Gill Budgell Kate Ruttle

Series ConsultantsSue Palmer Dr Rhona Stainthorp

Contents

Component chart Inside front coverScope and sequence 2Introduction: Penpals rationale 4Parent information sheet (photocopiable) 11Planning staff INSET 12Pencil hold and posture sheet(photocopiable) 13

Term 2

1 Introducing long ladder letters:l, i, t, u, j, y 14

2 Practising long ladder letters: l, i 163 Practising long ladder letters: t, u 18 4 Practising long ladder letters: j, y 205 Practising all the long ladder letters 226 Introducing one-armed robot letters:

r, b, n, h, m, k, p 247 Practising one-armed robot letters: b, n 268 Practising one-armed robot letters: h, m 289 Practising one-armed robot letters: k, p 30

10 Practising all the one-armed robot letters 32

11 Introducing capitals for one-armed robot letters: R, B, N, H, M, K, P 34

12 Introducing capitals for long ladder letters: L, I, T, U, J, Y 36

Term 3

13 Introducing curly caterpillar letters:c, a, d, o, s, g, q, e, f 38

14 Practising curly caterpillar letters: a, d 4015 Practising curly caterpillar letters: o, s 4216 Practising curly caterpillar letters: g, q 4417 Practising curly caterpillar letters: e, f 4618 Practising all the curly caterpillar letters 4819 Introducing zig-zag monster

letters: z, v, w, x 5020 Practising zig-zag monster

letters: v, w, x 5221 Introducing capitals for curly caterpillar

letters: C, A, D, O, S, G, Q, E, F 5422 Introducing capitals for zig-zag

monster letters: Z, V, W, X 5623 Exploring ch, th and sh 58

Photocopiable material:

Writing mats 60(PCMs 1 and 2) Long ladder letters:pattern practice and letter practice 61 (PCMs 3 and 4) One-armed robot letters:pattern practice and letter practice 62 (PCMs 5 and 6) Curly caterpillar letters:pattern practice and letter practice 63 (PCMs 7 and 8) Zig-zag letters: pattern practice and letter practice 64

Lower case alphabet with directional arrows Back cover

Foundation 2 Teacher’s Book(4–5 years)

PENPALS_@›oúr

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Scope and sequence

Foundation 1/3–5 yearsDEVELOPING GROSS MOTOR SKILLSThe vocabulary of movementLarge movementsResponding to music

DEVELOPING FINE MOTOR SKILLSHand and finger play Links to artMaking and modelling Using one-handed tools and equipment

DEVELOPING PATTERNS AND BASIC LETTER MOVEMENTSPattern making Investigating circlesResponding to music Investigating angled patternsInvestigating straight line patterns Investigating eights and spiralsInvestigating loops

Foundation 2/Primary 1Term 2Introducing long ladder letters: l, i, t, u, j, yPractising long ladder letters: l, iPractising long ladder letters: t, uPractising long ladder letters: j, yPractising all the long ladder lettersIntroducing one-armed robot letters: r, b, n, h, m, k, pPractising one-armed robot letters: b, nPractising one-armed robot letters: h, mPractising one-armed robot letters: k, pPractising all the one-armed robot lettersIntroducing capitals for one-armed robot letters: R, B, N, H, M, K, PIntroducing capitals for long ladder letters: L, I, T, U, J, YTerm 3Introducing curly caterpillar letters: c, a, d, o, s, g, q, e, fPractising curly caterpillar letters: a, dPractising curly caterpillar letters: o, sPractising curly caterpillar letters: g, qPractising curly caterpillar letters: e, fPractising all the curly caterpillar lettersIntroducing zig-zag monster letters: z, v, w, xPractising zig-zag monster letters: v, w, xIntroducing capitals for curly caterpillar letters: C, A, D, O, S, G, Q, E, FIntroducing capitals for zig-zag monster letters: Z, V, W, XExploring ch, th and sh

Year 1/Primary 2Term 1Letter formation practice: long ladder familyLetter formation practice: one-armed robot familyLetter formation practice: curly caterpillar familyLetter formation practice: zig-zag monster familyPractising the vowels: iPractising the vowels: uPractising the vowels: aPractising the vowels: oPractising the vowels: eLetter formation practice: capital letters

