back to the beginning
and start again.
4. Find your partner
Give each student in the class a letter flashcard making sure that two students have the same
letters. Ask one student to say their letter. The rest of the students must listen and hold up their
letter if it is the same.

Activity Four

To practice writing the letters of the alphabet, explain that it is also useful for students to
do a variety of activities to practice writing the letters. Demonstrate the following fun activity.

Arrange the students in to pairs and ask them to sit or stand so that one has their back to
their partner. Student A uses their finger to write a letter is being written on their back and tell A.
Swap roles and repeat .

Arrange students into small groups and ask them to share any other activities that they
use to practice letters with their students
.
Tell students that all the activities that all of the writing activities can also be used to
introduce the formation of capital letters. Write your name on the board. Ask the students, where do
we find the capital letters? Explain how capital letters are used to start important words, such as
names of persons and place names. If you have time ask students to work in their groups and decide
how to form all the capital letters. Use the following chart to check that they are right.

Formation of capital letters

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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Activity Five

Discussion and demonstration: Copying activities

Explain to students that the first stage of writing practice for most students involve copying. Put the
students into pairs. Ask them to discuss the advantages and disadvantages for students of copying as a
technique to teach writing. After 5 minutes ask the students for their feedback. Here are some
suggestions that they may come up with

Advantages of using copy Disadvantages of using copy

Students can practice forming letters Students can become disinterested

Teachers can teach spelling Copying words can become meaningless

Can be used to reinforce sentence structure It does not evaluate any understanding

Can be used to reinforce new vocabulary

Copying can be completed at home

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 5. Copy, listen and number

Ask students to copy down a list of words from the blackboard. Then say the words with a number ,
“number 1, banana.” The students must write the number next to the correct word. The same thing
can be done by saying a number and showing students a picture of the word

Summary

This unit teaches about handwriting in early stage of students who begin writing, their hand
movement when they are writing small letters, how they are forming letters. It demonstrates different
activities for teaching lower grade students

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 Unit Two

Techniques of Handwriting

Unit Learning Outcomes: After completing this unit, the trainees will be able to:

o Develop their knowledge of basic hand-writing skills.

o Demonstrate the skill of teaching handwriting to children.

Specific objectives: after the completion of this unit, trainees will be able to:

o write the English letters in their proper shapes.

o demonstrate proper pencil and paper positioning and hand movement.
o maintain space between letters, words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs effectively.

2.1. Paper and Pencil Position

Activity 1. Do you hold your pen correctly? Does your partner?

Read the following instructions and check.

o Hold the pencil or pen between your thumb and forefinger, about 2 centimeters from the point.
The middle finger gives extra support.
o Hold the pen or pencil lightly. Do not press hard on the paper.
o The end of the pen or pencil should point along the line of your arm.
o Hold the pen or pencil at about 45 degrees to the paper.
o Sit straight in front of the paper.

2.2. Teaching handwriting.

Activity 2. What can you say about the following three of teaching handwriting?

a) When to start teaching handwriting?

b) What style of handwriting to teach (printing or cursive)?
c) What order to introduce the letter in?

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 We need to decide how early in the course to introduce writing
practice. Should we get the students to practice making letters
from the beginning even before they read, or should we wait
until they can be familiar with the letters through some kind of
reading practice?

Don Byrne

According to Byrne English teachers should decide to teach their students to write letters early before
they start reading. The grade 1 English course begins handwriting practice in the first lesson. It is
very important to teach handwriting well from the very first lesson. If the students learn how to write,
English letters correctly the students will form letters in their mind. Therefore, teachers should follow
the appropriate procedure for teaching handwriting.

In Grade 1-4, students print (letters are not joined) what they write. Later they can choose their own
handwriting style (print or cursive).

In English alphabet, there are two types of letters. They are:

o small ( lowercase) letters.

o capital ( uppercase) letters.
From the above two kinds of letters, students learn to write small (lowercase) letters, because they are
simpler. besides children start reading words which are written in small letters.

2.3. Steps for Teaching Handwriting

Activity 1. Answer the following questions being in pairs

a) What are the steps to become a successful typographer?

b) In your pairs, try to decide the following terms related to alphabet:
o typography
o typographer
o letter form boundaries
o letter from parts

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.
Understanding the fundamental principles and concepts of

typography is the first step to being a successful typographer.

The most basic component of typography is letter, and each

letter of the alphabet is distinguished by its unique shapes or

letter form. Letter forms have different individual parts, and they are
also delineated by boundaries.

they are also delincted by boundaries

Letter Boundaries

Letter form boundaries are imaginary lines on which the alphabet letters are printed. They are:

o Cop line: is the imaginary horizontal line resting upon the tops of capital and ascenders of
small letters.
o Mean line: is the imaginary horizontal line that allocates the height of the lowercase on line
letters.
o X-height: is the imaginary line that indicates of lower case.
o Base line: of a type face, excluding ascenders and descanters is imaginary horizontal line
upon which the majority of letters sit.

