Penpals for Handwriting Teacher's book 2 by Cambridge International Education

Year 2 Teacher’s Book Gill Budgell

Kate Ruttle

Supported by the

Contents

denotes the introduction of new letters or joins

Component chart (inside front cover) Scope and sequence 2 GPS focus chart 4 Penpals for Handwriting: rationale 5 Sequence of teaching in a discrete handwriting session 7 Rules for handwriting 10 Differentiation, Assessment and record keeping 11 Beginning of year assessment 12 Key issues 13 Handwriting policy 14 Joining 15 Joining for Year 2 17 Units Term 1 1 Practising diagonal join to ascender: th|, ch| 2 Practising diagonal join, no ascender: ai|, ay| 3 Practising diagonal join, no ascender: ir|, er| 4 Practising horizontal join to ascender: wh|, oh| 5 Practising horizontal join, no ascender: ow|, ou| 6 Introducing diagonal join to e: ie|, ue| 7 Introducing horizontal join to e: oe|, ve| 8 Introducing ee| 9 Practising diagonal join, no ascender: le| 10 Writing numbers 1–100 Term 2 11 Introducing diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: ea| 12 Practising diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: igh| 13 Practising diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: dg|, ng| 14 Introducing horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: oo|, oa|

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

15 Practising horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: wa|, wo| 16 Introducing mixed joins for three letters: air|, ear| 17 Practising mixed joins for three letters: oor|, our| 18 Practising mixed joins for three letters: ing| 19 Size and spacing 20 End-of-term check Term 3 21 Building on diagonal join to ascender: ck|, al|, el|, at|, il|, ill| 22 Building on diagonal join, no ascender: ui|, ey|, aw|, ur|, an|, ip| 23 Building on horizontal join to ascender: ok|, ot|, ob|, ol| 24 Building on horizontal join, no ascender: oi|, oy|, on|, op|, ov| 25 Building on diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: ed|, cc|, eg|, ic|, ad|, ug|, dd|, ag| 26 Building on horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: oc|, og|, od|, va|, vo| 27 Introducing joins to s: as, s, is, os, ws, ns, ds, ls, ts, ks 28 Practising joining ed| and ing 29 Assessment 30 Capitals Photocopiable resources Photocopy Masters Writing mats Variations in font throughout Penpals for Handwriting

32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 63 64

Whole-body responses to the language of movement Large movements with equipment Large movements with malleable materials Body responses to music

Hand and finger play Making and modelling Messy play Links to art Using one-handed tools and equipment Hand responses to music

Pattern-making Investigating dots Investigating straight lines and crosses Investigating circles Investigating curves, loops and waves Investigating joined straight lines and angled patterns Investigating eights and spirals

Dots Straight lines and crosses Circles Waves Loops and bridges Joined straight lines Angled patterns Eights Spirals Left-to-right orientation Mix of patterns Review of patterns

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Introducing long-legged giraffe letters: l Practising long-legged giraffe letters: l, i Practising long-legged giraffe letters: u, t Practising long-legged giraffe letters: j, y Practising all the long-legged giraffe letters: l, i, t, u, j, y Introducing one-armed robot letters: r Practising one-armed robot letters: b, n Practising one-armed robot letters: h, m Practising one-armed robot letters: k, p Practising all the one-armed robot letters: r, b, n, h, m, k, p

Term 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Term 1

Foundation 2/Primary 1

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Developing patterns

5 6 7 8 9 10

Developing fine motor skills

1 2 3 4

Developing gross motor skills

Foundation 1/3–5 years

Units introducing new letters or joins are flagged with coloured dots.

Scope and sequence

Introducing curly caterpillar letters: c Practising curly caterpillar letters: a, d Practising curly caterpillar letters: o, s Practising curly caterpillar letters: g, q Practising curly caterpillar letters: e, f Practising all the curly caterpillar letters: c, a, d, o, s, g, q, e, f Practising all the curly caterpillar, long-legged giraffe and one-armed robot letters Introducing zig-zag monster letters: z Practising zig-zag monster letters: v, w, x Practising all the zig-zag monster letters: z, v, w, x Practising all the curly caterpillar and zig-zag monster letters Reviewing all the curly caterpillar and zig-zag monster letters

Numbers 10–20: spacing Practising ch unjoined Introducing diagonal join to ascender: c·h Practising ai unjoined Introducing diagonal join, no ascender: a<i Practising wh unjoined Introducing horizontal join to ascender: w#h Practising ow unjoined Introducing horizontal join, no ascender: oúw Assessment

Term 3

11 Practising long-legged giraffe letters, one-armed robot letters and curly caterpillar letters 12 Practising zig-zag monster letters 13 Writing words with double zz 14 Mixing all the letter families 15 Practising all the capital letters 16 Practising all the numbers 0–9 17 Writing words with ck and qu 18 Practising long vowel phonemes: ai, igh, oo 19 Practising vowels with adjacent consonants: ee, oa, oo 20 End-of-term check

27 28 29 30

21 22 23 24 25

Building on diagonal join to ascender: c·k, a<l, e©l, a<t, i<l, i<l<l Building on diagonal join, no ascender: u<i, e©y, a<w, u<r, a<n, i<p Building on horizontal join to ascender: oß@k, o®#t, oßb, oßl Building on horizontal join, no ascender: oúi, oúy, oún, oúp, oúv Building on diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: Ÿ©d, c·c, e©g, i<c, a<d, u<g, d<d, a<g Building on horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: o+c, o+g, o+d, v>a, v>o Introducing joins to s: aƒ[, eµ[, iƒ[, oü@ [, w>[, nƒ[, dƒ[, lƒ[, tƒ[, kƒ[ Practising joining Ÿ©d and i<n<g Assessment Capitals