Term 2Introducing diagonal join to ascender: joining a<t, a<l<lPractising diagonal join to ascender: joining t<h Practising diagonal join to ascender: joining c·hPractising diagonal join to ascender: joining c·lIntroducing diagonal join, no ascender: joining i<n, i<mPractising diagonal join, no ascender: joining c·r, t<r, d<rPractising diagonal join, no ascender: joining l<p, m<pIntroducing diagonal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter:

joining i<d, i<gPractising diagonal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter:

joining n<d, l<dPractising diagonal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter:

joining n<gTerm 3Practising diagonal join, no ascender: joining öPractising diagonal join, no ascender: joining a<i, a<yPractising diagonal join, no ascender: joining i<mÿ, i<nÿIntroducing horizontal join, no ascender: joining oúp, oúyPractising horizontal join, no ascender: joining oúne, oúmeIntroducing horizontal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter:

joining o+a, o+gPractising horizontal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter:

joining w>a, w>oIntroducing horizontal join to ascender: joining oßl, o®#tPractising horizontal join to ascender: joining w#h, oß@hIntroducing horizontal and diagonal joins, to ascender, to an anticlockwise

letter: joining o®#f, i<fAssessment

Year 2/Primary 3Term 1How to join in a word: high-frequency wordsIntroducing the break letters: j, g, x, y, z, b, f, p, q, r, sPractising diagonal join to ascender in words: î©l, î©tPractising diagonal join, no ascender, in words: a_ePractising diagonal join, no ascender, to an

anticlockwise letter in words: i<cœ, i<dÿPractising horizontal join, no ascender, in words: oúw, oúuPractising horizontal join, no ascender, in words: oúy, oúiPractising horizontal join, no ascender, to an

anticlockwise letter in words: o+a, o+dÿPractising horizontal join to ascender in words: oßlÿ, oßbePractising horizontal join to ascender in words: o+oß@k, o+oßlTerm 2Practising diagonal join to r: i<r, u<r, e©rPractising horizontal join to r: oúr, o+oúrIntroducing horizontal join from r to ascender: u<ñ¡@@@@l, i<ñ¡@@@@l, i<Ñ@@tIntroducing horizontal join from r: e©r}ePractising joining to and from r: a<i<rIntroducing diagonal join to s: d<iƒ[Introducing horizontal join to s: w>[Introducing diagonal join from s to ascender: s©hIntroducing diagonal join from s, no ascender: s©i, s©u, s@@@¿, s©p, s©mIntroducing horizontal join from r to an anticlockwise letter: r>[Term 3Practising diagonal join to an anticlockwise letter: e©a, e©a<rIntroducing horizontal join to and from f to ascender: _‹@@@#@õª, _‹@@@@@@@@@#lIntroducing horizontal join from f, no ascender: _®@@@@u, _®@@@@rIntroducing |u (diagonal join, no ascender)Introducing r¬@@r (horizontal join, no ascender)Introducing sµ[ (diagonal join, no ascender, to an anticlockwise letter)Introducing _‹@@@@@@@@#_®@@@@@@@ (horizontal join to ascender)Capital letter practice: height of ascenders and capitals AssessmentAssessment

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Scope and sequence

Year 3/Primary 4Term 1Revising joins in a word: long vowel phonemesRevising joins in a word: lÿRevising joins in a word: i<n<gRevising joins in a word: high-frequency wordsRevising joins in a word: new vocabularyRevising joins in a word: u<n, dÿRevising joins to and from s: d<iƒ[Revising joins to and from r: r}e, pr}eRevising joins to and from f: _‹@@@@@@@@#_®@@@@@@@Revising joins: |uTerm 2Introducing joining b and p: diagonal join, no ascender, b©i, b©u, p©i, p©uPractising joining b and p: diagonal join, no ascender, to an

anticlockwise letter, b©a, b©o, p©a, p©oPractising joining b and p: diagonal join to ascender, b©l, p©hRelative sizes of letters: silent lettersParallel ascenders: high-frequency wordsParallel descenders: adding y to wordsRelative size and consistency: l<y, lÿµ[µ[, _®@@@@u<lRelative size and consistency: capitalsSpeed and fluency practice: e©r, eµ[©tSpeed and fluency practice: opposites

Term 3Consistency in spacing: m<iƒ[, a<n<t<i, exConsistency in spacing: n<oún, c·oConsistency in spacing: apostrophesLayout, speed and fluency practice: addressLayout, speed and fluency practice: dialogueLayout, speed and fluency practice: poemLayout speed and fluency practice: letterHandwriting style: calligramsAssessmentHandwriting style: acrostics