Cap line

Mean line

x-height

Base line

Column "B" Descriptions of

2.4. Upper and Lower Case letters

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2.4.1. Lowercase Letters
Activity 1: Write all the lowercase letters on the imaginary lines given below.

Activity 2: What are the major categories of lowercase letters?

a) ______________________________
b) _______________________________
c) _______________________________
Activity 3: Write ascenders, descenders and x-height letters on the imaginary lines.

a) ascenders

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 b) descenders

c) x-height letters

Describing Hand Movement of Lower case Letters

When lowers case letters are printed, the following seven words are used:

o down
o up
o round
o dot
o along (cross)
o out
o in
Examples

d = round –up – down

b = down –up- round

Activity 4. Describe the hand movement of the following letters in your exercise book.

a= f=

b= g=

c= h=

d= i=

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 e= j=

k=

l= s=

m= t=

n= u=

o= v =

p= x=

q= y=

z=

2.4.2. Uppercase Letters

Activity 5. Print all the upper case letters on the imaginary lines.

Activity 6. In which category do upper case letters belong to:

ascenders, descenders or x-hight letters.

Activity 7. When do we use upper case letters in writing?

List all the possible case in which upper case letters can be used.

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We use upper case letters when we write:

1. Proper names
E.g. Abebe and Kebede are brothers.

2. The pronoun "I"

E.g. Abebe and I feed the cattle every day.

3. The beginning of a sentence.

E.g. She invited Belay and Zerihun to the party.

4. Common nouns when they are used with proper nouns.

E.g. Abay River

5. Key words in the title.

E.g. Things Fall a Part.

Activity 8. Among the following list of words, phrases, or sentences which ones should
begin with upper case letters. Rewrite correctly in your exercise book.

1. mekides
2. rasdashen
3. awash river
4. mediterranean sea
5. pasific ocean
6. my brother and i were watching TV.
7. she is a hard working woman.
8. Peter is a sudanese boy.
9. amharic is spoken in amahara region.
10. she follows the orthodox religion.
2.5. Spacing
Spacing refers to the distribution of horizontal space on both sides of each word in a font to
achieve a balance space between words.

2.5.1. Space between letters

Don't leave too much space between letters and to make legible for the reader don't overlap
your letters.

2.5.2. Space between words

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 For the text meant for extended reading, the amount of space between words in a sentence or
paragraph should be fairly close about the width of a lowercase "m". If the space is too close, it
appears as one giant word and legibility is decreased.

2.5.3. Space between sentences

As it is said above, there should be space between sentences. The space should be fairly
close about the width of a lowercase “m" to make the sentences fairly easy to be read by the
reader.

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2.6. Tips
o Have children form the letters in the air using their whole arm as one big "pencil". Have them
take turns writing the letter large on the chalkboard, floor, or wall.
o Have children trace letters on each other’s backs to be guessed.
o Children are usually copying letters from the teacher's model. For this reason, children should
watch carefully while their teacher forming the letters, not just the end results.
o Have children close their eyes and try to form the letters on the board or an unlined paper,
practicing writing with eyes closed will speed up letters production.

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 UNIT THREE

The English Alphabet

 Unit learning outcomes: After completing this unit, the trainees will be able to
  Develop their knowledge of basic handwriting skills
 Demonstrate the skill of teaching handwriting to children

Specific lesson objectives: At the end of the lessons, trainees will be able to

 Demonstrate correct letter formation

 Identify the basic strokes used to print English letters
 Show how to teach writing marks, dots, zigzag, letters, words, etc
 Produce letters using different locally available materials.
 Identify the difference in writing upper and lower case letters.
 Say letters’ names properly
Introduction

The basis of language is sound. Sound is the voice that is created due to the vibration of the vocal
strings in the vocal box of the human throat. The puff of the compressed air creates the sound when it
vibrates the strings in the throat and passes through the different parts of sound articulation. Sounds
are represented by letters. So, letters are symbol (signs) which stand for sounds. Letters are the least
units of language that children first write. It is the letter which is the most basic component of
typography and each letter of the alphabet is distinguished by its unique shapes.

3.1 Formation of Letters

Activity 1: Brainstorming Questions

Discuss the following questions in pair and reflect to the class

a) How do small children hold pencils//pens?

b) What aspects of letters do children initially learn?

Teaching correct letter formation involves providing learners with opportunities to talk about the
names and features of letters and the sounds they represent. This enhances letter recognition in
texts, on computer keyboards and in the environment. When learners practice forming letters, they
develop a visual and motor memory of their important features. Looking at the letters and

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 undertaking the movement of writing them helps learners see and feel how each letter is formed,
fixing the letter in the learner’s visual memory for future identification and reproduction.

Once your child has mastered pre-handwriting patterns, they are ready to learn how to form
letters. The first stage (beginners) is learning to move a pencil in the correct directional sequence
of movements; don’t worry about the size of the letters. Once the letters can be formed, your child
needs to focus on the size and position of the letters in relation to each other (refiners).

Activity 2: Discuss the following questions in pair and then join another pair to discuss

them in detail.

