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Whole School Progression

in Writing, Spelling and

Handwriting

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Contents Page

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… page 3

Writing Opportunities at Raglan V.C Primary School……………….. page 4

Spelling Opportunities at Raglan V.C Primary School………………. page 13

Handwriting Opportunities at Raglan V.C Primary School……….. page 19

Useful Websites for Writing, Spelling and Handwriting……………… page 23

Glossary………………………………………………………………………………………… page 26

High Frequency Words………………………………………………………………… page 33

Read Write Inc………………………………………………………………………………. page 34

Handwriting …………………………………………………………………………………… page 36

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Whole School Progression in Writing

The purpose of this booklet is to provide guidance on the strategies and techniques

used throughout the school to teach writing, spelling and handwriting to your child.

It is also intended to highlight writing types and activities that your child will encounter as they progress through the school. It may also help you when completing writing, spelling or handwriting Home Learning, or in facing those

difficult questions of „How does the teacher teach this in school?‟ „Am I supporting my child with the correct strategies/asking the right sort of questions?”

On our website (www.raglanvcprimary.co.uk) you will find a writing continuum which aims to show the stages of development. The continuum is a progression of

skills across the whole school, so at any time, depending on the progress of the individual child, children may be on strategies/skills from more than one strand of

the continuum. The continuum is intended to show you what your child should be doing at different stages of their school life as they progress from an early writer and speller to an independent one, so that you can help them as they progress.

Please note that the continuum is not year group or age related.

The most important factor to remember about this guidance, and about our approach to writing, spelling and handwriting throughout the school, is that:

Every child is unique and will ultimately use strategies that are most appropriate for them so if there is a method which works for your child,

they will be encouraged to use it.

We hope that you find this guidance useful in supporting your child in their continued writing, spelling and handwriting development.

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Writing Opportunities at Raglan V.C. primary School

Writing is an essential skill, transferable across the whole curriculum. At Raglan V.C. Primary school all teaching staff are highly committed to providing your child

with positive, meaningful and enjoyable experiences which foster a love for writing. Your child will be encouraged to develop a variety of strategies and skills in order to become independent writers. They will learn how to write in different styles, by

hand or on the computer. These tasks require them to write clearly, and to organise information effectively.

How Will My Child Learn to Write at Raglan V.C Primary School? After regular phonics lessons, your child will begin to understand that sounds are

represented by written letters (phonemes). When your child is taught to read they are taught how to blend the sounds together to make words (synthesising). This

method of sounding out is applicable to their written work.

Your child is first taught a small group of sounds. The teacher will model

and teach your child how to put these sounds together to spell simple CVC

words (consonant, vowel, consonant) e.g. mat. Then your child will be taught more sounds and learn to blend those too: eventually they are able

to recognise and sound all 26 letters of the alphabet. When your child is

taught to write each sound, it is also important to note we use pure sounds; m‟ not‟

muh‟, ‟s‟ not „suh‟, etc., so that your child will be able to blend the sounds in order to write and spell words more easily. Following the Read Write Inc method, the sounds are not taught in alphabetical order because research has shown that the

most effective way to teach children to blend is to teach sounds in this order (see

Read, Write Inc. sound order on page 59).

From September 2012, all children will be taught using the Read Write Inc.

programme to ensure progression and continuity for your child as they progress through the school.

As your child progresses through the school, the sounds learned in Reception are revised and consolidated. Children will move on to learning two/three letter

graphemes for example words containing „oa‟, „ai‟ „igh‟. A grapheme is a written letter or group of letters that represent a sound e.g. the sound s can be

represented by the graphemes s in sun, ce in dance, ss in dress, st in whistle, cy in cycle. Once your child have covered all sounds and graphemes, these will reviewed and consolidated throughout your child time at Raglan V.C Primary School, as this

needs to be taught continuously until your child is able to apply each sound pattern to his/her writing.

A full list of the graphemes taught can be found in the Appendix on page 35.

What Children Need to Know about Writing

Your child will be taught that: their writing goes from left to right

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that individual and groups of letters correspond with sounds the meanings of: word, letter, line, sentence, space and how all of the above

are different.

Writing Opportunities

As your child progresses through Raglan V.C Primary school, they will be introduced to Fiction, Non-fiction and Poetry writing. Please see the table

below for further detail.

Writing Opportunities at

Raglan V.C Primary School

Fiction Non-fiction Poetry Non-Literary Texts

Simple stories Traditional tales

Author study-writing in the

style of that author Fantasy

Fables Science-fiction

Myths Legends

Historical fiction

Classics-Shakespeare

Welsh legends playscripts

Recount Non-

chronological Reports

Instructions Explanations Arguments

Persuasions

Acrostic Ballads

Concrete Diamante

Free Verse Haiku

Kennings

Limerick Nursery rhymes

Performance Rap

Renga

Shape Tanka

Tables Charts

Lists Notes

Please note that these writing opportunities are not listed in order of which they are studied. These text types will be revisited as your child moves

through the school, to ensure continuity and progression, being delivered in new and exciting ways. A guide to the text types mentioned above and how they should

be written (organisational and language features) is included in our ‘toolkit’ on page 23. The main thing to remember about this overview is that it only gives you a guide to structure, content and style. To make a text really successful, your child

has to use all of these in their own way, creating an imaginative piece of written work.

Your child may encounter the following writing activities when focusing on non-fiction text types:

Invitations, apologies, messages/notes, announcements, biographies, autobiographies, diaries, journals, minutes of a meeting, surveys, questionnaires,

interviews, labels, job applications, glossary, directions, recipes, manuals, lists, experiments, menus, headlines, competition entries, advertisements (slogans/titles/blurbs), memos, index, bibliography and contents pages.