Year 4/Primary 5Term 1Revising joins in a word: nÿµ[µ[, s©h<i<pRevising joins in a word: i<n<g, Ÿ©dRevising joins in a word: sRevising joins in a word: i<_®@@@@yRevising joins in a word: n<n, m<m, sµ[Revising parallel ascenders: õ‹<õª, l<l, b©bRevising parallel ascenders and descenders: p©p, _‹@@@@@@@@#_®@@@@@@@Revising joins to an anticlockwise letter: c·c, d<dRevising break letters: dictionary work and alphabetical orderLinking spelling and handwriting: related words

Term 2Introducing sloped writingParallel ascenders: a<l, a<d, a<fParallel descenders and break letters: i<gh<t, oúu<ghSize, proportion and spacing: i<oúuƒ[Size, proportion and spacing: a<b©lÿ, _®@@@@u<lSize, proportion and spacing: _‹†[, v}eµ[Speed and fluency: abbreviations for notesSpeed and fluency: notemakingSpeed and fluency: draftingSpeed and fluency: lists

Term 3Size, proportion and spacing: v, kSize, proportion and spacing: i<c, iƒ[©tSize, proportion and spacing: i<oúnSize, proportion and spacing: i<tƒ[, i<t’sSpeed and fluency: i<b©lÿ, a<b©lÿSpeed and fluency: diminutivesPrint alphabet: captions, headings, labelsPrint capitals: postersAssessment Presentational skills: font styles

Year 5 & 6/Primary 6 & 7Revision: practising sloped writingRevision: practising the joinsDeveloping style for speed: joining from tDeveloping style for speed: looping from g, j and yDeveloping style for speed: joining from fDeveloping style for speed: joining from sDeveloping style for speed: writing v, w, x and z at speedDeveloping style for speed: pen breaks in longer wordsDifferent styles for different purposesAssessment

Haiku project: making notesHaiku project: organising ideasHaiku project: producing a draftHaiku project: publishing the haikuHaiku project: evaluationLetter project: making notesLetter project: structuring an argumentLetter project: producing a draftLetter project: publishing a letterLetter project: evaluation

Self-assessment: evaluating handwritingSelf-assessment: checking the joinsSelf-assessment: consistency of sizeSelf-assessment: letters resting on baselineSelf-assessment: ascenders and descendersSelf-assessment: consistency of size of capitals and ascendersWriting at speed: inappropriate closing of lettersWriting at speed: identifying unclosed lettersWriting at speed: spacing within wordsWriting at speed: spacing between words

Playscript project: collecting informationPlayscript project: recording ideasPlayscript project: producing a draftPlayscript project: publishing a playscriptPlayscript project: evaluationInformation notice project: collecting and organising informationInformation notice project: organising informationInformation notice project: producing a draftInformation notice project: publishing a noticeInformation notice project: evaluation

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Even in this technological computer-literate age, goodhandwriting remains fundamental to our children’s educationalachievement. Penpals for Handwriting will help you teachchildren to develop fast, fluent, legible handwriting. Thiscarefully structured handwriting scheme can also make adifference to overall attainment in writing.

Traditional principles in thecontemporary classroomWe believe that:

1 A flexible, fluent and legible handwriting style empowerschildren to write with confidence and creativity. This is anentitlement that needs skilful teaching if each individual isto reach their full potential at primary school.

2 Handwriting is a developmental process with its owndistinctive stages of sequential growth. We have identifiedfive stages that form the basic organisational structure ofPenpals:1. Readiness for handwriting; gross and fine motor skills;

pattern and letter formation (Foundation / 3–5 years)2. Beginning to join (Key Stage 1 / 5–7 years)3. Securing the joins (Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2 /

5–9 years)4. Practising speed and fluency (lower Key Stage 2 / 7–9 years)5. Presentation skills (upper Key Stage 2 / 10–11 years)

3 Handwriting must be actively taught: this can be done inassociation with spelling. Learning to associate thekinaesthetic handwriting movement with the visualletter pattern and the aural phonemes will help childrenlearn to spell.

A practical approachPenpals offers a practical approach to support the delivery ofhandwriting teaching in the context of the modern curriculum:

! Time Penpals’ focus on whole-class teaching (via Big Bookand OHTs with key teaching points clearly identified) allowseffective teaching in the time available.

! Planning Penpals helps with long-, medium- and short-term planning for each key stage correlated to the NationalLiteracy Strategy.

! Practice Penpals offers pupil Practice Books with theirown internal structure of excellent models for fingertracing, pencil tracing and independent writing.

