PR-2888IRE New Wave Handwriting Teachers Guide - Junior and Senior Infants

More documents

Recommendations

Info

JUNIOR INFANTS The New Wave Handwriting pupil book for Junior Infants concentrates on providing activities to allow pupils to develop the fine and gross motor skills, and the handwriting mechanics and skills required for legible, fluent and fast writing. The pages in this book contain: • line patterns and pattern pictures • letter formation groups that link to letter sounds as they are introduced in the Jolly Phonics phonics teaching programme • a single-page spread for each letter that encourages pupils to trace and copy lower-case letters • letter sizing and positioning • exposure to upper-case letters • exposure to words relating to each digraph • revision pages at the conclusion of each group of sounds • pictures for colouring It is recommended that teachers provide adequate time for the development of pupils' fine and gross motor skills. A range of physical development activities have been provided on pages 55–58. SENIOR INFANTS The New Wave Handwriting pupil book for Senior Infants builds on the introductory fine motor skills from Junior Infants to further develop pupils' handwriting skills. These pages contain: • line patterns and pattern pictures • letter formation groups that link to letter sounds as they are introduced in the Jolly Phonics phonics teaching programme • letter formation practice for each letter that uses anticlockwise, clockwise, downstroke and zigzag lines • a single-page spread for each letter that encourages pupils to trace and copy lower-case letters • letter sizing and positioning • practice tracing and copying upper-case letters • practice tracing and copying high frequency sight words, some relating to digraphs, and sentences • revision pages at the conclusion of each group of sounds • pictures for colouring These two books use the same simple, unjoined handwriting font and differ from the cursive font introduced and developed for 1st to 6th Class pupils. ABOUT THE SERIES Review sample 1 Prim-Ed Publishing www.prim-ed.com 978-1-84654-938-0 NEW WAVE HANDWRITING TEACHERS GUIDE JUNIOR AND SENIOR INFANTS 3
A WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACH TO HANDWRITING USING A WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACH A whole-school approach is vital to maintaining a consistent approach to the teaching and learning of handwriting from 1st Class to 6th Class. For a whole-school approach to be effective, certain documents need to be prepared prior to implementation. These include: • a handwriting policy outlining the font, time allocations, expectations of the programme and of pupils, how the programme will be implemented and evaluated, teaching strategies and differentiation, and assessment requirements. • a progressive teaching and learning sequence within each year level and across the school, with a list of handwriting terminology with relevant explanations and examples. See pages 194–196 for a glossary of handwriting terminology. • a document outlining the handwriting line sizing and the writing implements to be used in each year level. See page 21 for recommended line sizing. • any relevant forms that teachers may need to access regarding referrals to specialists. WHOLE-SCHOOL POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES Once all relevant documents have been prepared, they must be shared with all relevant members of staff and discussed at staff meetings, until all expectations of the programme are clear to everyone. Training and/or mentoring should be provided where necessary, to ensure all teaching staff feel confident to teach handwriting, according to the new whole-school policy. Before implementation begins, explain to parents the importance of handwriting in today’s society, and inform them of any changes that have been made to the school's handwriting programme. Explain any new expectations of pupils or parents, and encourage parents/carers to become involved in their child’s handwriting. See page 9 for more information about parental involvement. When a whole-school programme is clearly outlined using appropriate documentation, and implemented systematically by all staff, pupils are better equipped to transfer their handwriting knowledge and skills from one year level to the next, without having to learn a ‘new way’ of writing. This allows pupils to develop and extend their handwriting skills as they progress through schooling. When developing a whole-school policy, it is important to: • examine pupils' past performance records to identify general strengths and weaknesses across each year level within the school. • reflect on previous handwriting policies and practices to identify possible improvements. • establish clear school aims and objective targets for the new handwriting programme. • establish clear expectations of the school administration staff, teaching staff, pupils and parents when implementing and using the new handwriting programme. • outline time allocations. When establishing a whole-school approach, it is important that all teachers demonstrate a positive attitude towards handwriting and understand its importance in a contemporary classroom. All terminology should be explained to teachers, parents and pupils so that pupils' understanding can be supported and transferred through different contexts effectively. When implementing the programme, it is important that all teachers are held accountable for the teaching and assessing of pupils' handwriting skills, according to the whole-school policy. Teachers should be supported to use effective assessment tools that provide accurate and reliable evidence of pupils' abilities. They should also be supported to use these assessments when differentiating their lessons, so they can provide targeted instruction to meet each pupil's needs. Throughout the year, teachers should moderate their pupil assessments to ensure the expectations of pupils are consistent within each year level. These should also be moderated across the school to ensure the programme is effective. At the end of each school year, pupil's assessments and any individual education programmes should be passed on to the next teacher, to ensure pupils develop their handwriting skills progressively throughout their schooling. Review sample The programme and policies should then be evaluated and updated to ensure they are meeting the needs of the pupils and the school staff. 8 NEW WAVE HANDWRITING TEACHERS GUIDE JUNIOR AND SENIOR INFANTS 978-1-84654-938-0 Prim-Ed Publishing www.prim-ed.com
Page 2 and 3: FOREWORD The New Wave Handwriting T
Page 6 and 7: FONT INTRODUCTION THE HANDWRITING F
Page 8 and 9: LOWER-CASE LETTERS THE HANDWRITING
Page 10 and 11: DIFFERENTIATION AND HANDWRITING Dif
Page 12 and 13: ASSESSMENT - LOWER-CASE LETTERS Tra
Page 14 and 15: DOWNSTROKE LETTERS Copy. DIFFERENTI
Page 16 and 17: JOINED DIGRAPH PRACTICE Review samp
Page 18 and 19: PATTERNS - JUNIOR INFANTS DOWNSTROK
Page 20 and 21: PATTERNS - JUNIOR INFANTS HORIZONTA
Page 22 and 23: CLASS CHECKLIST UPPER-CASE LETTERS
Page 24 and 25: ASSESSMENT - LOWER-CASE LETTERS Tra
Page 26 and 27: DOWNSTROKE LETTERS Copy. DIFFERENTI
Page 28 and 29: MAZE - SENIOR INFANTS CATHY CAT Rev
Page 30 and 31: PATTERNS - SENIOR INFANTS HORIZONTA
Page 32: GLOSSARY KEY HANDWRITING TERMINOLOG

PR-2888IRE New Wave Handwriting Teachers Guide - Junior and Senior Infants

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?