Planned Provision for Writing Opportunties Throughout Raglan V.C Primary School, there are a variety of planned writing

opportunities for your child.

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modelled, shared and guided writing sessions linked to specific text types

relating to the class topic (usually cross-curricular) writing Home Learning

handwriting activities research spellings

Modelled Writing Before any writing is modelled by the class teacher, a lot of emphasis will be placed

on text familiarisation and „Talk for Writing‟. This may be delivered through the use of Drama to begin the writing process and will give the children opportunities to talk

and think about their ideas before putting pen to paper. Role Play Areas in classrooms will also give the children opportunities to explore and play with language prior to actual writing tasks. Major emphasis is placed on talking about

text types and writing with your child and planning what will be written beforehand. A strategy used for this is „hold a sentence‟, where your child is encouraged to say

out loud several times (often in funny voices-robot, opera, high/low), so that your child is certain of what they want to write.

Throughout the school your child is given the opportunity to experience modelled writing. These are regular, short sharp sessions which involve the teacher modelling and thinking aloud, demonstrating how an effective writer makes use of a

particular writing type. Modelled writing builds upon children‟s knowledge of the English language and demonstrates exemplary writing through the use of

adjectives, language appropriate to the text type, correct punctuation and intonation. Modelled writing may occur using an extract from a text. This may be presented via the Interactive whiteboard, class big book or class novel. As your

child progresses in their writing, new strategies will be introduced and previous strategies consolidated. Modelled writing plays an essential role in providing your

child with the skills that they will need to apply in order to become independent writers as it shows your child HOW to plan before writing. The teacher will show how to re-read through work to check for sense or make improvements – revise

and edit. Seeing an adult thinking out loud, playing with ideas, „having a go‟, can give them the confidence to try for themselves. The focus in on the content,

language and layout with the teacher as scribe, before tackling the secretarial aspects in independent work.

Shared Writing This is the next step after modelled writing. It involves the whole class viewing the

text, but this time they are encouraged to take ownership of the text, working collaboratively as the teacher scribes their thoughts and ideas. All pupils are encouraged to participate in the task and the text may be read several times. As

they are not directly engaged in the physical demand of the writing they are better able to concentrate on the compositional aspects of the work and to contribute a

wide range of ideas. Shared writing provides children with the encouragement to take risks and have a go and importantly it promotes confidence and enjoyment.

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Guided Writing

Guided writing helps to scaffold and support pupils as they practice strategies that have already been introduced by the class teacher. Guided writing offers many

benefits; it helps your children to develop confidence in their use of strategies and refine their understanding of writing for a purpose and texts. Your child‟s teacher will guide, support and encourage your child to try out ideas and skills they have

seen demonstrated through either the Modelled writing sessions or the Shared writing sessions. Groups of children work with the teacher or teaching assistant

with a clear focus to their writing task. The teacher would ideally work alongside the children composing their own piece of written work, following the directional aspects that she is giving the children. Teacher and children share their drafts

together, and discuss how improvements could be made before writing final copies. Benefits of guided writing include:

to increase confidence to consolidate phonics, handwriting, spelling patterns

to develop your child‟s use of word, sentence or text writing skills (adjectives, speech marks). Please see the „Supporting Your Child with

Writing‟ section. to enhance knowledge of the text types.

Independent Writing Children need many opportunities for independent writing in a variety of forms

based on both teacher guidance and their own choice of topic. The purpose of Independent writing is to put in practice the ideas, structures and skills they have

seen demonstrated in modelled and shared writing and which they have tried, with support, in their guided writing sessions. Independent writing may not always be individual writing – it is often completed collaboratively, in pairs or small groups,

without adult support. In some classes your child may be given a writing frame. This could be sentence starters, storyboard or a story ladder.

Editing Writing At Raglan V.C Primary School, children are encouraged to read through their writing

slowly and several times, highlighting errors (if any) and come back to them. Your child will be asked to look for specific mistakes each time:

spelling mistakes errors in the structure

anything that is missing from the „Toolkit‟ (see Appendix) for the text type. Your child will be encouraged to re-read their text and check that it makes

sense and sounds better. Your child is encouraged to end by celebrating what they have achieved and enjoy

your own success through displaying their work on the wall for all to see, adding it to a class big book, „Wonderful Workers‟ assembly or through „Author‟s Chair‟; a

time where they can present their work to the class.

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Grammar

As your child becomes more confident in their writing, they will be encouraged to use correct grammar. A full list of grammar that your child will encounter is listed

below. It is important to remember that every child is different at will be at different stages of grammar skills.

Adjectives Adverbs

Apostrophes Capitalization and full stops Commas

Complex and compound sentences Conditionals

Conjunctions and connectives Direct speech Question and exclamation marks

Formal language Grammatical agreement

Imperative Note taking

Nouns Paragraphing Pluralisation

Prepositions Punctuation

Reported speech Speech marks Subordinate clause

Verbs

Please see the Glossary on page 26 for further information on the features

mentioned above.

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Enhanced Provision for Writing Opportunities

In the Foundation Phase enhanced writing opportunities will include:

the class writing area; variety of mark making materials, different forms of writing materials: postcards, envelopes, post it notes

individual thought diaries

word games magnetic writing boards

outdoor learning and outdoor area e.g. writing name in sand/compost, with chalk…

role play areas e.g. garden centre.

Writing Home Learning

The Home Learning your child may receive from each class is listed below; however, it is important to remember that reading home learning opportunities will vary for each individual child and is subject to change. Often writing home learning

varies depending on the nature of the task set.