! Revision Penpals offers opportunities for record-keeping,review and assessment throughout the course.

! Motivation The Penpals materials are attractive and well-designed with the support of handwriting experts tostimulate and motivate children.

A few words from the expertsSue Palmer (Literacy specialist and educational writer)

Handwriting has often been the ‘Cinderella skill’ in terms of theteaching of writing and too many published resources haverelied far too much (and too soon) on worksheet materials. Formany young children, worksheets in Nursery and Receptionclasses can often be counterproductive. Instead, we should belinking preparation for handwriting to music, movement andart, and ensuring that these experiences are both appropriatefor handwriting and enjoyable for the children. In this respect,the practical suggestions in Penpals: Foundation 2 are the bestmaterials I have ever come across.

Fiona Thomas (Former Foundation teacher and TeacherTraining Agency researcher)

Every Early Years teacher knows the importance of establishingsolid fundamental skills before begining to teach handwriting.Preparation is crucial – it is vital to resist the urge to rush intoformal handwriting work before the gross and fine motor skillsare firmly established and before children are adequatelyconfident. Penpals: Foundation 2 is a rich resource whichsupports the holistic kinaesthetic approach of the Foundationstage, with a variety of art- and PE-based activities. The grossand fine motor activities offered in Penpals not only help todevelop important physical skills, but also emotional skills suchas confidence and self-esteem. We expect an awful lot fromvery young children, and well-prepared but flexible resourcesare crucial in supporting them. In short, Penpals provides lotsof opportunities to build handwriting skills in a verypeasurable way.

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Penpals rationale

Penpals: Foundation 2 supports many national guidelinesincluding:

! Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (Departmentfor Education and Skills or DfES);

! National Literacy Strategy Framework (DfES);! Developing Early Writing (DfES);! Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5

(Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum);! English Language 5–14 Guidelines;! Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education (Northern

Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations andAssessment).

Through the supportive context of whole-class activitiesleading to independent tasks, Penpals develops:

! control of fine and gross movements that support thedevelopment of handwriting;

! vocabulary for talking about letter formation;! oral patter to support the formation of letters within their

letter families;! links between phonemes and letters;! efficient pencil hold and good posture;! control of pencil marks to form letters correctly, to prepare

for joining;! opportunities for exploring shape and movement across the

curriculum and in the environment.

Using handwriting across the curriculum From the time children are introduced to correct letterformation during the Foundation key stage (3–5 years), thereshould be an expectation that they will use the correct letterformation in all the writing they do. Bad habits should not be

allowed to develop. There are therefore many ideas to reinforceand practise good formation in the Penpals Foundationmaterials.

Until individual letter formation is secure, children should notbe allowed to join letters.

If appropriate, set handwriting targets for the children andincorporate cross-curricular writing into handwritingassessments.

How to use PenpalsClassroom organisationThe ideal classroom organisation for teaching Penpals is tohave the children sitting at desks or tables arranged in ahorseshoe shape so that they can all see the Big Book. Eachchild needs a dry-wipe board (preferably with guidelines) andmarker pen, or pencil and paper. In the Foundation stage, itmay be more appropriate to have the children sitting in front ofthe Big Book on the carpet.

If this organisation is not possible within your classroom, bearin mind the following points as you plan your own classroom:

! All the children need to see the Big Book and be able tocopy words or handwriting patterns from it. (Copying maynot be appropriate for children in the earlier stages.)

! Handwriting is usually done on a horizontal or slightlysloped surface. Sustained practice of handwriting patternson a vertically mounted dry-wipe board or Big Book page isnot recommended but it can be useful for quick interactiveteaching sessions.

When to use Penpals Penpals can be used flexibly to teach handwriting asrecommended in Developing Early Writing. Ideally the Big Bookteaching session will be followed immediately by theindependent work, but where this is not possible the sessionsmay be split.

Timing the sessionsThe whole-class session for each unit, including the warm-upactivities, should take no more than 15 minutes. Theindependent working session should take about 15–20minutes. This should allow you time to teach within theLiteracy Hour structure if you wish to do so, although therecommendation in Developing Early Writing is thathandwriting be taught outside the Literacy Hour.

In addition to the allocated time, extra daily ‘practice times’ of5–10 minutes are ideal, if the practicalities of your timetableallow for it. Children can use these sessions to practise thehigh-frequency words, to extend their pattern practice or torevisit the letter pattern shown in the Practice Books. As withmost successful learning, ‘little and often’ is the mosteffective approach.