Introducing diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: e©a Practising diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: i<gh Practising diagonal join to anticlockwise letters: d<g, n<g Introducing horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: o+o, o+a Practising horizontal join to anticlockwise letters: w>a, w>o Introducing mixed joins for three letters: a<i<r, e©a<r Practising mixed joins for three letters: o+oúr, oúu<r Practising mixed joins for three letters: i<n<g Size and spacing End-of-term check

Term 2

Practising diagonal join to ascender: t<h, c·h Practising diagonal join, no ascender: a<i, a<y Practising diagonal join, no ascender: i<r, e©r Practising horizontal join to ascender: w#h, oß@h Practising horizontal join, no ascender: oúw, oúu Introducing diagonal join to e: iÿ, uÿ Introducing horizontal join to e: o°e, v}e Introducing ö Practising diagonal join, no ascender: lÿ Writing numbers 1–100 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Term 1

Year 2/Primary 3

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Term 3

Practising long-legged giraffe letters Writing words with ll Introducing capitals for long-legged giraffe letters Practising one-armed robot letters Practising long-legged giraffe letters and one-armed robot letters 6 Introducing capitals for one-armed robot letters 7 Practising curly caterpillar letters 8 Writing words with double ff 9 Writing words with double ss 10 Introducing capitals for curly caterpillar letters

1 2 3 4 5

Term 1

Year 1/Primary 2

32 33 34 35 36

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Term 3

23 Practising all the long-legged giraffe and one-armed robot letters 24 Reviewing all the long-legged giraffe and one-armed robot letters

Introducing joining from s to an anticlockwise letter: s©a, s©c,

Introducing joining to f: i<f, e©f, a<f, o®#f Introducing joining from f to an ascender: _‹@ #l, _‹@#õª Introducing joining from f, no ascender: _ù, _®@i, _®@u, _®@ r, _®@ y Introducing joining from f to an anticlockwise letter: _@›o, _@›a Introducing _‹@ #_®@ Introducing r¬@r Introducing sµ[ Introducing |u Revising parallel ascenders and descenders End-of-term check

Revising joins: letter spacing Revising joins: spacing between words Revising joins: consistency of size Revising joins: fluency Revising joins: parallel ascenders Revising joins: parallel ascenders and descenders Revising horizontal join from r to an anticlockwise letter: r>[ Revising break letters Assessment Revising capital letters

b¿, p©u, p©i, p¿

Introducing diagonal join from p and b to an anticlockwise letter: p©a, p©o, pµ[, b©a, b©o, bµ[ 4 Revising parallel ascenders and descenders: b©b, p©p 5 Break letters: x, z 6 Spacing in common exception words 7 Consistent size of letters 8 Relative size of capitals 9 Speed and fluency 10 End-of-term check

Introducing diagonal join from p and b, no ascender: b©u, b©i,

b©l

Introducing diagonal join from p and b to ascender: p©h, p©l,

Term 1

Year 4/Primary 5

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Term 3

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Term 2

6 7 8

Introducing joining from r to an ascender: ñ¡@ b, ñ¡@ h, ñ¡@ k, ñ¡@ l, Ñ@@t Introducing joining from r, no ascender: r¬i@ , r¬u @ , r¬n@ , r¬p@ Introducing joining from r to an anticlockwise letter: r>a, r>d, r>g, r>o 9 Introducing joining from r to e: a<r}e, e©r}e, u<r}e, oúr}e, i<r}e 10 Introducing break letters: g, j, y, f, b, p, x, z

s©d, s©g, s©o, s©q

s©u

2 3 4

Practising joining through a word in stages: no ascenders or descenders Practising joining through a word in stages: parallel ascenders Introducing joining from s to ascender: s©h, s©l, s©t, s©k Introducing joining from s, no ascender: s©w, s©i, s@@¿, s©m, s©n, s©p,

Term 1

Year 3/Primary 4 Revising parallel ascenders Revising parallel ascenders and break letters Relative sizes of letters Proportion of letters Spacing between letters Spacing between words Writing at speed Improving fluency Speed and fluency End-of-term check

Consistency of size Proportion Spacing between letters and words Size, proportion and spacing Fluency: writing longer words Speed and fluency Revising break letters Print alphabet: presentation Assessment Capital letters: presentation

11 Practising sloped writing: proportion – joining from f to ascender: _‹@ #l, _‹@#õª 12 Practising sloped writing: size – joining from f, no ascender: _@›a, _ù, _®@i, _@›o, _®@u 13 Different styles for different purposes: writing a paragraph 14 Practising sloped writing: speed: _‹@ #_®@ 15 Practising sloped writing: speed and legibility: r¬@r 16 Practising sloped writing: size, proportion and spacing: sµ[ 17 Practising sloped writing: building speed: |u 18 Different styles for different purposes: decorative alphabets 19 Different styles for different purposes 20 End-of-term check

Term 2

Introducing sloped writing in letter families Practising sloped writing: diagonal join to ascender: t<h, s©h, n<b, n<d, h<t, s©t 3 Practising sloped writing: diagonal join, no ascender: a<i, a<y, k<n, e©r, iÿ, e©n 4 Practising sloped writing: diagonal join to an anticlockwise letter: a<c, s©c, b©o, d<a, e©a, h<o 5 Practising sloped writing: horizontal join to ascender: w#h, w#l, oß@h, oßl, o®#f, @oßb 6 Practising sloped writing: horizontal join, no ascender: oúi, oúy, oúu, oúp, v}e 7 Practising sloped writing: horizontal join to an anticlockwise letter: o+o, o+a, w>a, w>o, v>a, v>o 8 Practising sloped writing: joining from r: r>a, r}e, r¬@i, r>o, r¬@u 9 Practising sloped writing: joining from s: s©h, s©u, s©c, s©l, s©w, s©p 10 End-of-term check