Reception Children are encouraged to mark make and write for pleasure, bringing their work to school to present during

Show and Tell.

Year One

Letter and number formation, occasional spellings related to individual Read, Write Inc graphemes, short, topic related writing activities. Children are also encouraged to

write for pleasure at home (poems, stories, facts…) with their work is celebrated in school during Show and Tell.

Year Two Children are encouraged to bring in writing produced at home.

Year Three Weekly spellings

Year Four Weekly spellings, comprehension tasks at various points

throughout the year.

Year Five Consists of a variety of: research and recording, story journal activities, book reviews.

Year Six Book reviews, weekly spellings, research and recording.

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Writing at home with your child In order to develop writing, it is important to read to your child and to listen to

them read to a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts. During this time, you should discuss aspects of writing, such as the use of speech marks to indicate

dialogue or what your child thinks about a character and why they think it. It would be useful to refer back to ‘A Whole School Approach to Reading’ booklet for suitable questions to ask.

As guardians you are your child's most influential teacher with an important part to

play in helping your child to learn to write. Encourage short, real life purposeful writing e.g. letters, e mail, notes, post-its, memo board, labels, captions, lists of all kinds and cards. Children need to be writing for a purpose and in

meaningful contexts. Here are some suggestions on how you can help to make this a positive experience. It doesn‟t have to be by doing pages of lines, text books

or sentences. There are lots of ways to make writing fun and meaningful. Many of these ideas, will also aid reluctant writers, or those children who require a confidence boost.

The basis of good writing is to talk to your child. When you visit .places,

encourage your child to talk about what has been seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched. Encourage children to share their experiences in as much

detail as possible as this will aid their descriptive vocabulary and use of adjectives.

Let children see you being a model writer.

Let children see you writing notes, cards or letters to friends or relatives, a

shopping list, an article for a magazine or maybe a story or poem for them to enjoy.

Let your children see that you are not perfect. Making changes and editing what you write is a natural part of writing.

Let your child write their own Christmas cards, thank you cards, letters, birthday cards or e-mails to friends or relatives, invitations to a party, or a

list of things they need to take on holiday.

Play word-building games like Boggle or Scrabble.

Games like „Guess Who‟ can also develop their descriptive vocabulary.

Create silly sentences or tongue twisters using alliteration (a group of words

that all begin with the same sound). E.g. Silly Sarah slipped on Sam‟s salmon sandwiches

Different types and colours of paper, different pens and pencils, envelopes, postcards, post it notes, stampers and various other stationary can all be motivating when your children is writing.

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Maybe you could even create a special writing corner or area related to a topic that interests them (Dr. Who Laboratory/ space station/dentist/Princess

Palace).

Cut up letters from a newspaper or magazine. Can they use the letters to write their name? Can they use a different font for every letter in their name? Can they write a sentence?

Encourage your child to rehearse their sentence out loud before they write it

down.

Always encourage children to punctuate their sentences with a full-stop and

capital letter.

Handwriting does not have to be tedious. Let children practice drawing

letters in sand, water or paint, or use white boards or blackboards.

. Children can also make letters using play dough, pastry or shaving foam.

Let children write a small part of your shopping list. Let them be responsible

for carrying their list and finding those items when you go to the supermarket.

When spelling tricky words: How many words can you spell in a minute?

Make up fun ways to remember how to spell a word e.g. Big Elephants Can

Always Understand Small Elephants = because.

Help your child write a letter to your child‟s favourite author. Most authors have websites that you can now send them messages… and often get them

answered too!

Play „I Spy‟ – It‟s a good way of showing that every word begins with a letter.

„Hangman‟ is another game that children enjoying playing and encourages

use of sounds and spellings.

When you go on holiday, encourage children to write postcards to friends or

relatives.

They could record things that you do in a holiday diary which they can share with friends or relatives when they get home.

Use magnetic letters on the fridge to spell out a message.

Encourage your child to write their name, spell words and organise the

letters into alphabetical order.

After making a cake or doing a craft activity, challenge children

to write the recipe or the instructions for someone else to use.

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Praise your child‟s efforts at writing – it‟s not an easy thing to do! Focus on a word they spelt correctly, neat handwriting, a good describing word or good

use of punctuation. Remember, it is difficult to get everything right when you are learning!

Write an information page or booklet about something they find interesting eg. spiders, Dr Who, dinosaurs, cats, etc.

Continue to show children that you value something that has been written

especially for you.

It is important to remember that writing does not have to be lengthy or tedious.

Writing for real purposes is more meaningful and rewarding for children and creates a fun and interesting way for children to develop their writing skills. We would encourage you to involve your child in relevant writing tasks as often as possible

(remember little and often is best).

Please do not become too worried if your child appears to suddenly lack interest in writing. The main thing to remember is to keep writing at home fun, short and enjoyable. If your child appears reluctant to write, it is important to not become

too worried about this. After a while they will soon be asking to write again!

Please see the list of useful writing website on page 23 for some brilliant

writing ideas and activities.

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A Whole School Approach to Spelling

Spelling Opportunities

The ability to spell easily enables your child to become a more effective writer; when spelling becomes automatic, more thought can be put into the content and

purpose of what is written. At Raglan V.C Primary School, spelling opportunities are exploited on a daily basis through a purposeful, contextual, interactive, fun and motivating way. Your child will learn their spellings through an organised,

structured and appropriate programme, which will provide them with continuity and progression as they move through the school.

Classroom Displays

Signs, labels and word walls are displayed in each classroom. They include a variety of high frequency words (please see page 14 for more information) appropriate to your child‟s year group, they may also contain words that reinforce

what is being taught in spellings and topic related words.