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Links to national guidelines

Penpals for Handwriting: Foundation 2 © Cambridge University Press 2003

Sequence for teaching the unitsGross and fine motor skills

In Penpals: Foundation 1, a series of units based upondeveloping gross motor skills, fine motor skills and basic lettermovements is offered as a resource base. These will need to betaught and revisited at several stages throughout theFoundation phase. The shape of the Foundation 2 lessons isgenerally assumed to be that of moving from gross to finemotor skills.

Teaching units

In Penpals: Foundation 2, 23 teaching units are provided forterms 2 and 3 (by which time most of the intake are in school).In subsequent years, 10 units have been provided for eachschool term.

Teaching sequence for a unit ofPenpals for Handwriting You will need:

! the relevant Teacher’s Book page;! the Big Book;! water-based marker pens for annotating the pages.

Children will need:

! space for sky writing and movement;! dry-wipe boards and marker pens* or pencils and paper;! pencils and coloured pencils;! the relevant Practice Book.

(*Remember that one of the crucial elements of ensuring goodhandwriting is good posture. If children are writing with dry-wipe boards on their knees or on the floor, good posture ismore difficult to achieve.)

Whole-class session

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7 Gross and fine motorskills Additionalactivities (often linked toideas from Penpals:Foundation 1 Teacher’sBook) for developingthese essential skills.

8 Out and about activityAn additional activityencouraging children tolook for letter patternsand shapes in theenvironment.

6 Demonstrate the letter formation Notes on how todemonstrate the letter formation and then how to involvethe pupils interactively. Use the Show Me and Get Up andGo activities along with dry-wipe boards. Children will alsobenefit from additional sky writing practice, tracing thehandwriting pattern on their palms, on each other’s back,on the table in front of them, etc.

3 Unit focus and phonic link These areclearly identified for each unit.

4 Introduce the page Talk about the pagein preparation for teaching.

5 Sky writing patterns These activitiesare linked to the unit focus and involvechildren drawing patterns in the air.

They are an ideal way of introducingchildren to a particular gross motormovement before they have to refine it asa fine motor movement. Sky writingpatterns are usually based on movementneeded for letter formation, but sometimesthey also predict the letter patterns andjoins used in the unit. Stand with your backto the children when modelling sky writing.

1 Warm up In Foundation and Key Stage 1 materials, all lessons begin withwarm-up activities. These are brief activities that are intended literally toprepare the upper part of the body and the hands for handwriting.They will help to develop both gross and fine motor control.

2 Big Book page Every unit begins witha whole-class teaching session based onthe Big Book page. This introduces thehandwriting focus for the unit.

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This session can follow on directly from the whole-classsession. Ideally, the children’s work should be overseen by anadult. Part 2 of the teacher’s notes for each unit provideshelpful advice on using the pupil’s Practice Book page togetherand highlights some common errors to avoid.

In Foundation 2/P1, children record their work in write-inPractice Books (for terms 2 and 3). They should have asharpened pencil for their writing, but may also needcoloured pencils for pattern practice.

1 Practice Book Warm up An optional warm up foruse where there is a split between the whole-classsession and the independent work.

The left-hand page of the Practice Book (with starting dot support)

2 Finger tracing The unit which introduces eachletter family always begins with finger-tracingletters that incorporate the representative artwork(e.g. curly caterpillar, long ladder).

3 Pencil tracing with starting dots to supportletter formation.

4 Independent writing with an initial pencil traceand dots to indicate the correct starting point.

The right-hand page of the Practice Book

5 Copying letters in context Once the childrenhave practised forming the letters, they shouldtry to write them in a context (usually a simplephrase or sentence).

Familiarity with the correct formation of allpatterns and letters is expected.

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Also in the Teacher’s Book:

7 Play and practise In the Teacher’sBook, additional pattern practice (for anymedium) is suggested for those childrenwho are not ready to put pen to paper inthe Practice Books.

8 Common errors Writing issues to lookout for while pupils are working.

9 Take away This is an additional activitywhich can be used for extra practice orhomework. In Foundation 2/P1 these aremostly investigative activities. In addition,each unit introducing a letter family hastwo Photocopy Masters (PCMs) toprovide pattern practice (for children whoneed reinforcement at a lower level) andletter formation practice (for moreconfident children). The second PCM mayalso be used in the unit that practises thewhole letter family to give extra practiceof the letter formations.