1. Is it initially essential to give much attention to the sizes of letters?

2. What language aspects can help learners recognize letters in contexts, on computer keyboard
and in the environment?
3. When do children focus on the size and position of letters in relation to each other (refiners)?
4. What do learners develop when they practice forming letters?

The Stages of Teaching Letter Formation

Activity 3: First of all, discuss the following questions in pair and reflect to the class.

1. At what age are children more likely to recognize letters?

2. Do you think that a child is more likely to be left-handed if only the teacher is left handed?

Your child is ready to learn how to handwrite letters once they can form, without difficult, all of the
pre-handwriting letter patterns. Initially learning to form letters is a less formal affair, using a range of
media and game type of activities like drawing letters with or in sand. The important thing is to model
and explain how to make the letters’ shapes with the correct start point, directional flow of the tool, or
hand, and finish point

Once your child is ready to start sitting at a desk to handwrite, it is important to ensure that their
sitting position and table height are correct for them .At this stage, they also need to be taught body
and paper position. It is also good idea to cheek their pencil grip in relation to their developmental
stage and age. Usually at this stage your child will have a definite hand preference being left or right-
landed. At the begging of foundation stage (age 4 years) not showing a preferred hand dominance is
not an issue, however, as they come to the end of foundation stage (age 5 years) it can make life a
little more difficult for them. Again by this stage, if your child is swapping hands through a task they
may need a little help in developing their hand dominance.

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Activity 4: First try to answer the following questions individually and then share ideas

with your partner.

1. How can children`s sitting and body position, table height, paper position, and pencil grip
affect their handwriting?
2. What are the pre hand writing letter patterns which are basis for hand writing?
3. What makes learning to form letters less formal affair at the beginning?
4. What makes life a little more difficult for children at the end of foundation stage (5 years)?
3.1.1. Scribbling

Activity 5, Discuss the following questions in groups of six (students).

1. What does scribbling mean?
2. What is the difference between drawing and writing?

After practicing the activities of hand gymnastics, the children can just start drawing and scribbling
on paper .They spend about 10—15 minutes each day doing related writing activities. It is useful to
help the children draw large patterns and designs on large sheets of paper first, Gradually, it is
necessary to reduce the size of the patterns and designs until the children can draw between lines on
lined sheets of paper Then, the focus will be not only on shapes, sizes and designs of materials but
also on dots because children enjoy joining dot-to-dot shapes.

Children’s first writing is scribbling. They scribble up and down and around with panics, markers,
chalk, paint brushes, and even their fingers .Most adults take scribbling as a meaningless act but
scribbling is to writing what babbling is to speaking: an early stage of children’s development that
should be encouraged. As they continue to scribble, children begin to notice what they are doing .As
their lands and fingers become stronger and they are better able to control their scribbling
implements, their scribbles begin to evolve in to shapes such as circles, ovals, squares, and crosses
among others.

Soon they are making scribbles that cover the middle of their paper, adding another line of scribbles
underneath. This is the beginning of their differentiation between picture scribbles and writing
scribbles .Sometimes they may bring their “picture” over to you and ask you to read what it is about
because they assume you will be able to translate their linear writing scribbles. If so, tell them you
used to be able to read scribble writing but now you have forgotten how to read it.

When we start drawing representational stuff like flowers, toys or trains and writing letters and words,
our scribblers may not be ready to do so following us. Rather, they may tend to get frustrated and
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discouraged. They may even lose interest in scribbling and abandon the activity altogether. If so,
their scribbles should be presented in the form of game. For example, you can let them scribble in
sand where they can see their finger paint. Such activities can arouse their interest. Scribblers can
work on all the fundamental skills that support writing but they need to work on each component on
its own. So, certainly expose your scribbler to alphabet manipulative, toys and puzzles, and point out
print in books. Just don’t expect them to write the letters that they recognize just yet. Their scribbles
are telling you they need a little more skill building time before they are ready to write.
Activity6: Discuss the following questions in small groups.
1. What is the significance of scribbling?
2. How do you explain the difference between picture scribbles and writing scribbles?
3. What would you say if children ask you to read their picture scribbles to them?
4. What would you do if children lose interest in scribbling and abandon the activity altogether?
5. Do you expect that small children in the early stages of writing can write the letters that they
recognize?

3.1.1 .1 Supporting Your Spellers

When scribbles begin to morph into lines, shapes, and drawings, you will soon have a speller on
your hands. During this stage consider yourself to be a consultant .Offer your expertise on the
subject of letter formation or spelling when asked.

[Link]. Grouping Letters into Families

When you start teaching letters it is useful to teach them in family groups. This helps prevent
reversals of letters and allows the child to practice one type of movement for several letters and
several different way of grouping letters in to families depending on the particular program you
are following. One common example is:

 Clockwise letters (b ,h, k, m, n, p ,r)

 Straight letters(i ,j ,l, t)
 Under arch letters(u, y)
 Diagonal letters (v, w, x ,z)
 Anti clockwise letters (a, c, d, e, g, o, q)
 Curvy letters (f ,s)

Activity 7: Explain the following questions to your partner.

