The teaching of handwriting
The teaching of
handwriting
Terminology and concepts –
words, sentences, spaces, letters and lines
Students need to be introduced to
appropriate terminology relating to handwriting and print (for example,
starting point, left, right, up, down, slanting, straight, exits, entries).
Teachers can introduce the basic concepts in the context of discussion about
handwriting. The following terminology describing words, sentences, spaces,
letters and lines is useful.
Understanding the basic direction of
the hands on a clock face promotes an awareness of clockwise movements.
Words,
sentences and spaces
Students learn that:
·
words are made up of letters
·
spaces between words make
writing readable
·
a sentence is a group of words
which expresses a complete thought. Sentences begin with a capital letter and
usually end with a full stop or a question mark.
Letters
Students learn about the features of letters:
·
Body, head (or ascender), tail
(or descender) e.g.
o
some letters have a body only
o
some letters have a body and a
head
o
some letters have a body and a tail.
·
Exits – letters have exits
which help with speed of writing, and eventually are used in joined writing.
·
Entries – letters have entries which help maintain top joining
and continuity of the writing movement for speedy writing.
·
Joins – these are not actually
part of the letter structure; they are used for speedy writing; joined writing
combines entries and exits.
Parallelism – the basic strokes of letters are parallel.
If the upstrokes rise at a consistent angle of about 45 degrees they will
also be parallel.
Proportionality in letters – the relative size of the ‘body’, ‘head’ and
‘tail’ of letters is the same.
Lines
Lines – there are different kinds of lines:
·
long, short, thick, thin
·
straight: horizontal, diagonal,
vertical
·
curved: oval, circular.
Letters may be on the line, below the line or above the line, depending on
the letter’s structure.
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