1 2

Term 1

Year 5/Primary 6

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Term 3

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Term 2

Style for speed: crossbar join from t: tôh, t®i, t®r, t›a, õªõª Style for speed: looping from g: \l, \i, \r, \a, \g Style for speed: looping from j and y: Ø, ]o, ó, {r, {o Style for speed: looping from f Style for speed: different joins to s Style for speed: looping from b Style for speed: joining from v, w, x and z Handwriting for different purposes: abbreviations Spacing between words End-of-term check Improving handwriting: the importance of consistent sizing Improving handwriting: the importance of proportion Improving handwriting: the importance of spacing Improving handwriting: the importance of consistent sizing of parallel ascenders and descenders Improving handwriting: the importance of closed and open letters Improving handwriting: pen breaks in longer words Handwriting for different purposes: annotations Handwriting for different purposes Choice of handwriting tools End-of-term check 21 Handwriting for different purposes: fast-joined and print letters 22 Handwriting for different purposes: note making 23 Handwriting for different purposes: neat writing 24 Handwriting for different purposes: print letters for personal details 25 Different styles of writing 26 Handwriting for different purposes: presentation 27 Handwriting for different purposes: decorated capitals 28 Handwriting for different purposes: layout 29 Assessment 30 Handwriting for different purposes: handwriting patterns

Term 3

16 17 18 19 20

11 12 13 14

Term 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Term 1

Year 6/Primary 7

21 Sloped writing: proportion, joining p and b to ascenders: p©h, p©l, b©l 22 Handwriting for different purposes: joining from p and b, no ascender: b©u, b©i, p¿, p©u, p©i, p©r 23 Practising sloped writing: parallel downstrokes: p©p, b©b 24 Practising sloped writing: all double letters 25 Practising sloped writing for speed: t<i<a<l, c·i<a<l 26 Practising sloped writing for fluency 27 Personal style 28 Handwriting for different purposes: print alphabet 29 Assessment 30 Capitals

Term 3

GPS scope and sequence The Penpals Workbooks from Year 1 to Year 6 have a different GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) focus in each unit. The focus type is indicated at the top of each unit page.

Year 1/Primary 2

Year 2/Primary 3

Term 1 Unit 1 2

Term 1 GPS focus

P G

4 5

G S

S P S

8 9 10

Unit

Full stop and exclamation mark

Sorting words: I

see, I do

Matching lower case and capital letters: long-legged giraffe letters

Prefix

un-

Common exception words: my, the, put Matching lower case and capital letters: onearmed robot letters Adding

-s| to make plural nouns

Question marks and full stops

Compound words

-s| or -es to make plurals Common exception words: was, with, were, very

Capital letters for names

Matching numerals and number words (zero to nine)

G G G S

18 19 20

GPS focus

-s| or -es to make plurals Adding -er| and -est to adjectives Adding -ing and -ed to verbs Adding

Writing the days of the week

Unit

P G S S G

G P

G Adding -s| to make plurals S Identifying different pronunciations of ow P G Full stops, question marks, exclamation marks

29 30

Matching numerals and number words (ten to twenty)

18 19 20

Full stops and question marks Adding

-ing to verbs

22 23 24 25

Making sets of rhyming words

Compound words

Using

wh| words

Ordering words in a sentence: full stops and question marks

Homophones Spelling choices: ai| and

Making adjectives by adding –er Full stops and question marks Common exception words Plurals: –iÿs Simple past and present tense Suffixes: –ment|, –ness, –less, –l|y Word endings: le|, il, el, al Number words

GPS focus

G S P S G S S G G P

Making noun phrases Using

igh, iÿ|

Question or command Compound words Identifying nouns and verbs Homophones Homophones Present continuous tense Subordination and coordination Punctuating sentences

Term 3

GPS focus

Unit

Term 3

S S G P S S G S S S

Term 2 Unit

atching lower case and capital letters: curly M caterpillar letters

Adding

Counting syllables

P S G G P

Question marks

Term 2 Unit

GPS focus

28 29 30

GPS focus

G P P G G P G G S P

Noun phrases Possessive apostrophes Capital letters and full stops Past tense Comparative and superlative adjectives Possessive apostrophes Past and present tense Past simple tense Contractions Capital and lower-case letters

Penpals for Handwriting: rationale Even in this technological, computer-literate age, good handwriting remains fundamental to our children’s educational achievement. Penpals for Handwriting is the only handwriting programme to offer a progression from 3–11 years and will help you teach children to develop fast, fluent and legible handwriting. If you would like advice on implementing a handwriting policy at your school, you can find this on our website, education.cambridge.org/ PenpalsWelcome.

Traditional principles in the contemporary classroom We believe that: 1. A flexible, fluent and legible handwriting style empowers children to write with confidence and creativity. This is an entitlement that needs careful progression and skilful discrete teaching that is frequent and continues beyond the initial foundation stages. 2. Handwriting is a developmental process with its own distinctive stages of sequential growth. We have identified five stages that form the basic organisational structure of Penpals: (i) Physical preparation for handwriting: gross and fine motor skills leading to mark-making, patterns and letter formation (Foundation, 3–5 years) (ii) Securing correct letter formation (Key Stage 1, 5–6 years) (iii) Beginning to join along with a focus on relative size and spacing (Key Stage 1, 6–7 years) (iv) Securing the joins along with a focus on break letters, legibility, consistency and quality (Lower Key Stage 2, 7–9 years) (v) Practising speed, fluency and developing a personalised style for different purposes (Upper Key Stage 2, 9–11 years)

A practical approach Penpals offers a practical, active learning, approach to support the delivery of handwriting teaching in response to the increased demands of the National Curriculum 2014. • Time: Penpals’ focus on whole-class teaching from an interactive whiteboard, with key teaching points clearly identified, allows effective teaching in the time available. • Planning: Penpals helps with long-, medium- and short-term planning for each year group, correlated to national guidelines. • Practice: Penpals offers pupil Practice Books, as well as Workbooks, with their own internal structure of excellent models for finger tracing, tracing, copying and independent writing. • Assessment: Penpals offers many opportunities for assessment, including: self-assessment questions and challenges throughout the Practice Books and Workbooks; two or three assessment units in each year group and assessment ideas in the Teacher’s Books. The Penpals for Handwriting Intervention Programme also provides further information, activities and checklists. • Motivation: Penpals is attractive and well-designed with clear links between all of the elements in each year group. The materials are written with the support of children, classroom assistants, teachers, and handwriting experts to stimulate and motivate children. • ICT: Use the Penpals Interactives to enrich and extend the children’s handwriting experiences.