1. Is it necessary to support spellers beyond giving consultancy? Why?

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 2. What do your spellers need from you most?

3. How many ways of grouping letters into families are there?

3.1.2. Basic Strokes and Slants

Activity 8: Discuss the following questions in a group of six (students).

1. What do the words “stroke” and “slants” mean?

2. Do you think that it is possible to teach the lower case and upper case letters at a time?
3. What style of hand writing (print or cursive) should be taught first?

There are three components to hand writing, whether a child is learning to print or write in cursive:
correct letter formation, uniform letter sizes and uniform slant. Children should focus on one
objective at a time, first correct formation, then size, then slant. Once assigned letters are formed
correctly, emphasize uniform size- lower case letters consistently half the size of upper case letters,
but continue to require correct formation. Then add uniform slant again while continuing to require
children to maintain the correct form and size already accomplished. Check slant by drawing a
straight line through centre of each letter-top to bottom (not left to right). All those lines should be
parallel if slant is uniform. Printing may not require this check if letters are formed correctly. Cursive
writing, however, often appears sloppy simply because all letters do not slant uniformly. The lines
you draw should look like this: //// or slant a bit more to the right, but not be a mix _\ _\

Young children should use large writing or painting tools for better control. Don’t be concerned about
letter size at first, instead, emphasize form, letting them draw on blank paper with easy-to-hold “fat”
markers, crayons, or paint brushes which allow less pressure to be used in drawing a solid looking
line. Be sure the children use the same grip required later for paper and pencil work and these
children insist on using adult pens and pencils, and a finger grip.

Begin with lines and shapes, encouraging children to draw all vertical lines from the top to the
bottom. Kids tend to start at the top and make egg shapes. Every line should be drawn left to right or
top to bottom. Vertical lines are drawn first, and then left side, then right side and the connecting
horizontal lines. The horizontal lines on top are first, and all horizontal lines should begin at the left.

Next teach a few lower case letters and short words. Many children want to learn to write their own
name before anything else. Once letter formation is acceptable, children should practice on paper with
guidelines in order to learn to control size as well as to develop uniformity in size.

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Activity 9: Answer the following questions in small groups.

1. How many components of hand writing are there?

2. Put the components of the hand writing in the order that children can learn the letter.
3. Should lines children draw be parallel or intersecting?
4. Are letters in cursive writing slanted uniformly? Why?
5. Why do children want to learn to write their own names before anything else?
[Link]. Legible Writing

There are five characteristics that affect legibility. Difficulty in two or more of these areas means poor
writing legibility. These are:

1. Letter formation, 3. Letter alignment 5. Letter slant

2. Letter spacing 4. Letter size

1. Letter formation – Try the following tricks to make it easier for kids.

1.1. Employ different learning approaches

1.1.1. Auditory –when teaching a letter, think up a simple verse to help a child remember how to
form it. For example, for‘s’ say, The skier rides up the hill, skis down the hill and then
goes up to the lodge.

1.1.2. Kinaestatic_Help a child learn the way it feels to form a letter

Try drawing letters in sand, paint and shaving cream. It provides a child with tactile
feedback, kin aesthetic (movement) input and … it is fun.

1.1.3. Visual- Draw arrows beside letters to demonstrate to children how to form letters

correctly. Also, try writing letters in green and red. Remember green means go for starting

strokes and red can be used for later strokes,.

1.2. Make Writing Tasks Motivating- Pick a category such as “winter” and write down an associated
list of words that begin with “s” (snow, ski, sled, etc). Look at also a picture and place as “s” beside
all “s” words and try a word search with plenty of “s” words. Try still this variation of “Tic Tac Toe”;
use letters you are working on instead of the usual “X” and “O”. Children have fun with this and you
can reinforce correct letter formation.

2. Letter Spacing

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2.1 After writing a word, have child place index finger of non-dominant hand on the writing line
to make a space. Start the next word to the right of the finger

2.2. Write sentences on graph paper, leaving 1 or 2 squares empty after each word.

3. Letter Alignment – When letters float above the line or dip below the line, legibility is
compromised.

E.g. Like all skills that affect legibility, visual motor skills (ability to effectively coordinate visual
guidance and written output) often play a key role. With a brown marker draw a line that represents
grass. Instruct the child to touch the grass with each letter, Ask him or her to go back and circle letters
correctly aligned. To improve attention to “the ground” try drawing worms, ants or birds on the
ground. As children have fun with this activity, remind them that objects must touch the gerund.

4. Letter Size – Children may make letters too large, too small or inconsistent. If so, try to improve a
child’s awareness of letter size through play with a variety of media. Make experiment on giant
letters, tiny letters or imitating each other’s letter size. Review a writing sample and circle letters
which are either too large or too small. Copy a sentence focusing on writing tiny letters. Copy the
same sentence and make letters large.