Planned opportunities for Spelling Teacher modelled writing sessions, where the thought process of using

different spelling strategies is discussed aloud by the teacher

Spelling in a contextual and structured program Personal word banks which your child adds to if they are unsure of a word or

have learnt a new word. Enhanced Opportunities for Spelling

Outdoor learning Orienteering activities

Writing Areas ICT games Role play areas

How will my child learn to spell at Raglan V.C Primary School? The English language is not a regular language, but is systematic and patterned. An

important part of learning to spell is the process of working out such patterns and

applying them to new words. Your child will be encouraged to apply different

strategies appropriately.

Children progress through developmental stages in spelling using their knowledge

of the alphabetic code and the structure of words. As your child progresses with

their spellings, they will move from phonetic to more conventional spelling. Your

child will be encouraged to use a range of strategies to spell correctly a range of

familiar, important and regularly occurring words. As knowledge of the alphabetic

code develops children will understand that:

sounds are represented by letters longer words are made up of syllable

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a sound may be presented by one or more letter the same sound can be represented in more than one way

the same spelling may represent more than one sound

As your child becomes an effective speller, he/she will use a number of problem-

solving, interactive strategies:

note the composition of words

recall words that have been internalised develop strategies to help them to memorise the tricky parts of words practice their spelling in meaningful contexts

talk about spellings and the strategies they have used know how to use resources to check spellings, if necessary

Your child‟s teacher will:

provide opportunities for investigating words in a meaningful context ensure a balance of auditory, visual and kinaesthetic strategies are used to

cater for children with different learning styles.

help children to make connections and see patterns in words support children in the identification of tricky parts in words and demonstrate

strategies to memorise them encourage children to talk about and share the strategies they are using provide opportunities for children to use the words they are learning in a

range of contexts model how to use resources in order to check spellings, e.g. environmental

print or simple dictionaries High Frequency Words

The teaching and learning of high frequency words are given a high priority in all

classes as they make up a significant percentage of all written work. The

progression is mainly in the amount of words that are introduced. High frequency

words can be rather tricky for your child to remember, as they do not always follow

a specific phonics spelling pattern. A newly revised high frequency words list can

be found on page 58.

Marking Spellings It is vital that pupils are given opportunities to learn the words that they have

misspelled in their own writing. The teacher may choose to highlight a few of these words for the pupils to look up in a dictionary and these can then be learned. Words are marked with „sp‟ in pupil workbooks if they are incorrect. However, not

every mistake will be highlighted as this would be very disheartening for your child.

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Spelling Home Learning As with writing, spelling home learning will vary from class to class, and from child

to child; however it is important to note that spelling is taught and practiced throughout the school day in a purposeful and meaningful way and therefore

spelling home learning activities may not always be sent home. All home learning opportunities will support your child to spell words that are meaningful and linked to their work in school. These activities will focus on specific spelling patterns, and

on words related to their class themes. The most important aspect of the home learning activities is that the spellings are learned contextually – they are

practiced in sentence, and your child should „have fun‟ learning them, by putting them into contextually-correct sentences (these could be quite silly!), or buy using them in wordsearches, in mini-investigations, or by finding them in their reading

books. Just learning how to spell the words will only help them for a „spelling test‟;

whereas learning spelling in context will enable your child to be able to use their spellings in their writing, consistently. Additionally, when learning spellings it is also important to encourage your child to

use the cursive handwriting script (as discussed further on p19). The cursive script not only helps your child to properly structure his/her writing, but it also

„trains the brain‟ to more automatically spell the words being learned, by a recognition of how the sounds in the words join together. It may sound „strange‟

but it does work, and can be of great benefit, particularly to children who find spelling more complicated.

Suggested Spelling Activities at Home It has been found that children learn to spell better, quicker and more easily if they

are given short but fun activities on a daily basis. Tasks that are interactive and can be undertaken collaboratively are more effective than worksheets and will lead to pupils becoming more independent and focused learners. Below are some

suggestions for spelling activities, which are currently used at Raglan V.C primary School, which you may wish to try out at home.

Rhyme If your child can spell mouse, they should be able to spell house.

Visualise

Use different coloured post- its, one for each word. This will help pupils visualise the word when they are trying to recall it.

Textures Write the word in sand, finger paint etc –helps form memory hooks.

Syllables Chant the syllables eg Wed-nes-day, emphasising the tricky bit. Use actions for

each syllable.

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Stretching Sounds Encourage your child to say the word very slowly, stretching it out so that they can

“listen” carefully for the different sounds.

Look, Cover, Write, Check This is often the basic method used in classes. It is intended encourage independence as your child is expected to self-check their spellings. Your child

should look at the word, cover it, write it and check it.

Flash Cards Pupils quickly write out words on flash cards making sure that they have the correct spellings. This could be done with a variety of mark making materials (pens, felt

tips, chalks, paint…).

Spelling Aloud Using flashcards, as above, read a word aloud to your child. Your child spells the word out loud. If they spell correctly, they „win‟ the card. If they are incorrect, the

card is put to the bottom of the pile.

Definitions Make spellings a meaningful learning experience by helping your child to use a

dictionary to write the definition of each word. Alphabetical Order

Ask your child to write out their spelling list in alphabetical order. To make this activity more of a challenge, you could time your child. They could try to beattheir

time each night when practising. Muddled Letters

Rewrite each of your child‟s spelling words in a muddled up fashion eg „beautiful‟ could be written „ befitualu‟. Time your child to write the words out using the

correct spelling. Dictionary Race

Call out one of your child‟s spelling words. Time your child to see how quickly they can find the word in the dictionary. This not only helps them to remember how to

spell, it is also excellent for practising dictionary skills. You can turn it into a game by giving them counters to win.