3. Handwriting must also be practised discretely and in context. Beyond the initial foundation stages, Penpals provides Workbooks for handwriting practice in the context of age-appropriate spelling, punctuation and grammar. Learning to associate the kinaesthetic handwriting movement with the visual letter pattern and the aural phonemes will help children with learning to spell. However, Penpals always takes a ‘handwriting first’ approach. 4. Choosing the writing implement best suited to the task is an important part of a handwriting education. A Penpals Font CD-ROM supports practitioners who wish to use the Penpals font consistently in all aspects of teaching and learning.

Penpals for Handwriting: rationale

A few words from the experts â&#x20AC;Ś Handwriting is the bedrock for learning. Being able to handwrite allows children to express themselves on paper and gives them confidence as well as pride in their work. Many teachers will have seen the utter delight in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes when they first discover that they can communicate through marks on the page. It is also sometimes overlooked that handwriting supports the mastery of other skills in school, such as early reading, spelling and the securing of mathematical concepts. The physical connectivity with the pencil seems to impact on the brain in a way that using a keyboard does not1, 2. If children can learn to write legibly, fluently and automatically when they are in the primary school, this skill then allows them to engage fully with the secondary curriculum where they are expected to take notes, produce written assignments in class, and complete tests and exams under timed conditions3. Being able to fully demonstrate understanding, knowledge and ability is critical to their progress as this is the way in which they are judged. It is important that handwriting has been fully mastered as it has been demonstrated in several research studies that failing to write legibly can cost vital marks in tests and exams where examiners struggle to read the text4. It has also been found that where young people cannot get enough work down on the page, the content of what they write suffers5, 6, 7. In these ways, handwriting has been shown to play a vital role in academic success at school. Where schools equip themselves with a scheme, such as Penpals for Handwriting, which supports statutory curriculum requirements, they can promote excellence in handwriting and benefit from its application across the curriculum. Dr Angela Webb, Chair of The National Handwriting Association Anthony et al, 2007 James et al, 2015 3 Muller & Oppenheimer, 2014 4 Santangelo & Graham, 2015 5 Christensen, 2005 6 Connelly et al, 2001 7 Webb et al, 2011 1 2

Handwriting is the ultimate fine motor task, which additionally requires skills in hand-eye co-ordination, organisation and sequencing. We expect these skills of very young children, all too often before they are developmentally ready, for example requiring fine motor control of fingers before having postural stability. Pre-writing skills can be learnt, but we should not expect letter and number formation until they can master an oblique cross (X), which requires crossing midline. Many children with handwriting difficulties are referred to occupational therapists who can help improve letter formation, fluency and pencil grip, for example, but it would be of greater benefit to make sure children get the basics of handwriting correct at the outset. Penpals for Handwriting will help establish the right skills at the right time for each child and so make this essential communication tool a pleasure rather than a chore. Catherine Elsey State Registered Occupational Therapist, National Handwriting Association

Sequence of teaching in a discrete handwriting session The intended sequence is: 1. Teach: The teacher introduces the unit focus using the Penpals Interactive.

2. Practise: The child practises the unit focus through a short activity or text. There is generally no additional cognitive demand so children can concentrate on their handwriting; however, some of the units make reference to the wider curriculum.

5. Assess: Children are asked to self- or peer-assess their handwriting as well as the GPS objective.

A note about phonics This revised edition of Penpals for Handwriting enables you to develop the use of handwriting to support children’s synthetic phonic knowledge for segmenting and spelling. In most schools, individual letters are written to reinforce graphemes as they are introduced. Penpals then gives children the opportunity to revisit and consolidate their growing phonic knowledge whist securing the kinaesthetic movements – the muscle memories – to secure good spelling in a legible, fast and fluent handwriting style. So for example, the word thing is taught initially as t-h-i-n-g, then as t<h-i-n<g, then as t<h-i<n<g and then t<h<i<n<g.

A note about application of handwriting across the curriculum 3. Assess: Children are asked to self- or peer-assess their handwriting. 4. Apply: Following a brief introduction to rehearse the join or focus, children are asked to complete an activity where there is a cognitive demand in addition to the handwriting focus. This enables the child to apply their handwriting in a brief activity. Please note that the Workbooks should not be used to introduce a GPS concept, but should only be used for reinforcement and consolidation.

One of the challenges of all handwriting programmes is achieving the transfer of skills from the child’s handwriting book to their other writing. The Workbooks are intended to support this transfer by offering grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) activities with a handwriting focus. High frequency words, also known as common exception words, from the National Curriculum in England are embedded in the Workbooks. After following the suggested teaching sequence below, transfer of the join or other unit focus into writing across the curriculum should be encouraged.

Sequence of teaching in a discrete handwriting session

Using the Penpals for Handwriting components Ten units have been provided for each school term. The terms have been organised into a specific teaching sequence to ensure that skills are developed, practised and consolidated. Units 20 and 29 are assessment units, which give both practitioner and children the opportunity to review progress and set new targets if appropriate.

3. Teach (Letter/join animations): These provide opportunities to talk about correct letter/join formations. Children can practise palm writing and copying the letters/joins in the identified words.

For each unit, you will need: • The Y2 Teacher’s Book. • The Y2 Interactive. • An interactive whiteboard or tablet. • A laptop or PC connected to a data projector. Children will need: • A sharp pencil and writing book each. Dry-wipe pens and small whiteboards can be used if preferred; however, since good posture is crucial to good handwriting, it is important to ensure that children are sitting at a table with both feet flat on the floor for their written work. • Coloured pencils. • Y2 Practice Book. • Y2 Workbook.

