Correct Left hand pencil grip Correct Posture for efficient handwriting Correct right hand pencil grip
Handwriting Scope & Sequence Years P-3 (resources also in etc collection) Lessons Guided lesson when introducing letters, incidental teaching of letters in daily program Line Size Blank paper PREP Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Daily (approx.15 min) Blank paper, blue lined (25mm) Red and blue 8mm headed paper Red and blue lined 8mm paper, then books Daily (approx.15 min) Red and blue lines 6mm space 2-3 times per week Red and blue lines 4mm space Terms Body letters occupy blue lines only: a c e i m n r o s u v w x z ; Head and body letters have an ascender: b d f h t l k ; Body and tail letters - have a descender: g j p q y Writing Wide variety of Crayons, brushes, felt Crayons, brushes, coloured Pencil + variety of writing Tools writing pens, coloured pencils, triangular pencils, felt pens, HB pencil instruments implements formative pencil Formation Beginners Alphabet Queensland Modern Cursive Writing own names, Experimenting with writing letters and words in signs, labels etc in play By end of Yr 1, children should know: All letters (except e, d) start at the top. Usually, the pencil is not lifted when making a lower case letter (except for dots and crossbars). The pencil can be lifted when making capital letters. Big wedges are a features of many letters e.g. a g. Writing is faster if retracing is kept to a minimum. A finger/hand/arm movement is used to write. By end of Yr 2, children should know: Letters are joined for faster writing. Writing should be neat and quick.. Wedges help to promote faster writing. Pencil can be lifted within a word. Too many pencil lifts within a word can slow down writing. Some letters have rounded entries and some have pointed entries. Some letters don t join to the following letter. By end of Yr 3, children should know: How to hold the pencils correctly. The pen can be lifted within a word. Capital letters do not join to the following letter. Sometimes covering strokes are needed. Spacing between words should be consistent. Downstrokes should be parallel.
Suggested Teaching Sequence PREP Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Mechanics of handwriting: paper position angle of pen to paper left-handed children Visual Discrimination As the letters of the alphabet differ in shape to varying degrees (some are simply inverted or reversed) it is essential that a child is able to discriminate fine differences. Suggested activities school/home made games matching games, e.g. snap Letters have heads, bodies and tails and should be placed on the lines in the correct position. The pencil should not be held in the web of the hand. Mechanics of handwriting: paper position angle of pen to paper left-handed children Development of manipulative skills e.g. top to bottom, left to right, anticlockwise direction, up and down, zigzag, clockwise, anticlockwise loops Patterns to develop directional movement - blank and lined paper - emphasis on a m o as these are the basic movements on which most letters are formed Introduction to lines 8mm headed paper spatial awareness (head/body/tail) start and finish points focus on size, slope, space, Capital letters don t join to the following letter. Letters are retraced only halfway up the body height, e.g. h, otherwise time is wasted. Some letters can be dropped on to save making a slow covering stroke How to hold the pencil in an acceptable way. Terms: pencil lift, drop on, entry, exit, wedge, web of hand, covering stroke, ascender, descender. Evaluate paper position angle of pen to paper left-handed children letter formation lower/upper spatial awareness (head, body tail) Revision basic patterns downstroke letters clockwise letters anti-clockwise letters numerals lower and upper case letters (Beginners Alphabet) Introduce entries and exits a. exits only: b. rounded entries: c. pointed entries: d. no change: e. letters that change: Revision paper position angle of pen to paper spatial awareness all entries and exits all joins Cursive writing in everyday work Revise Exits Rounded entries pointed entries letters that change letters that don t change Introduce Diagonal Joins Exits to rounded entries Exits to pointed entries Exits to e Diagonal joins to head and body letters Exits to o Diagonal joins from f Diagonal joins to modified f
PREP Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 wedge Revise entries and exits dominoes recognizing the odd one out in a sequence finding hidden objects in pictures, environmental materials Visual Memory A child needs to be able to remember a shape and then reproduce it from memory. Suggested Activities memory games reproducing - shapes - objects - letters - colours Formation of letters & numerals Beginners Alphabet - blank and lined paper (i) Lower case a. straight lines (downstroke): i t l x z b. clockwise: m n h k p b r j c. anticlockwise: u v w a d q o e c f d. more than one rotation: g y s (ii) Upper case - twice the body height (iii) Numerals Sentence writing in conjunction with the language program Introduction to joining a. diagonals from exits b. diagonal from rounded entries c. diagonal from pointed entries d. drop-ons: e. horizontal joins from top finishers: f. top finishers to ascenders g. letter dropped on after h. letters that don t join: i. letters modified by joins j. double letter combinations Diagonal joins to modified s Drop-on joins Drop-on Joins Horizontal joins Horizontal joins to ant-clockwise letters Horizontal joins to s Up-sweeping joins Top-finishers to head and body letters Top-finishers to modified f Letters that don t join Double letter combinations Handwriting Scope & Sequence Years 4-7 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Lessons Approx. twice per week Approx. twice per week Approx. twice per week Approx. twice per week Line Size Red and blue lines 4mm space Introduce blue lines 8mm space Blue lines 8mm space Blue lines 8mm space Terms Writing Implements Formation Pencil + variety of writing instruments Queensland Modern Cursive Pencil + variety of writing instruments pencil, fine brushes, mapping pen, calligraphy pen + variety of implements pencil, pen, fine brushes, mapping/calligraphy pens + variety of implements
Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Suggested Teaching Sequence Constant revisions of letter structure Queensland Modern Cursive Upper case letters Joining techniques The mechanics of handwriting paper position angle of pen to paper spatial awareness Patterning exercises straight lines clockwise patterns anticlockwise patterns combining patterns keeping fingers still when hand is moving along the paper moving fingers to make a shape, the moving hand moving fingers to make a shape when hand is moving Endurance continuous writing using strategies to increase endurance Speed techniques (Year 4-5 legible writing should be at 40-60 lettters per minute; Year 6-7 legible writing should be at 80-100 letters per minute) variety of speed techniques speed writing for short continuous periods self-evaluation and self-help Letter formation and structure - Discussing and practicing: directional movements required to form letters correct starting and finishing points pen lifts used when forming letters formation of letters using basic shapes spatial properties of letters Printing regular use of true print form printing capitals
Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 using print in appropriate writing situations Cursive writing regular practice of the correct entry and exit strokes understanding and using the recommended joining techniques examining own writing for effective joining techniques Letter size using a suitable and uniform letter size on blue-lined paper understanding relationship between letter size and thickness of writing point selecting an appropriate letter size for each writing situation Slope and parallelism examining own writing for consistent slope and parallelism using a variety of strategies to achieve a consistent slope that is comfortable and legible Spacing spacing letters appropriately spacing words appropriately
Resources Various handwriting books in school resources. The Teaching of Handwriting in Years 4 to 7 A Handbook The Teaching of Handwriting in Years 4 to 10 current developments The Skills of Handwriting Reginald C. Phillips Fingergym- Fine Motor skills- School Readiness Program (Pre-Prep) Resources available in etc Ideas for Year 1 Warm up for handwriting These are just some of the resources available on the Curriculum exchange.