Syllables Help your child to split their spelling words into syllables e.g. beau-ti-ful. This will

help them to retain more difficult spellings. Words Within Words

Ask/help your child to try to find smaller words inside each of their spelling words without rearranging the letters. E.g. using the word „practising‟ , you could find –

„act‟ „sing‟ „in‟ „is‟. Set a time limit, say 10 minutes, for them to work individually to find as many as possible using all their spelling words.

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Silly Story

Help your child to write a short story (about a paragraph) using as many of their spelling words as possible. Again, set a time limit of about 10 minutes. Stories can

be shared and enjoyed. The stories are usually very silly so children enjoy this activity.

Kim’s Game This game can be played in groups of 4 to 6. Spelling words are written on cards

and laid out on the table. The pupils study the words. They then look away and a nominated person removes one of the cards. Pupils turn back, look at the remaining cards and have 2 minutes (use an egg timer) to write the missing word on a

whiteboard which they keep hidden. All the guesses are then revealed at the same time. If they are correct, they win a point, but only if it is spelt correctly!

Magnetic Letters Use magnetic letters on the fridge to spell words.

Word search

Using squared paper, help your child to make a word search with their spelling words. The following day, ask your child to locate each spelling within the word

search. Mnemonics

Show your child an example of a mnemonic and explain why they are used eg big elephants can always understand small elephants because

Working with your child, try to make up a mnemonic for one or two of their trickiest spelling words. A time limit should be set.

Lucky Dip Ask your child to pick out 12 plastic letters from a bag. They mustn‟t look into the

bag, as it is „lucky dip‟. The picked letters are placed in front of them and the rest of the letters are left in the bag. The idea is to make one of their spelling words out of the letters.

Word Hunt

Hide your child‟s spellings around the house or garden. When they locate the hidden words, they have to write them down.

Find The Word This is a good activity for younger pupils who are learning how to spell High

Frequency words. Give your child a highlighter pen and piece of text, for example a newspaper or advert. Write down a few common words and ask your child to the highlight as many as they can find. This activity can also be used to highlight a

spelling pattern e.g. „ight‟.

Jigsaws

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Choose one or two spelling words and writes each of them onto a strip of card. Cut into sections – see below.

Hippopotamus

Pieces are then muddled up. Your child has to fix the pieces back together to make

the correct spelling. At Raglan V.C Primary School pupils are taught a range of strategies in order to

help them with their spellings. We encourage pupils to ask „Is this how you spell…?‟ rather than „how do you spell…?‟, as we like to encourage independent thinking where your child will apply the spelling strategies that have been taught:

sounds like another word, breaking it into syllables etc.

Using the skill of „does it look right’. This is the strategy that most adults use

before they reach for a dictionary. We need to teach them this skill and also help them to understand that a dictionary is not the first port of call. Pupils can use a whiteboard to have a go or simply a piece of paper before it is transferred to the

actual copy.

„Have a go’ Children are encouraged to build up their confidence in their own ability to use the knowledge they have already. „Have a go‟ helps pupils to learn how to spell… copying from a „word book‟ or teacher‟s writing rarely does!

Ask a friend

Use a Dictionary

Please see the list of useful spelling websites on page 24 for more ideas to support your child’s understanding and development in spelling.

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Whole School Progression in Handwriting

Approaches to Handwriting at Raglan V.C Primary School Handwriting is a skill which, like reading and spelling, affects written

communication across the curriculum. Providing pupils with the opportunity to develop these skills means that they will be able to develop a faster and more

mature hand.

At Raglan V.C Primary School our aim is to provide your child with the consistent opportunities to develop legible, fluent and joined cursive handwriting script (Juniors). We have a whole school approach to handwriting to ensure continuity

and progression for your child. It is important that the handwriting is clear, well-formed, swift and legible in order to communicate meaning effectively.

When writing in the classroom, e.g. writing labels, writing comments on children‟s work, the teacher acts as a role model using handwriting which is consistent with

the style adopted by the school. Our school follows the cursive handwriting script.

During modelled, shared and guided writing sessions your child‟s class teacher will draw attention to letter formation, spacing and size. As your child moves towards independence, they will need different levels of scaffolding. Your child are given

time to practice the skill, e.g. writing a letter or word on whiteboards in a meaningful context, relating to their class topic.

In the Foundation Phase your child will be provided with a variety of meaningful, enjoyable experiences which help to further develop their pencil control, letter

formation and handwriting skills. Before your child begins to write, they need to learn how to control their muscles for movements. In the Foundation Phase provides

a range of quality experiences which focus on hand-eye coordination, gross and fine motor skills to develop the control necessary for mark making using a variety of tools. In Reception particularly, the children are taught how to make pencil strokes in

readiness for correct letter formations through a series of sub-skills, drawing and tracing a variety of lines:

Horizontal (to be used for letters such as t and r) vertical (to be used for letters such as l and h)

wavy (to be used for letters such as m and s) zigzag (to be used for letters such as w and z) circular (to eventually be used for the letters such as a,e)

It is important to remember that every child is different and will therefore be at

different stages in their handwriting and co-ordination development. The key for any child is short, regular practice.

In the Foundation Phase, children are encouraged to develop such skills practically rather than using paper, however, if paper is used, the sizes of paper that your

child will practice their handwriting on, will be scaled down along with the size of the instruments your child uses when writing, until they can handle pencil and

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paper. Please note that we do not teach your child to write in capital letters until they are completely secure with all lowercase letters, because this can lead to

confusion later when they discover that capital letters are only used in certain places, for example at the beginning of a sentence or to start someone‟s name.