4. Teach (Gallery): This includes samples of handwriting for children to assess. Look at some examples of good writing and identify necessary improvements in poor samples.

The teaching sequence of each unit generally follows the common pattern outlined here.

Using the Interactives: whole-class session 1. Unit focus: This is clearly identified at the start of each unit. 5. Practise (Word Bank): Model how to click a letter or word from the Word Bank to practise tracing and writing it on-screen. Invite children to engage with this in a teaching session or independently as practice. The Word Bank includes a Challenge Word which is also provided as an image. Invite children to identify the word, which will be linked to the unit focus.

2. Penpals gym: Handwriting is a physical activity so children need to warm up their muscles. Use the activities shown to physically prepare the core muscles and the hands for handwriting.

Sequence of teaching in a discrete handwriting session

Using the Practice Book This session should ideally follow on directly from the whole-class session. It is best if work is overseen by an adult to ensure correct letter formation and joining, especially for children about whom there are concerns. The teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s page for the unit provides key learning points to help identify issues on which to focus.

If your timetable means that the Workbook activity is introduced on another day, revisit the unit on the IWB to remind children of the handwriting focus. One or more of the words in the word bank will be relevant to the Workbook session.

1. Independent writing: Practice of the focus join or joins. 1. Independent writing: Practice of the unit focus, letter or join. 2. Writing the unit focus, letter or join in context: Once children have finger traced (where appropriate) they should try to write them in a simple phrase, sentence, activity, joke or rhyme. 3. Self- or peer-assessment: Children are asked to identify where they have demonstrated control of the unit focus and where they need to improve. They should then improve that letter, join or word. 4. Pattern practice: Children will need coloured pencils, or similar, to practise the pattern at the bottom of the page. These usually reflect the pencil movement of the unit focus, but always enhance fine motor control. These patterns are artwork, not letters, and should be treated as opportunities to develop fluent and controlled movement.

Using the Workbook Once their work has been checked, children can move directly from the Practice Book to the Workbook. The workbooks offer an opportunity to use the handwriting join or focus to consolidate (not to teach or introduce) understanding from GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) lessons. You may want to monitor children as they progress through this session.

2. Writing joins in words or groups of letters: Once children have practised writing the unit focus, letters or joins, they should use them in words which are relevant to the grammar, punctuation or spelling activity. 3. Introduce the activity: Explain the grammar, punctuation or spelling focus and talk about the activity. See the chart on p4 which provides an overview of the GPS content. 4. Completing the activity: Children complete the activity, following the instructions. 5. Self- or peer-assess: Children assess their achievement in terms of both the grammar, punctuation and spelling focus and handwriting. As before, they identify where they have managed the join or handwriting focus well and letters, joins or words to improve. 6. Challenge activity: There is often an additional Challenge activity, for those children who need it, to attempt. Home practice Photocopy masters (PCMs) are provided at the back of the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book for extra practice or for homework.

Joining Penpals for Handwriting F1, F2 and Year 1 introduce, practise and consolidate letter formation in letter families.

children are gradually introduced to the idea of joining more than one pair of letters within a word.

By the time they reach the Year 3 resources, children should be becoming secure and confident with the common joins and beginning to use them in all ‘neat’ writing activities. The emphasis throughout Penpals is on developing a fluent and even handwriting style, ensuring consistency in the size and proportion of letters, in the spaces between and within words and in parallel downwards strokes.

In the final term of Year 2, children are introduced to other pairs of letters which are joined using the same joining strokes.

Progression in the introduction of joins Y1/P2 In order to support the early stages of spelling, some joins are introduced in the final term of Year 1. In paired units, children practise writing the letters and then practise joining pairs of letters. The words on the Interactive and in the Practice Book and Workbook all feature the focus join and offer practice opportunities. • Children should be taught to: –– sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly –– begin to form lower case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place –– form capital letters –– form the digits 0 to 9 –– understand which letters belong to which handwriting families (i.e. letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these. (National Curriculum 2014) • Throughout Year 1, reinforce a good pencil grip and correct letter formation in all writing that children do. • Throughout the year, children’s motor skills will improve and become more precise. Correct letter formation should become an automatic habit. • Don’t make children write too small or too quickly. As with most aspects of their development, children’s ability to manipulate pencils will mature at different ages. Trying to enforce small handwriting too soon can lead to a very cramped style which is then difficult to make fluent. Y2/P3 During Year 2, all of the basic joins are taught. Until the summer term, there is no expectation that children will automatically join letters they have not been explicitly taught, although this should be encouraged if children begin to explore. For example, the movement for the join wh| (i.e. horizontal join to ascender) is exactly the same as for joining oh|, ol|, ot|, ob| and so on. Once a join has been introduced between pairs of letters (e.g. wh|), children will always be expected to copy the model showing those joined letter pairs. In this way,

Pupils should be taught to: • form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another • start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined • write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower case letters • use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters. Y3/P4 and Y4/P5 From Year 3, when all of the basic joins have all been taught and practised, you should begin to encourage joined writing across the curriculum. Use the Penpals for Handwriting Intervention Programme to reinforce inaccurate or messy joins. During Years 3 and 4, children are introduced to the idea of joining through a word and to trickier joins such as joining from r, s and f. As the movement for joins becomes more familiar and fluent, the focus moves to develop a neat and even style by looking at size and proportion, parallel downwards strokes and spacing. Pupils should be taught to: • use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined • increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting (e.g. by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant). Y5/P6 In Year 5 a slightly more sloped style is introduced to enable speedier writing. All previous taught letters and joins are revisited to enable children to practise the slope in familiar contexts. Children focus on issues of proportion, size, legibility and different styles for different purposes. Children should be taught to write legibly and fluently and with increasing speed by: • Choosing which shape of a letter to use and deciding whether or not to join specific letters. • Choosing the writing implement that is best suited to a task.

