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The copymasters for joining letters are listed in alphabetical order under the code JW.
Click in the Copymaster box above.
Ideas for joining letters
Schools vary in their policy towards joined writing and so in SoundWorks the question of when and how children should begin to join their letters is left up to the class teacher's judgement. This is still the policy. The ideas suggested here should only be used if the teacher thinks they're suitable.
Some steps towards joined writing
Joining letters all in one go can be difficult for some children. One way around this is to teach a small number of joins beforehand and practise them thoroughly until they become automatic and easy to use. The move to joined writing is then much easier. As there are only a limited number of joining movements to master, it makes good sense if these are allowed to become fluent before the move to fully joined writing is attempted. This is the approach that is adopted here.
So the key is - give children the opportunity to practise simple two-letter joins
long before anything more difficult is attempted. |
There are several places in the SoundWorks course where we have the chance to do just this. It is not suggested that all of them need to be covered - just enough to provide a useful amount of practice.
1. With the Spider-Sp and Dragons & Treasure drills, children are writing the blends many times over. If a small number are learnt as two-letter joins, this offers a useful opportunity for practice.
2. The digraphs are another situation where children need to write a letter-pair over and over. Learning them as a joined pair will not only bring fluency to the joining movement, but also strengthen the idea that the two letters make one sound. There is an added bonus with troublesome digraphs like 'oa' and 'ai' - where joining the letters helps keep them in the correct order.
3. The Key Words provide another useful source for practice.
4. Finally, the suffixes 'ing' and 'ed' can be learnt in joined writing. |
This is a halfway-house approach to joining. In their everyday writing, children will join the letters that flow easily and naturally and leave the rest unjoined. There's no need to be strict about this - it can be left up to the children to do whatever comes easily to them. With time, more and more letters will be joined, so that the eventual transition to fully joined writing becomes a manageable task.
Note
You should consult the class teacher before adopting this approach.
What to do
For each letter-pair there is a copymaster that can be used in a variety of ways. The worksheet on the left is designed to be cut out and pasted in the child's exercise book. The letter-pairs on the right can be cut out and used in whatever way to wish. The copymasters for joined writing can be found in the copymaster menu under the prefix JW.
You will need...
- one of the large mouse-letter pairs on the relevant copymaster
- pencil and paper
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Before you start, explain to children that they are going to learn to join the letters - without taking their pencil off the page. Make it clear that they write the letters exactly as they always do - the only difference is that they don't lift their pencil in between.
Note : you can't say this for 'f' and 't' of course. See note on relevant copymaster.
Work with the large letters, either running a finger over the shapes or using a pencil, just as you did in Unit 1 in SoundWorks. Children start with the mouse and complete the first letter in the usual way ... but just as they come to the end you say: "...and across to the next little mouse!", and they complete the second letter just as they always do. For some joins, 'ar' for example, you will need to use "up" rather than "across".
Lastly, when you've done as much practice as you dare, the children write smaller ones in normal-sized writing until it becomes easy to do.
This should all be very easy. Using the original mouse-letters makes it clear to children that there's nothing complicated about this at all, and ensures that the old familiar hand movements carry them through. It's so easy, in fact, that your prompt "and across to the little mouse" given at just the right moment is all that is needed.
What next
After the initial lesson, you will need to arrange some kind of regular practice. Maybe a small book similar to the Sounds Book, with the mouse-letters on the left and normal practice on the right-hand page. Simply running a finger over each letter-pair (and saying the sound) every lesson would be a quick regular top-up, with written practice on the right-hand page as an optional extra. You'll know what is best!
Special point
The over-and-back join
The over-and-back join is difficult because it is counter-intuitive. Children are often reluctant to go very far 'over' before bringing their pencil 'back' - it seems so unnecessary! This the source of several handwriting problems, however, and so it is worth getting it right. The letters at risk are 'a' 'c' 'd' 'g' 'q', and to a lesser extent 'o'. Not going far enough 'over' leads to a shallow 'c', for example, or a narrow letter 'a'. You'll need to take care that these letters are made sufficiently round and deep.
Much more serious is when the shallow shape leads to a gap being left at the top - so that the 'a' begins to look like a 'u', and the 'g' like a 'y'. This is more than just poor handwriting. Because it makes the writing difficult to read, it is considered a serious fault. To avoid this gap, there are two things you need to keep an eye on:
1. Children should go far enough 'over' so that a good round shape is made when the letter is completed.
2. There shouldn't be the tiniest gap left when the up-stroke completes the letter. You can make a joke about this, in any way you find appropriate. For younger children, a story about tiny invisible aliens trapped in the letter is one possibility. They mustn't be allowed to escape. So if there's a very small gap, you can say, "Oh look, you've left a very tiny gap - maybe one will be able to creep out there. You'd better close it quickly!" And with a larger gap, "Oh no, they'll all get out now!". Small children may be more interested in imaginary aliens than developing well-formed handwriting! Anything you can think of that does the trick will be fine.
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A small number of letter-joins have been provided so far, just to get started. These will be added to from time to time, so it's worth checking the Copymaster Menu every now and again. Please contact us if there is a letter-pair you would particularly like, or a different kind of joining-stroke, and we will do our best to provide what you'd like. Contact details can be found at the bottom of the User Site home page.
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