5. Letter Slant: To improve letter slant, try these ideas:

5.1 On the chalkboard, draw a diagonal line to serve as a guide for correct slant. Have children think
of a word in a category such as sports, and write it on the board. Rewrite as needed to achieve the
proper slant.

5.2 practice writing letters using imagery “Drive up the mountain and down the other side”.

Activity10: Organize yourselves in groups of six (students); discuss the following question

and reflect to the class.

1. What does ‘legibility’ mean?

2. Explain the five characteristics that affect legibility briefly.
3. Explain the different approaches of teaching letters to your class mates.
4. How can you reinforce correct letter formation in the form of play?
5. How can you help children who write either too large or too small letters so that they can
write the letters in appropriate size?
3.1.3. Tracing Dots

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 Preschool pintables including tracing worksheets for kids are essential tools for
children to learn to trace and print letters, numbers, shapes, and their names. For
example
A B C D = letters
1 2 3 4 = numbers

= shapes

If you teach young children, you realize that the first steps on lifelong learning involve the fine skill
of reading and writing. One way to help young children learn how to write is to work with individual
letters. A common method of teaching the individual letters is to provide practice pages that have the
letters formed with a series of dots or dashes. The children can then follow the dashes or connect the
dots to create the letters themselves.

Activity 11: Discuss the following questions in pair and reflect to the class.

1. What does “tracing” mean?

2. What do children trace and print?
3. How do you help young children learn how to write letters?
3.1.4. Sky Writing

Activity 12: Discuss the following questions in small groups and then reflect to the class.

1. What is “sky writing’?

2. How do teachers stand when they sky write letters?

Sky writing is a quick and early way to practice writing when there are not enough paper and
pencils, or it would take too long to use them. For skywriting the teacher must turn her/his
back to the class. Otherwise, the letters she/he writes will be backwards and the students will
get confused. With her/his back to the class, the teacher uses her/his finger to illustrate how to
form a letter or Fidel. She/he makes her/his motion very big so that the entire class can see.
She/he also uses a think-aloud to explain how to form the letter (first, I go up, then I go down,
etc). After modeling how to write the letter /fidel slowly 2-3 times in the air, the students
practice sky writing in the air with their own fingers.

Kinesthetic (movement) learning style is one of the dominant teaching approaches in which small
children do best while touching and moving. They tend to lose interest if there is little or no external
stimulation or movement. Help them by varying activity and keeping them actively involved.

24
Skywriting is a way for students to use their whole body while learning the correct way to write a
brain which in turn stores it for later use when a pencil is in hand.

Sky writing is done with an arm that is stretched out, fully locked, in front of the students. Fingers are
also extended so that the energy flows fully from the body into the sky. The direction of each line
stimulated by the teacher and student mimics the arm monition that coincides with the letter being
written. This whole body movement is also inter-twisted with the sound that the letter makes. Naming
the letter by using the sound helps to comment the idea of how letter is formed, both physically and
audibly. Using this method to teach how to write the letter also gives the student the ability to
recognize the letter when it is written on the page.

This method is an incredible approach to use with beginning writers as well as with students who are
struggling with the handwriting process, regardless of age, to achieve success with handwriting as
well as mastering phonemic awareness.

Activity13. Discuss the following question in small groups and present what you discussed

to the class.

1. When is sky writing utilized?

2. Where do students practice skywriting?
3. What is kinesthetic learning style concerned with?
4. To which age group is skywriting recommended? Why?
5. How is it possible to teach the learners so that they can identify the letters physically and
audibly?

3.2. Upper and Lower case Letters

The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet consisting of 26 letters (each having an upper case
and a lower case form) – the same letters that are found in the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) basic Latin alphabet.

Upper case (Capital) Letters

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Lower case (Small) letters

abcdefghIjklmnopqrstuvwxyz

25
The exact shape of printed letters varies depending on the type face. The shape of hand written letters
can differ significantly from the standard printed form, especially when written in cursive style.

Activity 14: Rewrite both the lower and upper case letters individually and show them to your
teacher.

3.3. Sounds (names) of the Alphabet Letters

Activity 15: Answer the following questions individually and then share ideas with your partner.

1. How many types of sounds do the English alphabet letters have?

2. Is the letter “y’ a consonant or a vowel? Why?

Sound –it – out is one of the most important technique children should have practice using whether in
their mother tongue or English. Sound –it –out is the same as decoding and blending. For this
technique, the teacher writes a word on the chalkboard that utilizes the letters /fidels the students have
been learning in class. The teacher then calls on a student /or group of students) to sound out the
letters/fields in that word one by one. This might be repeated several times until the student can do it
fast enough in order to blend the sounds together to read the word.

Example: “hat” = show them how to sound it out- letter by letter (/h/, /a/, /t/. And then how to blend
them together to read the word (‘hat”).

English alphabet letters have two types of sounds: vowel sounds and consonant sounds.

1. Vowel sounds are: a, e, i, o, and u.

2. All other sounds except “y” are always consonant sounds.
b, c ,d, f, g, h, j, k, l. m. n. p. q, r, s ,t, v, w, x, and z

The letter “Y” can be a consonant or a vowel depending on the way it sounds.