Joining Children revisit and reinforce all of the joins to build increased speed and fluency using a sloped style of handwriting. Many children will now be writing primarily in pen. In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to: • write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by: –– choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters –– choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task. Y6/P7 The emphasis should now be on developing a personal, fast, fluent and legible handwriting style. Children are given opportunities to practise a range of ways of joining with the expectation that they will develop a style that ‘works’ for them. Additionally, children continue to focus on key issues for legibility and speed as well as styles and implements for different purposes.

Defining the joins (See p17 of this Teacher’s Book for a full list of letter sets requiring each of the joins as taught in Year 2.) The two basic join types • Diagonal join (e.g. at|) (introduced in Year 1/Primary 2, Unit 23): This is the most common join. It starts from the final flick on the baseline (or ‘curl’ in the case of the letter t). • Horizontal join (e.g. wh|) (introduced in Year 1/ Primary 2, Unit 27): This join is formed from letters that finish at the top of the letter rather than at the baseline. Variations on the join types Penpals uses three subsets of the main joins: join to a letter with an ascender, join to a letter with no ascender and join to a letter that begins with an anticlockwise movement. Since the last subset involves stopping the pencil and reversing the direction of movement, these are called ‘diagonal join to an anticlockwise letter’ and ‘horizontal join to an anticlockwise letter’. Joins to anticlockwise letters are trickier to teach and need more practice than straightforward horizontal and diagonal joins. These joins tend to ‘decay’ when children begin to write more quickly. • Diagonal join to a letter with an ascender (e.g. ch|) (introduced in Year 1/Primary 2, Unit 23): This is a variation of the diagonal join. • Horizontal join to a letter with an ascender (e.g. wh|) (introduced in Year 1/Primary 2, Unit 27) This is a slightly sloped version of a horizontal join.

• Diagonal join to an anticlockwise letter (e.g. ea|) (introduced in Year 2/Primary 3, Unit 11): Joining with a diagonal join to the anticlockwise letters in the ‘curly caterpillar’ family involves stopping the hand movement and reversing it. This can be a tricky join and it decays easily in fast writing. • Horizontal join to an anticlockwise letter (e.g. oo|) (introduced in Year 2/Primary 3, Unit 14): Joining from a horizontal join to an anticlockwise letter involves a reversal. • Break letters (introduced in Year 3/Primary 4, Unit 10): These are letters from which no join has yet been taught (see notes on p13). Correct formation of key joins can be demonstrated using the Library of joins section in the interactives.

Joining for Year 2 Join

Letters in this box

To letters in this box

Diagonal join to ascender

aceilt

hklt

ch|, th|, ck|, al|, el|, at|, il|, ill|, ok|, ot|, ob|, ol|

einry

ai|, ay, ir|, er|, ie|, ue|, ee, le|, ar|, ur|, in|, ui|, ey, aw|, an|, ip

acdgs

ea|, ig, dg, ng, ed|, cc|, eg, ic|, ad|, ug, dd|, ag, as, es, os, ns, ds, is, ls, ts, ks

Diagonal join, no ascender

acdeikln tu

(anticlockwise letters)

Horizontal join, no ascender

ovw

Horizontal join, to ascender

Joins taught

einpruvwy

|ow|, ou|, oe|, ve|, or|, oi|, oy, on|, op|, ov

acdgos (anticlockwise letters)

|oo|, oa|, wa|, wo|, oc|, og, od|, va|, vo

wh, oh

Break letters These letters do not join:

gjxyz

We do not join from these letters yet:

bfpqsr

Unit 1 Practising diagonal join to ascender: c·h, t<h e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to find the best join to tick and one to improve. f Children finger trace and write the pattern.

Key learning • Same join, different letters. • Ascender of t slightly shorter than h. • All letters on the baseline.

3 Using the Workbook (p2)

1 Using the Interactives Penpals gym • Ask children to try the warm-ups: Spirals and Wrist rhythm, or choose others from the reference area. Teach • Ask children to join in with the skywriting pattern. • Demonstrate the animated join. Children should practise this. • Remind them that they learned to join c·h at the end of Year 1. Demonstrate how t<h is the same join: it is a diagonal join from the baseline to a letter with an ascender. • Visit the Gallery. Identify and assess the target join and share with children.

Handwriting practice with a spelling focus: homophones a Watch while children trace and write the letters and joins. Check the key learning points. b Establish that the words are homophones (they sound the same but have different spellings). Watch children trace and write the words. c Children read the text, identifying the best word to fill each gap. Ask children to trace the tinted words and to write the words needed to fill each gap. Prompt children to re-read the text to ensure it makes sense. d Challenge activity: write a sentence using each of t<here, t<heir and t<hey’re. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to check the joins and find one join to tick and one to improve.

a b c d e 4 Extra support

Practise • Children practise using the word bank: benc·h, catc·h, c·hapter, c·hoose, t<hick, t<here, healt<hy, eart<h. • The challenge word is healt<hy.

2 Using the Practice Book (p2) a Children finger trace the joins on the top line. b Watch while children write the letters. Remind them that both joins are to an ascender and t is slightly lower than h. Check the key learning points. c Ask children to read and copy the question with a focus on t<h and c·h joins. d Children read and write the words.

Small group work: Workbook • Pre-teach or revisit diagonal join to ascender. • Discuss the homophones. Can children explain the difference in meaning or suggest a sentence for each one? • Children work with word cards to fill gaps before working in the Workbook. Homework • PCM 1 on page 48.

a d

Small group work: Practice Book • Suggest children practise both joins individually before trying the progression on the page. • Next they practise reading and writing the words t<he, c·hildren, t<heir, lunc·h, beac·h, focusing on the c·h and t<h joins. • Read the text together before children write it on a baseline in their books.

5 Common errors • Ascender of h too high. • Ascender of t the same height as h. • Downward retracing of the vertical stroke in h is untidy and creates two lines. • Spacing between the joined letters is too wide or too squashed.

