LEARNING TO PRINT UPPERCASE LETTERS Script Dialogue to teach how to form uppercase letters at the chalkboard and on paper.
It is much easier to teach children HOW to print uppercase letters and numbers properly if the first exercises are done at a chalkboard or on a white board large enough for the child to be able to stand and form large letters. There are many reasons for beginning instruction at the chalkboard:
1. It is the optimum way a teacher can see HOW a child is forming a letter AS it is being formed. It gives the teacher the instant opportunity to correct mistakes without them becoming habit forming.
2. It is the best means of giving directions and seeing how those directions are followed.
3. It is also an evaluation of how clearly the teacher is giving the directions and how words can correctly be interpreted many ways. It serves as a teacher-training tool!
4. Children love to work at the chalkboard.
5. Children do not like to erase mistakes on paper, but on the chalkboard, it isn’t a problem. In fact, an insightful teacher can see a mistake occurring either from his or her ambiguous direction or from a child’s mis-perception. With that observation the teacher can ask all the children to erase their “letter” without mentioning there was a mistake. Then the teacher can give the direction again, refining it so the same mistake is not made again.
6. Working at the chalkboard allows the emphasis to be on following directions rather than the knowledge of printing. Some children are threatened by not knowing how to form a letter, but children are not threatened by “following directions”. They don’t have to know anything, they just have to follow directions. Every child is on the same level during the exercise.
7. The whole group of children can stand back from the chalkboard and assess the writing that has been done. Are all the “tall” letters the same height? Are all the “middle parts” the same height? Are all the “short” letters half the size of the “tall” letters? Are all the “tails” the same length? They can use their “laser beam” to judge. Children love to be the teacher.
8. The best practice is also at the chalkboard for the reasons listed above. Children can progress from uppercase letters to lowercase letters in Hanson Reading order and on to combining uppercase and lowercase letters at the chalkboard. The regular practice at the chalkboard establishes the proper letter-formation habit. Letter formation should be automatic and speedy by the end of kindergarten so students can move on to spelling without having to contemplate two things, “how” to form letters and “listening for sounds”. Developing the mental image of the letters and numbers and how to form them, needs to be a high priority of Kindergarten.
Included in price- Script for describing to the child how to write the shapes for each UPPERCASE letter. Instructions for guided writing on the chalkboard or on the paper.