6 Pattern practice Children will need to practise the patterns at thebottom of the page. These usually reflect the pencil movement of themain activity, but always enhance fine motor control as children keepwithin the white lines. These patterns can be made using colouredpencils. These patterns are artwork, not letters, and should be treated asopportunities to develop movement and control.

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Differentiation using Penpals can be achieved in a numberof ways:

! Gross and fine motor skills: younger children who arenot physically ready for formal handwriting practice willbenefit from the Teacher’s Book suggestions for associatedgross and fine motor skill activities. Some of these activitieswill be appropriate for the whole class while others aremore suited to smaller group work with adult supervision.

! Children working individually with a teaching assistant maybenefit from making patterns in trays of salt or sand inaddition to working on dry-wipe boards. These children mayalso benefit from using the oral patter as they work.

! Take away activities provide excellent opportunities fordifferentiation as detailed above. Cross-references tosimilar Take aways can help you to select less challengingactivities for those who need extra practice at a lower level.

! Higher-achieving children can be challenged by higherexpectations of control and evenness of letters.

Assessment andrecord-keepingOn-going formative assessmentThe most effective assessment of handwriting is on-goingassessment because this gives you the chance to spot any errorsor inconsistencies that are likely to impede a fast, fluent hand inthe future. Be especially aware of left-handers and the differencebetween a pencil hold that will seriously limit their success in thefuture and one that has been found to work efficiently.

On the second page of every unit in the Teacher’s Book, theCommon errors section draws attention to the most commonmistakes children make.

The Practice Book page annotations in the Teacher’s Bookalso enable you to draw the children’s attention to keyhandwriting issues.

Record-keepingTeacher

The best record of what children have achieved will be in thePractice Books. These provide a useful record of achievement toshare with parents and colleagues.

Children

The Photocopy Master on page 9 offers a pro-forma record-keeping sheet for children. You can give them opportunitiesto make patterns involving straight lines, loops, circles andzig-zags, but the templates can also be adapted for otherexperiences, including letter formation. Photocopy a sheet,record the activity type (e.g. sand play, finger painting,construction toys) in each quadrant and date it. There issufficient space for you to record a brief comment or for thechildren to make patterns, or to colour in the quadrant.

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Differentiation

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Children’s record-keeping sheet

Glossary of key termsTalking about handwriting

Throughout Penpals it has been assumed that correct terminologyshould be used as soon as possible. In the Foundation phase,there is an emphasis on becoming familiar with the language ofthe hands and the language of movement as well as talkingabout the letter patterns and the formation of the letters.

Terms used in Penpals include:

! Gross motor skills, fine motor skills.! Lower case letter.! Capital letter is used in preference to ‘upper case letter’.! Short letter is the term used to describe a letter with no

ascender or descender.! Letter with an ascender.! Letter with a descender.! Flick is used to describe an exit stroke. (t finishes with a

curl to the right rather than simply an exit flick.)! Curve is used to describe descenders on letters (y, j, g, f ).! Cross bar is used to describe the left to right line on t and

f. It may also be used in relation to letters which feature aleft to right horizontal line (e.g. e and z).

! Other important terminology used throughout Penpalsincludes: clockwise, anticlockwise, vertical, horizontal,diagonal, parallel, joined, sloped.

Key vocabulary

The children must be able to use and understand thefollowing words:

! top, bottom, up, down, horizontal, vertical, diagonal,clockwise, anticlockwise.

Activities

! Warm ups These activities may be linked to the focus of theunit but are generally just enjoyable movement activities towarm up the muscles. Warm-up activities are suggestedprior to the whole-class teaching session and again prior tothe independent work in case the sessions are split.

! Sky writing This means tracing patterns in the air, or onthe carpet or table in front of you. Encourage children touse one of their fingers as a pointer for these activities.

! Show Me This is the term used to describe a practiceactivity. Children write on a dry-wipe board, sky write, traceon each other’s back, etc.

! Get Up and Go This describes an activity where a child isasked to come up and point out a word or letter pattern inthe Big Book.

! Finger tracing Children trace over the letter or letterpattern using the forefinger of their dominant writing hand.This gives the children a much better kinaesthetic memoryof the movement than the smaller movement of a pencil.

In the Foundation books, certain apparatus is suggested fordeveloping gross motor skills. Stilts, frisbees and streamers areall physical education apparatus commonly available fromeducational suppliers.