Term 1

Unit 2 Practising diagonal join, no ascender: a<i, a<y f

Key learning

Children finger trace and write the pattern.

3 Using the Workbook (p3)

• Same join, different letters. • Length of descender. • All letters on the baseline.

1 Using the Interactives Penpals gym • Ask children to try the warm-ups: Shoulder roll and Soft and spiky fingers, or choose others from the reference area. Teach • Ask children to join in with the skywriting pattern. • Demonstrate and practise the animated join. • Remind them that they learned to join a<i at the end of year 1. Show that a<y is the same join: a diagonal join from the baseline to a letter with no ascender. • Visit the Gallery. Identify and assess the target join and share with children.

Handwriting practice with a spelling focus: spelling choices a<i, a<y a Watch while children trace and write the joins. Check the key learning points. b Ask children to read the words and then to trace and write them. c Children read each word identifying the best spelling a<i or a<y to fill each gap. Prompt children to trace and add the chosen letters to complete each word. d Challenge activity: write all the days of the week. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to check the spelling choices and joins in each word, finding one join to tick and one to improve.

a b c

4 Extra support Practise • Children practise using the word bank: wa<it, sna<il, expla<ined, toda<y, alwa<ys, cra<yon, Wednesda<y. • The challenge word is cra<yon.

2 Using the Practice Book (p3) a Children finger trace the joins on the top line. b Watch while children write the letters. Remind them that both joins are to an x-height letter and that y has a descender. Check the key learning points. c Ask children to read and write the short rhyme with a focus on a<i and a<y joins. d Children read and write the words. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to find the best join to tick and one to improve.

a d

Term 1

Small group work: Practice Book • Suggest children practise both joins individually before trying the progression on the page. If helpful, teach a<i, a<u then a<y to scaffold. • Next they practise reading and writing the words ra<in, awa<y, aga<in, da<y, focusing on the a<i and a<y joins. • Read the text together before children write it on a baseline in their books. Small group work: Workbook • Pre-teach or revisit diagonal join to no ascender. • Pre-teach or revisit a<i and a<y: different letters but the same sound. • Children work with word cards or joined plastic letters for a<i and a<y to fill the gaps before working in the Workbook. Homework • Children write a new word for each day of the week with a<i joined. • PCM 2 on page 48.

5 Common errors • Dotting the i before the join is complete. • Incorrect length of ascender. • Curves between a and first stroke and second stroke of y not smooth.

Unit 3 Practising diagonal join, no ascender: i<r, e©r Key learning

3 Using the Workbook (p4)

• Same join, different letters. • All x-height. • All letters on the baseline.

1 Using the Interactives Penpals gym • Ask children to try the warm-ups: Clap hands and Flying birds, or choose others from the reference area. Teach • Ask children to join in with the skywriting pattern. • Demonstrate the animated join. Children should practise this. • Visit the Gallery. Identify and assess the target join and share with children.

Handwriting practice with a grammar focus: making adjectives by adding -e©r a Watch while children trace and write the joins. Check the key learning points. b Ask children to read the words and the trace and write them. Point out that they are adjectives: one has –e©r added, one –r and one –ie©r. Revisit the rule. c Children read each word, deciding which ending it needs and why. They write it with its correct ending. Challenge children to say each word in a sentence. d Challenge activity: write three more adjectives with an –e©r ending. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to check the spelling choices and i<r and e©r joins in each word, finding one join to tick and one to improve.

a b c d

Practise • Children practise using the word bank: he©r, expe©r t, icebe©rg, pe©rformance, di<rtie©r, bi<rt<hda<y, t<hi<rteent<h. • The challenge word is expe©rt.

2 Using the Practice Book (p4) a Children finger trace the joins on the top line. b Watch while children write the letters. Remind them that all letters in these joins are x-height and so should be the same height. Check the key learning points. c Ask children to read and write the short text with a focus on i<r and e©r joins. Note that t<h is now joined. d Children read and write the words. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to find the best join to tick and one to improve. f Children finger trace and write the pattern.

4 Extra support Small group work: Practice Book • Suggest children practise both joins individually before trying the progression on the page. • Next they practise reading and writing words with i<r and e©r joins. • Read the text together before children write it. Small group work: Workbook • Revisit diagonal join to no ascender: a<i, a<y, i<r and e©r. • Revisit i<r and e©r: different letters, same sound. • Revisit the rules for adding –e©r for comparatives. • Children work with word cards and word endings before working in the Workbook. Homework • Children write the days of the week with a<y joined. • PCM 3 on page 49.

a d

5 Common errors • Dotting the i before the join is complete. • Incorrect length of ascender. • Curves between a and first stroke and second stroke of y not smooth.

Term 1

Unit 4 Practising horizontal join to ascender: w#h, oß@h Key learning

3 Using the Workbook (p5)

• Same join, different letters. • Both join to an ascender. • All letters on the baseline.

1 Using the Interactives Penpals gym • Ask children to try the warm-ups: Soft arms, stiff arms and Knuckles, wrists and palms, or choose others from the reference area. Teach • Ask children to join in with the skywriting pattern. • Demonstrate and practise the animated joins. • Remind them that they learned to join w#h at the end of Year 1. Show that oß@h is the same join: a horizontal join to a letter with an ascender. • Visit the Gallery. Identify and assess the target join.

Handwriting practice with a punctuation focus: full stops and question marks a Watch while children trace and write the joins. Check the key learning points. b Ask children to read the words and then to trace and write them. Highlight that these are question words. c Children read each sentence, identifying the w#h joins. Prompt children to trace each sentence and to add punctuation. Then children write each sentence again using correct punctuation and tick the punctuation marks used. d Self- or peer-assess: ask children to check the punctuation choices and w#h joins in each word, finding one join to tick and one to improve.

a b c

4 Extra support Practise • Children practise using the word bank: w#hen, w#hat, w#hy, w#he©re, w#hic·h, w#het<he©r, w#ho, w#heel. • The challenge word is w#heel.