Example: Y as a vowel sound: silly, why, company

Y as a consonant sound: yellow, young, yes

Activity 16: In the following items, if the first underlined letter is a vowel, write “V” in the blank; if it
is a consonant sound, write “C”. Then write “V” or “C” in the second blank to indicate whether the
second underlined letter is a vowel or a consonant sound. Remember “Y” is sometimes a vowel and
sometimes a consonant sound.

Example: friendly = C V

1. Yelp = -------------, -------------- 6. Apple = ------------,------------------

26
 2. Ruin = ------------. --------------- 7. Yesterday = ---------,-----------------
3. Promise = ----------, ------------- 8. Handle = ---------------,----------------
4. Lucky = -----------, --------------- 9. Orange = --------------, -----------------
5. Tired = -----------, --------------- 10. Turkey = --------------, ----------------

Unit Summery

Teaching correct letter formation to children is crucial in their beginning. Children are to be taught
the correct names and sounds of letters. This enhances their letter recognition in texts, on computer
keyboards and in the environment. This in turn enables them to see and feel how each letter is formed
and memorize them in the long future. The stage for children is learning to move a pencil in correct
direction; after this, sizes and positions of the letters can be learned.

It is important to ensure that their sitting position and table height are correct to them; body and paper
position, and their pencil grip. After practicing the activities of hand gymnastics, children start
drawing and scribbling on paper. At this stage, the focus is not only on shapes, sizes and designs of
materials but also on dots because they enjoy joining dot-to-dot shapes. Scribbling is to writing as
babbling to speaking. The scribbling is to be given/done by children in order not to lose their interest;
i.e., it is better to give it to them as a game.

The three components of handwriting are; normal/cursive style, uniform letter size, and uniform slant.
When you teach them letter formation, try the following approaches: using auditory, kinesthetic, and
visual styles; making the writing task motivating, showing clear spacing, and letter alignment; and
also appropriate size and slant.

Skywriting is a quick and easy way to practice writing when there is scarcity of writing materials. The
teacher must turn his/her back to the class. Her/his motion must be big to be seen for students easily.
The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet consisting of 26 letters each having upper and lower
case form. English alphabet letters have two types of sounds; consonant and vowel sounds.

Review questions of the unit

1. What are the stages of letter formation used by children?
2. Why is it important to help children draw large patterns and designs on large sheets of
paper first? And then gradually reduce the size?
3. Scribbling is to writing as babbling is to ___________________________.
4. Children may not actively follow us when we teach them. What must we do to make them
motivated?
27
5. Where should every line begin to draw letters?
6. What are the three components of handwriting?
7. List down the approaches which are used to teach children handwriting.
a. _____________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________
d. _____________________________________________________
8. When is skywriting important?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

9. Write the lower case (small) letters (a-z) using the following lines. Identify the ascending,
descending, and on-line letters.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
10. Write the upper case (capital) letters using the following lines.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

28
 UNIT FOUR : STYLES OF HAND WRITING
Introduction: It Introduction It is imperative that students should acquire the prerequisite skills
for writing as well as practice correct pencil grasp and letter formation. Without these skills, there
cannot be automaticity when students begin to write. This lack of automaticity will slow down
students’ ability to generate writings. Before students are instructed in correct letter formation, they
should develop skills that are pre-requisites for handwriting.

These skills include:

 ability to cross the midline.
 ability to use two hands.
 understanding of directional terms.
 ability to recognize similarities and differences in forms.
 hand dominance.
 functional pencil grasp.
 ability to copy lines and shapes.
 ability to write letters in different styles.

 Unit Learning Outcomes: After completing this unit, the trainees will be able to:
 differentiate print writing styles from cursive.
 write letters in print and cursive.
 write words in print and cursive.
 demonstrate the skill of teaching handwriting styles appropriate for children.
 get satisfaction in what they have written.
Activity 1: Discuss the following questions in small groups.
1. What is the purpose of teaching handwriting?
2. What problems will students face if they are not taught handwriting from the very beginning?
3. In which grade level should we teach handwriting to children?
What is the purpose of teaching handwriting?
Handwriting instruction is an essential element of a complete literacy curriculum. Without its
integration as part of the overall literacy curriculum, learners lose an important link to the world of
learning and communication. Handwriting instruction and practice help to:
 develop and use legible handwriting to communicate electively;
 develop facility, speed, and ease of handwriting;
 provide opportunities to use handwriting skills as an integral part of the writing process;
 develop a sense of pride in their writing;
 enable students to understand the importance of content and legibility in writing for
genuine audiences.

29
Conversely, the negative implications of students not developing handwriting skills are long-lasting.
Without the consistent exposure to handwriting, they can experience difficulty in certain processes
required for reading and writing.
Activity 2: Answer the questions below in your groups.
1. What is the difference between cursive and print writing styles?
2. Do you think that it is the matter of joining and not joining the letters?