Oral patter for PenpalsAt Foundation 2 we provide an oral patter for a representativeletter of each letter family (l, r, c and z).l – ‘make a long ladder: start at the top, come all the waydown and flick’. (For some letters in this family you will needto curve rather than flick.)r – ‘make a robot: start at the top, come down and bounceback up and over’.c – ‘make a caterpillar: start at the head, curve over the backand round’.

z – ‘make a zig-zag monster: start by going straight across to thehead’ (left to right like a cross bar) ‘then go down the back andthen straight across again’ (again, left to right like a cross bar).

CapitalsIt is generally agreed that there is no right or wrong way to formcapitals. However, there is a general principle of forming themfrom top to bottom and left to right wherever possible. Guidelineson the formation of capitals are offered on the inside back coverof the Foundation 2 Big Book.

Capital Y: the use of a central stalk (as opposed to a slantingstalk) is recommended as once children have completed the ‘v’form at the top of the letter, they have a clear starting point forthe downwards stroke. This formation also distinguishes thecapital letter from the lower case letter and retains its shapewhen written at speed.

Capital G: this form of G is recommended as the correcthandwriting form of the letter. Variations which include avertical line ( ) are font forms.

Capital H: the formation of H using two down strokesfollowed by the horizontal stroke from left to right isrecommended. The alternative (one down stroke followed by ahorizontal and a further down stroke) can quickly resemble theletter M when written at speed.

Capital K: the formation of K with two pencil strokes ratherthan three is recommended as it is more fluently formed whenwriting at speed.

As skills and confidence develop, left-handers may well formcapitals differently. This should not be an issue as capitals arenever joined.

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Key issues

Pattern practice and ‘play’ writing are an important part of handwriting development.When your child is ready for letter formation, ask these questions:

! Where does the letter start?! Is it a short letter? (a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z)! Does it have an ascender? (b, d, f, h, k, l, t)! Does it have a descender? (f, g, j, p, q, y)

The lower case letters are introduced in the following order in four family types:

Penpals for Handwriting: information for parents

The family of long ladder letters

The family of one-armed robot letters

The family of curly caterpillar letters

The family of zig-zag monster letters

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© Cambridge University Press 2003 Penpals for Handwriting: Foundation 2

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When you introduce Penpals into your school, it is important toensure that all the staff in the school follow the scheme. To dothis, it may be useful to hold an INSET staff meeting. Thefollowing pages of this book are photocopiable to make OHTsfor this purpose:

! page 11 – information sheet for parents;! page 13 – pencil hold and posture (NB: This can be sent

home along with the parent information sheet);! back cover of the Foundation 2 Big Book – lower case letters;! page 60 – handwriting mats.

You may also find it helpful to copy these pages from theYear 1 Teacher’s Book:

! page 13 – outline of handwriting INSET session;! page 14 – information sheet for parents;! page 16 – font size and line width.

Suggested topics for inclusion inINSET meetingOrganisational issues

! Rationale for introducing Penpals Use the informationon page 4.

! Classroom organisation Copy page 5 of this introductionfor all staff. Read through it together, agreeing on the mostappropriate time for the sessions, etc.

! Differentiation and record-keeping Use the informationon page 8

! Home–school links Make an OHT of the information sheeton page 11.

Handwriting issues

Font Use the inside front cover of the Foundation 2 Big Bookor an OHT of page 16 from the Year 1 Teacher’s Book todemonstrate the font. Information on page 10 of theintroduction may be used to clarify any issues arising.

Font sizes If appropriate, photocopy Year 1 Teacher’s Bookpage 16 to demonstrate how font size is shownthroughout Penpals.

Writing on lined paper Children should be encouraged towrite on lined paper from the time they begin to focus oncorrect letter formation and orientation. As the children’shandwriting becomes more controlled, the depth between thelines should decrease. It may well be that at any given timedifferent children in your class will benefit from writing onpaper with different line depths. The size of the font in thePractice Books is intended to reflect a development inhandwriting. However, you should still tailor the handwritingmaterials to meet the needs of individual children in your class.

Some children may prefer to write on lined paper which alsoincludes guidelines for the height of ascenders and descenders.

Pencil hold Make an OHT of page 13, which illustrates thetraditionally recommended pencil hold. However, there aremany alternative pencil holds (particularly for left-handers) andthe most important thing is comfort and a hold that will beefficient under speed. Some children may benefit fromtriangular pencils or ordinary pencils with plastic pencil grips.

Posture A good posture and pencil hold are vital for goodhandwriting. Although many young children enjoy sitting onone foot, kneeling or wrapping their feet around the legs of the

chair, they will find it easier to sustain good handwritingcomfortably if they adopt a good posture.