2 Using the Practice Book (p5) a Children finger trace the joins on the top line. b Watch while children write the letters. Remind them that both o and w join to an ascender h. Check the key learning points. c Ask children to read and write the phrase with a focus on w#h and oß@h joins. d Children read and write the words. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to find the best join to tick and one to improve. f Children finger trace and write the pattern.

a d

Small group work: Practice Book • Suggest children practise both joins individually before trying the progression on the page. • Next they practise reading and writing the words oß@h, w#heel, w#hizzing. • Read the text together before children write it on a baseline in their books. Small group work: Workbook • Revisit horizontal join to ascender w#h and now oß@h. • Revisit the question words and the question mark. • Children work with word cards, punctuation mark cards or active punctuation before working in the Workbook. Homework • PCM 4 on page 49.

5 Common errors • Making the join a straight, not curved, line up to the top of h. • Ascender too high. • Too little or too much space between the first and second letter.

Term 1

Unit 5 Practising horizontal join, no ascender: oúw, oúu Key learning

3 Using the Workbook (p6)

• Same join, different letters. • Both letters are joined at x-height. • All letters on the baseline.

1 Using the Interactives Penpals gym • Ask children to try the warm-ups: Wind and rain and Finger spread, or choose others from the reference area. Teach • Ask children to join in with the skywriting pattern. • Demonstrate and practise the animated join. • Remind them that they learned to join oúw at the end of year 1. Demonstrate how oúu is the same join: it is a horizontal join to a letter with no ascender. • Visit the Gallery. Identify and assess the target join.

Handwriting practice with a spelling focus: common exception words a Watch while children trace and write the joins for oúu. Check the key learning points. b Ask children to read the words and then to trace and write them. Note that they are all –oúuld words. c Children read each sentence. Then they add an –oúuld word for each. Prompt children to trace the rest of the sentence and to add punctuation. d Challenge activity: write another sentence using one of the oúu words. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to check the word and punctuation choices as well as their oúu joins, finding one join to tick and one to improve.

b a

d e Practise • Children practise using the word bank: coúunt, coúuld, woúuld, shoúuld, t<hroúw, snoúw, doúwn, broúwn • The challenge word is snoúw.

2 Using the Practice Book (p6) a Children finger trace the joins on the top line. b Watch while children write the letters. Remind them that both letters in these joins are x-height and so should be the same size. Check the key learning points. c Ask children to read and write the joke with a focus on oúw and oúu joins. Point out the use of punctuation. d Children read and write the words. Highlight the different pronunciations of ‘ow’. e Self- or peer-assess: ask children to find the best join to tick and one to improve. f Children finger trace and write the pattern.

a d

4 Extra support Small group work: Practice Book • Suggest children practise both joins individually before trying the progression on the page. • Next they practise reading and writing the words hoúw, yoúu, coúunt, coúws. • Read the joke together before children write it on a baseline in large speech bubbles in their books. Small group work: Workbook • Revisit horizontal join, no ascender: oúw and now oúu. • Revise the words coúuld, woúuld, shoúuld. • Children work with word cards, punctuation mark cards or active punctuation before working in the Workbook. Homework • Children write out ‘Happy birthday to you’ (with i<r, t<h, a<y, oúu all joined). • PCM 5 on page 50.

5 Common errors • Making horizontal join too long. • Letters not equal x-height. • Too little or too much space between the first and second letter.

Term 1

Unit 1 Practising diagonal join to ascender:

c·h, t<h

Name

Date

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

c·h

Finish the words. Remember to join!

ain

umb

air

under

Penpals for Handwriting Y2

Unit 2 Practising diagonal join, no ascender:

a<i, a<y Date

Name

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

a<i

a<y

Finish the rhyming words. Remember to join!

wa<y h pa<in r

Penpals for Handwriting Y2

da<y pl ra<il sn

Unit 3 Practising diagonal join, no ascender:

i<r, e©r

Name

Date

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

i<r

Finish the words, then copy them.

e©r

g l

c cle

iceb g

Penpals for Handwriting Y2

Unit 4 Practising horizontal join to ascender:

w#h, oß@h

Name

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

w#h

Date

w#h

Trace and write the words. Remember to join the

w#hen w#hen w#hy w#hy w#hat w#hat Penpals for Handwriting Y2

w#h !

Unit 5 Practising horizontal join, no ascender:

oúw, oúu

Name

Date

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

oúw

Sort and write the words.

oúu

sounds like

boúw Penpals for Handwriting Y2

e iÿ, uÿ

Unit 6 Introducing diagonal join to :

Date

Name

Trace and write the joins. Say the sounds.

iÿ

Read the word.

uÿ

Write the word.

Write the plural.

b|a|b|y f|l|y v|a|l|ue| l|o|r|r|y s|t|a|t|ue| Penpals for Handwriting Y2

e o°e, v}e

Unit 7 Introducing horizontal join to :

Name

Date

Trace and write the joins. Say the sounds.

o°e v}e Finish the note. Choose one of the words and write it in a space.

Dear y|ou| seen my ? My new hurt th|e|m|. Please th|e|m| a rub. from Penpals for Handwriting Y2

Unit 8 Introducing

Jo°e Zo°e to°es sho°es hav}e giv}e lov}e

Name

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

Date

Finish the rhyme. Remember to join!

What can you s ? A happy b ! Write the rhyme.

Penpals for Handwriting Y2

Unit 9 Practising diagonal join, no ascender:

lÿ

Name

Date

Trace and write the joins. Say the sound.

Finish the words, then write a rhyming word.

cand h pudd m

Penpals for Handwriting Y2

padd sadd

Unit 10 Writing numbers 1–100

Name

Date

Finish the number grid.

1 4 8 12 15 19 23 26 30 31 34 37 42 45 49 Penpals for Handwriting Y2