The actual difference between print and cursive is not the matter of joining versus not joining. The
difference between cursive and print styles lies in the movements used to create the forms (start point
and directionality). The difference between the two lies in the production process.
Look more closely at adult handwriting product that is produced rapidly, and you will see that many
people who use print letters are joining many of them. It is just easier to slide and join when you are
paying more attention to word selection than you are to shaping letters.

Activity 3: Discuss the questions below.

1. In which grade level should children learn writing styles?
2. Which writing style should we teach first, cursive or print? Why?
How Should We Teach Our Children to Write?
Print First, Cursive Later!
Instruction in cursive writing begins in grade 3. Instruction and practice continue in grade 4 and are
reinforced and practiced in grades 5 and 6 in order for automaticity to occur.

Activity 4: Discuss the questions below in your groups.

1. What are the advantages of teaching cursive first?
2. Which writing style helps to supplement learning the other, print or cursive?
How Cursive Helps Reading
Children who learn cursive first have no problem in learning to read print. In fact it helps them.
How? Well, one of the biggest problems children have when learning to read primary-school print
and write in ball-and-stick is that so many letters look alike such as b’s and d’s; f’s and t‘s; g’s, q’s,
and p’s - that children become confused and make many unnecessary reading errors. In cursive,
however, there is a big difference between a b and. a d. In cursive writing, a b starts like an l while a
d begins like writing the letter a. In other words, in cursive, children do not confuse b’s and d’s,
because the movements of the hand make it impossible to confuse the two letters. And this knowledge
acquired by the hand is transferred to the reading process. Thus, learning to write cursive helps
children to:

30
 1. learn to read print.
2. write from left to right so that the letters will join with one another in proper sequence.
The blending of the sounds is made more apparent by the joining of the letters. In ball-and-
stick, some children write the letters backwards, and often the spacing is so erratic that you
can’t tell where one word ends and another begins. Cursive teaches spatial discipline.
3. learn to spell correctly since the hand acquires knowledge of spelling patterns through
hand movements that are used again, and again in spelling. This is the same phenomenon
that occurs when pianists or typists learn patterns of hand movements through continued
repetition.
4.1 Print Writing Styles
Activity 1: In your groups discuss the questions below.
1. What kind writing styles are print styles?
2. What writing styles do you use?
[Link] expressions are used to describe the hand movement when you print letters?
Verbal Path for Lower Case and Upper Case Printing Formation
These expressions may be used to model proper formation of the letters. You have to
say the expressions as you trace or write a letter.
Lower Case Formation Upper Case Formation

a. pull back, around, up, and down A . slant down, slant down, across
b. pull down, up, around B. pull down, up, around and in, around and in
c. pull back and around C. pull back and around
d. pull back, around, up, and down D. pull down, up and around
e. pull across, back and around E. pull down, across, across, and across
f. pull back, down, and cross F. pull down, across, across
g. pull back, around, up, down and under G. pull back, around, across
h. pull down, up, over, and down H. pull down, pull down, across
i. pull down, dot I. pull down, across, across
j. pull down, curve around, dot J. pull down, curve around, across
k. pull down, pull in, pull out K. pull down, slant in, slant out
l. pull down L. pull down, across
m. pull down, up, over, down and up, over and down M. pull down, slant down, slant down, pull down
n. pull down, up, over and down N. pull down, slant down, pull up
o. pull back and around O. pull back and around
p. pull down, up, and around P. pull down, up, and around
q. pull back, around, up, down and up Q. pull back and around, cross
r. pull down, up, and over R. pull down, up, around, down, in, and slant down
s. pull back, in, around, and back S. pull back, in, around, down, and back around
t. pull down and cross T. pull down, across
u. pull down, around, up, and down U. pull down, around, up
v. slant down, up V. slant down, slant up
w. slant down, up, down, up W. slant down, up, down, up
x. slant down, slant down X. slant down, slant down
y. slant in, slant and down Y. slant in, slant, and down
z. across, slant down, and cross Z. across, slant down, across

31
Print writing practice
Activity 2: Look at the shapes of the lowercase letters and directions of the hand
movement when writing them. Practice describing the hand movement
while you are looking at the directions of arrows.

Printing: Lower-case Letter Formation

a b c d e
f g h i j
k l m n o
p q r s t
u vw x y
z
32
Activity 3: Now write all the lowercase letters on the lines in your exercise book. You have to
the say the expressions as you trace or write a letter. Practice writing a single letter as many
times as possible as shown in the example.

1.a a a a a a a
2.b b b b b b

3.c c c c c c c

4.d d d d d d

33
Printing: Capital Letter Formation
Activity 4: Look at the shapes of the uppercase letters and directions of the hand movement
when writing them. Practice describing the hand movement while you are looking at the
directions of arrows.

A B C DE
F G H I J
K L MN O
P Q R S T
U VWX Y
Z 34
 Activity 5: Now practice writing all the uppercase letters in your exercise books. Describe the
hand movement while you are printing the letters. Trace or write each letter as many times as
possible.