Left-handed children Left-handed children should not sit tothe right of right-handed children as their papers will meet inthe middle! Left-handed children should be taught to positiontheir paper to the left of centre and then angle the paper forcomfort as suggested below. There is no reason why left-handed children’s handwriting should be any worse than thatof right-handed children.

Sloped surfaces Children who experience some motor controldifficulties often benefit from writing on a slight slope. The easiestand cheapest way to provide this in the classroom is to usesubstantial A4 or foolscap ring-binders of which there are usuallyplenty in school. (The ones that held the old National Curriculumdocuments are excellent for this purpose!) Commercial woodenor plastic writing slopes are also widely available.

Angle of paper: using the writing mats Make an OHT ofthe writing mat for right- and left-handed children as providedon page 60. You can photocopy these onto A3 paper, mountthem on card and laminate them to make table-top mats forthe children. Use the spaces provided to allow children to findthe optimum position.

Show the children how to line up the corners of their booksto create a comfortable angle for writing, or how to use Blu-tack to secure lined paper to the mats. Encourage the childrento explore personal variation of the angles.

Remind the children that they need to move their paper as theychange from left- to right-hand pages!

12

Planning staff INSET

13

Pencil hold and posture

Pencil hold

!Pencil held betw

een thumb

andforefinger.

!M

iddle finger provides extrasupport.

Posture

!Feet flat on the floor.

!H

ead up, not resting on deskor hand.

!Paper at the correct angle.

!Spare hand steadies the paper.

© Cam

bridge University Press 2003 Penpals for Handw

riting:Foundation 2

14

Gross motor skills• Children walk tall.

• Children stretch out on the floor.

• Children stretch up, then slowly fold down (link tomusic and movement).

Fine motor skills• Children make play dough long ladder shapes. Then

they trace them with a finger.

• Children weave with paper strips.

• Children thread strings of beads.

• Children arrange strips of paper to make long ladders.

Introducing long ladder letters: l, i, t, u, j, y1

Play and practise

Unit focus: introducing the long ladder letter family.Phonic links: hearing initial phoneme l; alliteration in long ladder.

Sky writingChildren copy the three patterns whichemphasise movements in the long ladderfamily. Say “Start at the top, come down.”as children begin each movement.

Letter animationTalk about the long ladder familymnemonic. Play the letter animationand say the patter. Children make theletter shape and say the patter.

Word bankChoose a letter to discuss. Click on theletter to make it grey. Model and discussthe movements needed to form the letter.

Challenge artworkThe picture illustrates a word beginning with thetarget letter. Children identify the picture word (leaf).Write the word and establish the target letter.

CD-ROM

Identify theunit title.

Children fingertrace these letterssaying the sound.

Children write a line ofls. Check for pencil holdand correct letterformation.

Check pencil holds whilechildren pencil traceover the letters.

Check correct letterformation as childrenwrite the letterindependently.

Can the children identify thepictures and the initialphoneme? Can they spot thedouble l in the middle oflollipop? Children read thewords and then trace the ls.

u i a

r

Remind thechildren to usethe oral patter.t

Children write themissing ls in the spaces.Can they think of anotherword beginning with l? p

Children trace over thepatterns.

s

e o

0 Children practise sky writing long ladder patterns.

Common errors

• not starting at the top

• omitting the flick • reversing the flick

• letters not sitting on the line

Children use PCM 1 or 2 as long ladder family pattern or letter practice.

Practice Book warm up

Independent work

15

Take away

Group work

Out and about activity

Go for a walk to look for longladder shapes (e.g. drainpipes,climbing frames, corners of buildings,gate posts). Ask the children to stretch

up and trace the shapedown to the ground.

Practice Book 1 pages 2–3

Introduce the page• Encourage the children to talk about the page before

you begin.

• Point out the long ladder artwork.

Skywriting patterns• Emphasise always starting at the top, coming down.

Exaggerate no flick/flick.

Demonstrate the letter formations• Demonstrate the long ladder pattern using the ladder picture

and the oral letter family patter (see page 11).

• Emphasise the starting point and exit flick, and use the patter.

• Demonstrate the rest of the letters.Get Up and Go Ask the children to point to the startingpoint of each letter in the family.Show Me Children practise the letter l.

• Ask children to put the letters into sets. (t and l haveascenders, j and y have descenders, i and u are short.)

• Note that the descenders curve to the left on j and y.

• Look at the two short letters in this family, u and i.

Big Book page 2