As your child progresses to the Junior Department, they will be encouraged to join their handwriting using a cursive style. (Please see the attached Handwriting

Style for guidance of our ‘joins’.)

Planned Handwriting Opportunities Write Dance (Foundation Phase)-children learn letter formations through a

creative music activity.

Handwriting activities related to the class topic so that the children are applying their skills in a meaningful way.

Like the writing process, the teacher models how each letter is formed, thinking aloud his/her thought process to your child. After this, your child is encouraged to

practice these skills independently.

Enhanced Handwriting Opportunities Writing Area: letter formation and topic themed tasks to be completed by the

children. Outdoor learning activities which encourage the development of fine motor

skills e.g. collecting small pieces of grass to create a collage.

Finger Rhymes Construction Toys

Opening objects (jars, lids, zips) Wind up toys – Exploring different wind up mechanisms. Pegs

Lacing and threading Colouring in, focusing on staying between the lines

Stencils Tracing activities: following wavy, straight or zigzag tramlines, staying within

boundaries

Encouraging Good Handwriting Habits At Raglan V.C Primary School we encourage the correct formation of letters and numbers. We also encourage that the letters are written the right way round rather

than as a mirror image. We emphasise letter proportion between upper and lower case letters. Letters need to be sensibly and evenly spaced. The gap left between

word should be the same size each time. Letters should also be sat on the line. For younger children starting to draw and write, it is very important to:

Get them started with the correct grip and writing position, providing a

moulded pencil grip or triangular bodied pencils or pen Rotate the paper about 45 degrees clockwise (move the top to the right)

21

Hold the pen / pencil with a good "3 point grip" between the thumb, index and middle fingers.

Keep the hand and wrist UNDER the writing line.

Useful Tips for Helping for Left-handed children Many of the problems left-handed children encounter can be solved fairly easily, by

following these guidelines: The child should hold the pencil at least 2cm away from the tip so that they

do not obscure their writing.

For younger children, choose a soft pencil, which does not stick or tear the

paper. Older children should be encouraged to experiment with different pens and pencils to find one that flows smoothly across the page. Left-handed

fountain pens have angled nibs which prevent catching on the paper and encourage smooth ink flow.

As younger left-handers often have a tendency to write from right to left (mirror script) a coloured star at the left margin helps to remind them where

to start.

To lighten a tight grip and heavy pressure, try a pencil grip for correct finger

position.

Only use specialist pens designed for left-hand use.

Please see the list of useful handwriting websites on page 25 .

22

Writing, spelling and handwriting are essential skills and we believe that children, who practice regularly, will make greater progress. Take the time

to talk about what has been written by your child and most importantly, demonstrate the excitement of new learning that can only be gained through writing for real, meaningful purposes.

Keep in touch with the school and feel free to share any writing successes

or areas of writing interest that your child really enjoys with us. Please see Mrs Gething (Literacy Coordinator) if you require any further

advice or information.

Thank you.

23

Useful websites for Writing

General:

www.bbc.co.uk

www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com (Information on Read Write Inc.)

www.jollylearning.co.uk (information on Jolly Phonics)

Story writing:

www.educationcity.com

www.ictgames.com/dinosaurwordsrepeat.html (high frequency word game)

Create a story using the following websites:

www.learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/make-your-own/story-maker

www.kidscom.com/create/write/write.html

www.writing-world.com/children/index.shtml

www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/embed.cfm

Non-fiction:

www.crickweb.co.ukks2literacy.html

This website enables children to interactively create catalogues and a non-fiction

book.

www.bbc.co.uk

This website can be used for age appropriate non-fiction reading.

Espresso online

Espresso is extremely effective for displaying child friendly examples of different

non-fiction examples.

Useful Websites for Poetry

www.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm

Write your own poems with poetry idea engine!

www.ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm

This website provides instant poetry forms.

www.Kathimitchell.com Information on the different types of poetry and examples.

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Acrostic poems: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/acrostic/

http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/dhummon/acrostics/acr

ostics.html#whatacrostic Create a cinquain online at: http://www.eduplace.com/tales/content/wwt_045.html

http://www.eduplace.com/activity/poem_cinquain.html http://www.eduplace.com/activity/pdf/animal_cinquain.pdf (Animal

cinquain) Create a Diamantes poem online at: http://www.eduplace.com/activity/poem_shapes.html

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/diamante/

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson180.shtml (Harry Potter haiku). http://www.smith.edu/fcceas/curriculum/girard.htm (Haiku ideas).

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/haiku.html (How to Haiku).

Limericks online: http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/limerickcontesthelp.html

http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/limerick.htm http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/limerick.htm For help finding words that rhyme, go to http://www.rhymezone.com/

Read and rate poetry at: http://www.gigglepoetry.com/

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/shape/ (Shape Poems). www.fizzyfunnyfuzzy.com/

Read the top ten poems, latest poems to be added to the website and take a lucky

dip and see what poem you are given to read!

Useful websites for Spelling

www.ictgames.com

This is a great website, containing many exciting activities to encourage spelling. www.kidsspell.com This website contains many fun and enjoyable activities such as a „Spellasaurus‟,

„Cast a Spell‟. www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html

This website is extremely useful for spelling games. There are over 100 games to encourage children to practice their spellings in a fun and exciting way.

www.spellingcity.com This website has a Speedy Speller section and vocabulary tester.

