Early Years Handwriting Copymasters

48 worksheets

Supporting i early learning i

Contents Pattern practise for a–z . . . . . . . . . . . .1–26 Letter formation practice: a ................... b ................... c.................... d ................... e.................... f .................... g ................... h ................... i .................... j and k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l .................... m ................... n ................... o ................... p and q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r .................... s .................... t .................... u ................... v.................... w and x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . y and z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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.27 .28 .29 .30 .31 .32 .33 .34 .35 .36 .37 .38 .39 .40 .41 .42 .43 .44 .45 .46 .47 .48

Published by Letterland International Ltd, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9AD, UK www.letterland.com © Letterland International 2004 10 9 8 7 6 5 ISBN: 978-1-86209-250-1 Product Code: T18 First published 1997. This new edition published 2004.

Reprinted 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 LETTERLAND® is a registered trademark of Lyn Wendon.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior permission of the Publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated without the Publisher’s prior consent.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A Catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Printed in Belgium

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

Annie Apple

1

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

Bouncy Ben

2

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

Clever Cat

3

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

Dippy Duck

4

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

27

aaaaa

At the leaf begin. Go round the apple this way.

Then add a line down, so Annie won’t roll away.

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

28

bbbbb

Brush down Ben’s big, long ears.

Go up and round his head so his face appears!

Letterland Early Years Handwriting Copymasters Published by Letterland International Š Letterland International 2006

Name:

29

ccccc

Curve round Clever Cat’s face to begin.

Then gently tickle her under her chin.

Early Years Handwriting Copymasters THE CONTENT

Copymasters 1–26

These Letterland copymasters provide a variety of strategies to achieve a correct sequence of handwriting strokes for all letters.

Give each child a photocopy of the letter you are introducing, e.g. Munching Mike (Copymaster 13). Talk about him and link him to any objects in the picture that begin with his sound, in this instance, mountains, magnets, mat, mouse and milk.

Copymasters 1–26 present each Letterlander in a lively scene which includes elements of the handwriting strokes needed for developing good pencil control and for forming each letter correctly.

Using these sheets, the children learn to follow directional arrows while practising easy components of the letter strokes.

Copymasters 27–48 provide practice in forming the whole letter shapes correctly, with the help of the Letterland handwriting verses.

These verses avoid the conventional ‘up, down and around’ type of instructions in favour of rhyming verbal instructions, each one memorable because it is unique to its own letter shape. The wording makes it easy, for example, to avoid common early confusions between b, d, p and q.

These verses are also set to music on the Handwriting Songs CD. and animated on the Letterland Living ABC software so children can enjoy watching, chanting and singing while airtracing the letter strokes.

HOW TO USE THE COPYMASTERS You can use the copymasters sequentially, or you may choose to use them in parallel to focus on each individual letter shape e.g. Copymaster 1, then Copymaster 27. You could also vary the teaching order to suit your particular curriculum.

Explain the purpose of the directional arrows. To ensure a correct hand movement children should start with their pen or pencil point on the dot of the arrow.

Colouring the pictures also helps to develop pencil control. Very young children can use any colour they like for the Letterland characters. Older ones may wish to match them to the colours in the ABC Book or on the Big Picture Code Cards.

(It is better to overwrite the broken lines before starting to colour the page.) As children colour in the letter, remind them of the letter sound and encourage them to practise saying it out loud.

Copymasters 27–48 Children’s most effective first tools for learning about writing are their index fingers! Show them how to slowly and thoughtfully finger-trace the large hollow letter on the left, while you all chant or sing the words of the handwriting verse together.

Then, using different coloured pencils or felt pens, they overwrite the letter several times (called ‘rainbow writing’).

Finally, the children can finger-trace (more quickly this time), then complete the other rows. Once again, as they write, let them chant, or (for c, f, h, k, p, s, t and x) whisper the letter’s sound. Whether they chant or whisper, make sure the children realise they are writing down the sound!