Just Rewards Publications
Business Park Rd, Lisnenan, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
www.justrewards.ie
© Just Rewards 2023
ISBN 978-1-913137-67-0
Author: Dr Sinéad McCauley Lambe
Editor: Niamh O’Carroll (O’Carroll Editorial)
Design: Audrey Kavanagh
Illustrations: fruit pp8–10, 62, 65, 68, 91 © Tartila/Shutterstock.com; pets pp8, 28, 64, 69 © V3rc4/Shutterstock.com; yellow car pp8, 10, 26, 63, 66, 90 © rinrin_gs/Shutterstock.com; tractor pp8, 10 © Nadezda Barkova/Shutterstock.com; toys pp8, 9, 11, 26, 62, 63, 65, 92 © light_s/Shutterstock.com; sock p8 © GoodStudio/Shutterstock.com; hat pp8, 64, 89, scarf p89 © WinWin artlab/ Shutterstock.com; cutlery p8 © 4zevar/Shutterstock.com; animals p9, sea creatures p28 © MG Drachal/Shutterstock.com; clothes pp9, 11, 90, furniture p29 © GoodStudio/Shutterstock.com; plates & cups pp9, 13, 29 © Amanita Silvicora/Shutterstock.com; bus & plane pp9, 10, 62, 90 © Angelina De Sol/Shutterstock.com; beach set pp10, 27 © ayelet-keshet/Shutterstock.com; fish pp12, 26, 28, 63 © elchudo/Shutterstock.com; characters p13 © Vectorfair/Shutterstock.com; p17 © graphic-line/Shutterstock.com; p18 © Vector_Up/Shutterstock.com; p19 © FoxyImage/Shutterstock.com; p20 © Lyudmyla Kharlamova/Shutterstock.com; butterfly, bird, flower p26 © GuViDesign/Shutterstock.com; p47 car © DeawSS/Shutterstock.com; p48 © Terdpong/Shutterstock.com; p65 baby © cloverlittleworld/Shutterstock.com; green house pp65–67, 70 © An1988/Shutterstock.com; p69 ©Nuttapong/Shutterstock.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publishers or else under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Irish Copyright Licensing Association.
Move Write is a whole-body programme that will help children to develop the skills to succeed at handwriting:
• Gross motor skills
• Fine motor skills
• Visual perception skills.
Gross motor skills involve the body’s large muscles and relate to balance and stability, bilateral coordination, crossing the midline and spatial awareness. Fine motor skills involve control and coordination of the small muscles used in everyday tasks such as writing, drawing, cutting, and self-care skills such as feeding and dressing.
Visual perception is the process whereby the brain extracts and organises information, giving meaning to what we see. There are many components of visual processing which work together. These include hand-eye coordination, visual discrimination, form constancy, visual memory and visual-sequential memory.
The ability to copy geometric forms is recognised as an indication of writing readiness in children and requires integration of motor skills and visual processing skills. This Visual Skills practice book is designed as part of the Move Write programme to provide opportunities for children to practise visual skills across four key areas which are central to handwriting development.
1. Visual discrimination: the ability to classify objects or shapes based on visual information such as colour, form, pattern, size or position.
2. Visual closure: the ability to process visual information when the object or word is partially hidden.
3. Form constancy: the ability to identify a shape, letter, number or symbol when it is presented in a different way – for example, bigger, smaller, upside down, sideways or in a different font.
4. Visual-sequential memory: the ability to recall a sequence of objects in the correct order.
It is suggested that one page of this practice book is completed per Move Write session. However, each section of the book provides multiple opportunities to practise the same skill, allowing teaching to adapt to the specific requirements of the group or individual child.
The aim of the book is to provide multiple opportunities for children to practise the same skill. It is important that the emphasis is on practice and not product – it is not about getting the answer right! If a child makes an error, use the opportunity to talk about shape formation and spatial awareness.
Teaching points
Visual discrimination
Visual discrimination is about drawing children’s attention to the characteristics of a shape, letter or number. Your use of language and questioning is important in helping the child to develop their understanding of shape. For example, if a child chooses an incorrect letter in a matching activity, ask questions such as:
• Let’s check if those letters are the same. I’m going to trace the letter s on your hand/back and then you are going to trace it on mine. Now, let’s have a look at the letter that you think looks the same (letter z for example). I will trace that on your hand/back, and you trace it on mine.
• Do those shapes feel the same?
• Let’s try to draw the shapes (using blank paper). Do they look the same?
• What is the same or different about them?
Extend activities by asking the child how they came to choose their answer. For example:
• Can you tell me why you chose that one?
• Can you describe the shapes you can see on the teddy bear?
• Do any of the other pictures have the same shapes?
• Which picture is the most different to the shape of the teddy bear? Why do you think that?
Visual closure
It is important that the activity does not become about ‘getting it right’. The child does not need to finish the drawing perfectly. The focus is on helping them to think and talk about the shapes or lines that would make sense in relation to finishing off a letter or picture. For example:
• Let’s look at what we can see already – can you describe the shapes that you can see?
• I wonder what shapes we need to make to finish the drawing so that it looks like a car.
• Would it make sense to draw a square here? What do you think would make sense?
Form constancy
The purpose is to draw children’s attention to the fact that the shape/picture/letter/number stays the same regardless of the orientation. It might be helpful to model this using concrete materials such as Tangrams. The child could trace around a triangle-shaped Tangram. Then, turn the triangle upside down and ask them to trace around it again. Ask:
• Do your two pictures look the same? Why / why not?
• Has the shape changed or is it still the same? How could we check?
Visual-sequential memory
Use a blank page to block out all visuals apart from one line of the activity at a time. The focus of these activities is on recall and sequencing. Use the following questions to prompt children to develop strategies:
• Look carefully at the shapes. Can you say them out loud?
• Can you take a photograph with your eyes, and try to store that photo in your brain?
• What could help us to remember the colours/patterns/letters?
• Could we trace around them with our fingers / draw them in the air / on the table / on your back and say them out loud before we cover them?
1a. What does not belong?
1b. What does not belong?
1c. What does not belong?
1d. What does not belong?
2a. Which one is the same?
2b. Which one is the same?
2c. Which one is the same?
2d. Which one is the same?
3a. Which one is the same?
3b. Which one is the same?
3c. Which one is the same?
3d. Which one is the same?
4b. Find these items in the picture.
4d. Find these items in the picture.
5d. Find the letters that match.
6a. What is missing?
6b. What is missing?
6c. What is missing?
6d. What is missing?
p 31
z i y
k h q m a d a b
u u
z i y
l g
g h q
m v x n g
p 32
g h q
m 33
p l g
g i m l s e
z r y
m v x n m m
r a q
s r y
h
r b r
j r x n
o l s d
b
f k 34
9a. Find every number 2.
9b. Find every number 4.
R A Q
R B B
B R Y
H F O L S D
B 43
J R X N
F B
S V V
R A Q
H F O L S D
B V Y
J R X W
F V
V 46
11b. Complete the pictures.
11c. Complete the pictures.
11d. Complete the pictures.