1. AAAAA
2. BBBBBB
Activity 6: Be in small groups and practice sky writing the lowercase and uppercase English
letters.
Activity 7: Write the following words appropriately in your exercise book in lowercase and
upper case letters. Use the principles of printing letters.

1 .baggy BAGGY
2. yabby YABBY
3. baggage
4. young

35
 5. cupboard
6. yam
7. jam
8. pappy
9. zigzag
10. papaya
Activity 8: Write the following sentences in your exercise book on lines as the example given.
Use the guidelines of printing letters.

1 . The boys study day and night.

2. My brother works in an office.
3. She dislikes puppies.
4. Fish live in water.
5. Flies dwell in dirty areas.
6. Mortality is inevitable to mankind.
7. Good handwriting helps to convey a message legibly.
8. Hand writing is a psychomotor skill.
4.2. Cursive Writing Style
Activity 1: In what order should we teach the letters? What should be our criteria?
Suggested methods for letter introduction would be to introduce letters with a
similar formation or features in a group. Once students learn the formation or features of
one letter, the other letters with similar formation or features will be easier to learn.
Letters starting by pulling back (counter clockwise) a, c, d, g, q
Letters you start by pulling down i, j, k, l, t
Letters you pull down, then go up and over b, h, m, n, r
Straight lines E, F, H,I, L, T
Lines and curves B, D,J, P, R, U

Activity 2: Write the following letters, pairs of letters, words and sentences appropriately in
cursive as shown in the examples.

36
 ursive Practice

A !
Write the letter on the lines.

A
a
Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

37
 Cursive Practice

B !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

ear ib rake table job cub

Write the sentence twice.

38
 Cursive Practice

C !
Write the letter on the lines.

C
c
Write each letter pair.

ca ch cl
Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

Cecilcouldcatchacold.

39
 Cursive Practice

D !
Write the letter on the lines.

D
d
Write each letter pair.

do dl dr od ud
Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

Daviddemandedadirtydog.

40
 Cursive Practice

E !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

41
 Cursive Practice

F !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

42
 Cursive Practice

G !
Write the letter on the lines.

G
g
Write each letter pair.

go ga gh og ag
Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

Ginger gave geese George.

43
 Cursive Practice

H !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

44
 Cursive Practice

I !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

n e t gi li
Write each word.

mp dle ce pin wise

Write the sentence twice.

dea s ntelligent.

45
 Cursive Practice

J !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

46
 ursive Practice

K !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

now ey ick
Write the sentence twice.

Kirk ite.

47
 Cursive Practice

L !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

a i y ol fl
Write each word.

ow amb ittle play cool

Write the sentence twice.

48
 Cursive Practice

M !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

49
 Cursive Practice

N !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

50
 Cursive Practice

O !
Write the letter on the lines.

O
o
Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

51
 Cursive Practice

P !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

52
 Cursive Practice

Q !
Write the letter on the lines.

Q
q
Write each set of letters.

qua que qui aq

Write each word.

quiet quake queen aqua

Write the sentence twice.

53
 Cursive Practice

R !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

54
 Cursive Practice

S !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

55
 Cursive Practice

T !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

a i h ut t ht
Write each word.

hat oe rip ight

Write the sentence twice.

The eacher aught Tom o umble.

56
 Cursive Practice

U !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

n e s gu u
Write each word.

se gly ncle rue gum

Write the sentence twice.

Uncle Ulysses Ursula.

57
 Cursive Practice

V !
Write the letter on the lines.

V
v
Write each letter pair.

vi vo ve eu va ov
Write each word.

vote very vine over ave

Write the sentence twice.

58
 Cursive Practice

W !
Write the letter on the lines.

Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

59
 Cursive Practice

X !
Write the letter on the lines.

X
x
Write each letter pair.

Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

60
 Cursive Practice

Y !
Write the letter on the lines.

Y
y
Write each letter pair.

yo ya ye ay y
Write each word.

yet young yap ry icely ays

Write the sentence twice.

YoungYancyplayedyellowcymbals.

61
 Cursive Practice

Z !
Write the letter on the lines.

Z
z
Write each letter pair.

zo ze zi az oz
Write each word.

Write the sentence twice.

62
 Review Activities
1. Write the purposes of teaching hand writing skills for beginners.
a.___________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________________________________
e. _______________________________________________________________________
2. What is the difference between print and cursive writing styles?
______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. In which grade level should children beginning writing in print? What about cursive writing?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How can learning to write in cursive help to develop reading skills?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
5. What are the words/phrases that are used in print writing? List them down.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Draw three lines and write all the English upper case letters in print and cursive.
7. Draw three lines and write all the English lower case letters in print and cursive.

63
 Reference

Jumpstart: A work book for writers: Barbara Fine Clouse, McGaw Hill, New York, 1996)

Word. tips. net /Tooo 369 –Dotted – Latter –Fonts –htm/

W W W. designastudy . com/teaching /tips –ll 98.h+m/

W W W printativities. Com /Tracing. h+m)

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