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Useful websites for Handwriting

www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games Interactive programs such as Star Writer and Writing Repeater which demonstrate how to form letters and allow children to write words with an interactive

handwriting pen. www.handwritingworksheets.com

This is a useful website for designing printable writing activities. You can type what you would like on the worksheet. www.handwritingforkids.com

This website is useful for blank worksheets. www.sparklebox.com/literacy/writing/letter-formation

Another great website for printable letter formation/handwriting/pencil control exercises. www.donnayoung.org/penmanship

This website provides hollow letters/shapes and tracing activities. www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html

www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk

www.left-handersclub.org

Whiteboard apps. On the iPad is also an effective way of providing exciting handwriting experiences.

26

A Useful Glossary of Terms for Your Child

Accent

The relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by

variation or modulation of pitch or tone.

Adjective

A word which describes somebody or something: old, yellow, busy, careful and

horrible are all adjectives.

Adverb

A word which gives extra meaning to a verb: adverbs tell us:

how (manner)

where (place)

when (time)

how often

(frequency)

slowly, happily, dangerously, carefully

here, there, away, home, outside

now, yesterday, later, soon

often, never, regularly

Adverbial phrase

A group of words that functions in the same way as an adverb

Antonyms

A word that means the opposite of another word.

Apostrophe

The superscript sign ( ' ) used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations.

Audience

The person or persons receiving a speech or piece of writing.

Capital Letters

Upper-case letters used to indicate names, titles, important words.

Colons

A punctuation mark ( : ) used after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation,

an example or a series.

Commas

A punctuation mark indicating a short pause in a sentence.

27

Conditional

The verb tense that is used to indicate that an action or state of being is dependent.

Conjunction

A word which connects words or clauses within a sentence; and, but, or, so.

Consonant Clusters

A consonant cluster is a group or sequence of consonants that appear together in a

syllable without a vowel between them. For example: \sp\ and \ts\ in the word

spots.

Connectives

Connects words, phrases, clauses and sentences.

Commas

A punctuation mark ( , ) used to indicate a separation of ideas or of elements within

the structure of a sentence.

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent

clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since,

after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which.

Compound Sentences

Contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as

follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

CVC

Consonant, vowel, consonant words(cat).

Time connectives - the, next, after a while

Causal connectives - because, so, this causes, etc, to explain what happens.

Sequential connectives, firstly, secondly

Context

The setting in which speech or writing takes place.

28

Dialect

A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar,

or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary

language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists.

Digraphs

Two successive letters that represent a single sound.

Direct Speech

Direct speech is used to give the exact words used by another speaker. The words

are given between quotation marks (" ") in writing: Eg: "I'm coming now," he said.

Exclamation Mark

A punctuation mark (!) used after a sentence that expresses a strong emotion.

Formal Voice

Refers to formal speech or behaviour.

Full Stop

It is important for children to know that a full stop is used at the end of a sentence.

Glossary This is a list of words and their meanings found at the back of a book.

Homographs Homographs are words that are written the same way but have different meanings

and often different pronunciations: 'Wind' can mean the movement of air when talking about the weather. It can also mean to follow a course or way that is not

straight; the road winds through the mountains. These are different words with different pronunciations although they are written the same way.

Homonyms Two or more words that have the same sound or spelling but differ in meaning.

Homophones One of two or more words, that are pronounced the same but differ in meaning,

origin, and sometimes spelling. For example knight/night, two/to/too, their/there/they‟re, affect/effect, where/wear, which/witch.

Hyphen

A punctuation mark ( - ) used between the parts of a compound word or name or between the syllables of a word, especially when divided at the end of a line of text.

29

Imperative

A type of sentence that gives advice or instructions or that expresses a request or

command.

Impersonal voice

An impersonal voice expresses a situation where there is no specified agent. Inference The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be

true or reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence

Initial sounds

The first letter of a word.

Letter A letter is part of the alphabet. There are 26 letters in the alphabet.

Lower Case Letters

abcdefg…

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another

Metaphorical Expression

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is

used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of

troubles".

Narrator

The person (named or unknown) who is telling a story.

Noun

A word which denotes somebody or something. In the sentence: My younger sister

won some money in a competition, 'sister', 'money' and 'competition' are nouns.

Paragraph

A distinct passage of writing which is unified by an idea or a topic

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Parenthesis

A word, clause, or sentence inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a

passage that is grammatically complete without it, in writing usually marked off by

curved brackets, dashes, or commas.

Passive voice

The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient

(of the source) of the action denoted by the verb.

Person

Usually defined as follows:

first person: the speaker or writer; (I or we)

second person: the person addressed; (you)

third person: anyone or something else. (he/she/it/they/my friend)

Pluralisation

The form of a word that is used to denote more than one item.

Prefix

A letter or group of letters attached to the beginning of a word that partly indicates

its meaning. Common prefixes include anti- (against), co- (with), mis- (wrong,

bad), and trans- (across).

Preposition

A word (one of the parts of speech and a member of a closed word class) that

shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

Proverb

A short, memorable, and often highly condensed saying embodying, especially with

bold imagery, some commonplace fact or experience.

Punctuation

This is the use of standard marks and signs used in order to clarify meaning in

writing, separating words into sentences, clauses and phrases (full stops, speech

marks, question marks, commas, colons, semi colons, exclamation marks).

Question Mark A question mark looks like this:? You need to use a question after a character asks

a question.

31

Semi-colon A mark of punctuation ( ; ) used to connect independent clauses and show a closer

relationship than a period does.

Sentence A sentence is a group of words that has a meaning. It will begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

Setting

The setting is where the story takes place.

Simile

A figure of speech in which one thing is directly likened to another. What was it like?

… like cotton wool floating down from the sky.

Speech Marks

Speech marks look like this: “ ” They go at the beginning and end of the words

spoken by a character.

Subordinate clause

A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but (unlike an independent

clause) cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Suffix

A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word.

Synonym

A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or other words in a language.

Tense

A verb form that most often indicates time (as in past-present-future)

present tense – I play, I am playing

past tense – I played, I was playing

English has no specific future tense. Future time can be expressed in a number of

ways using will or present tenses. For example: John will arrive tomorrow; John

will be arriving tomorrow; John is going to arrive tomorrow; John is arriving

tomorrow; John arrives tomorrow.

Text

Any piece of writing or object being studied

32

Upper Case Letters

One of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing

proper names and sometimes for emphasis.

Verb

A word that expresses an action, a happening, a process or a state. It can be

thought of as a 'doing' or 'being' word.

Viewpoint

The viewpoint expressed in any writing can be that of the writer, a character, or a

fictitious narrator

Word

A word is made up of letters. It has a meaning.

Writing Frame A template given to children to aid them in the writing process.

33

High Frequency Words List a

about

above

across

all

almost

along

also

always

an and

animal

any are

around

as asked at

baby

back

balloon

be

beautiful

because

before

began

being

below

better between

big birthday

both bought

brother but by

called

can

can't

came

change

children

clothes

come

coming

could

couldn't

dad

day

didn't

different

do

does

don't

down

during

earth

every

everything

eyes

father

for

first

follow

following

found

friends

from

garden

go

goes

gone

got

great

had

half

happy

have

he

head

help

hear

her

here heard

high him

his house

I

if

I'm

important

in

into

it

its

jump

just

knew

know

lady

leave

like

light

look

little

looked

make

me

might

money

morning

mother

Mr

Mrs

much

mum

my

near

never

no

not

now

number

of

off

often

oh

old

on

one

only

opened

other

out

outside

own

paper

people

place

put

right

round

see

second

she

show

shouldn't

sister

small

so

some

something

sometimes

sound

started

still

stop stopped

such suddenly

sure swimming

that

the

their

then

there

they

think

this

those

thought

through

time

to

together

told too

today tries

turn turned

under

until

up

upon

used

very

walk

walked

walking was

watch we

went were

what

when

where

while

whole why

will

window

with

without

woke woken

word would (n't)

year

you

young

34

Read Write Inc Speed Sounds Order

35

Read Write Inc Graphemes

Ireland Education & Library Boards

36

Our Cursive Handwriting Style.

The following examples show the progression in our writing style for all children,

based on their stage of development in handwriting.

Pre-cursive Script: This example shows how to form the basic letter shapes which

prepare the children for the cursive style.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t

u v w x y z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pre-cursive Script (dense dots): To help the children to begin to formulate their

letters correctly they will use „dotted‟ letters such as these to over-write.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t

u v w x y z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pre-cursive Script (sparse dots): As the children become more confident in their letter formation the „dots‟ become more sparse, and fainter to support the children

in having the confidence to form the letter shapes on their own, relying less on the „over-writing‟ guide dots.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t

u v w x y z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

37

Pre-cursive Script (independent writing): As the children become used to the letter formation and become more independent writers their letter formation should

start to resemble the example script below. When they are writing in this style they are then ready to move onto the start of the joined cursive style.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t

u v w x y z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cursive ‘Arrows’: The first step in joining is to build upon the children‟s existing

letter formation in order to add in the joins before and after each letter. These joins are always consistent so the children will automatically know how to join one letter

to the next. Notice also a change in the „descenders‟ – these have now become „loopy‟ to aid in joining; and, the „f‟ and the „x‟ are further developed, again to aid in joining.

ªa ¶b ªc ªd â û ªü ¶h ¶i ¶ý ¶„ ¶l ¶m ¶n ª‹ ¶p ]q ¶r

ã ¶t ¶u ¶Ú ¶Þ ª* ¶þ ¶z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cursive (dense dots): As before, if needed, the children will learn the joins by over-writing to ensure consistency in their letter joins.

ªa ¶b ªc ªd â û ªü ¶h ¶i ¶ý ¶„ ¶l ¶m ¶n ª‹ ¶p ªq ¶r

¡ ¶t ¶u ¶Ú ¶Þ ª* ¶þ ¶z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

38

Cursive (three lines): In order to ensure that the children get the right structure for their letter formation, they may also use a „Guideline‟. This is a guide with 3

lines (rather than the normal 2) which helps the children to see the appropriate height and depth of their letter formation; and where the „dots‟ and „crosses‟ go for

the „i‟, „j‟ and „t‟. This type of guideline may only be used for children who need a guide when writing for presentation, though some children enjoy using a guideline for other writing too.

ªa ¶b ªc ªd â û ªü ¶h ¶i ¶ý ¶„ ¶l ¶m ¶n ª‹ ¶p ªq ¶r

¡ ¶t ¶u ¶Ú ¶Þ ª* ¶þ ¶z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cursive Script: The final „formal‟ development in the handwriting style is for the children to consistently be using a cursive style of writing in all of their written

work, using the joins as shown in the example below.

ªa ¶b ªc ªd â û ªü ¶h ¶i ¶ý ¶„ ¶l ¶m ¶n ª‹ ¶p ªq ¶r

¡ ¶t ¶u ¶Ú ¶Þ ª* ¶þ ¶z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Rªa]Ìl]a[n V. C. P¶ri[m]a[rþ Sªc[h]šŠl ªc[u[rã[i[ÝÖ

¶h]a[n]d[Þri[t[i[n]ü ¡[t[Ò¯e.

This is not the end of the process however! Once the children have mastered a consistent handwriting style, we will be encouraging them to

develop their own (legible!) joined style of writing which suits their own needs and personality… though this won’t involve smiley faces for ‘dots’

over the ‘i’ and ‘j’ !