Handwriting
Top 10 Reasons to Practise Cursive Style
Cursive (joined) handwriting was introduced to the OLV Senior Infant curriculum this school year. It can be challenging for pupils and I appreciate that it takes lots of practice! So I would encourage children not to worry if struggling with it and to practise print handwriting for now. They can gradually try letters in cursive style.
The children need to focus on cursive letter formation firstly, so we don't join letters together in Senior Infants. You will notice slight gaps between each letter.
I have attached some cursive and print style templates. These can be adjusted to suit children's writing size, personal details, and daily news over the coming weeks. I ruled blank pages in two colours, which will help with letter placement. The yellow page is the official cursive style that we follow in school.
Take a look at attachments under blog post 2/4/20 for further practice on pencil control and print handwriting.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO FOCUS ON CAPITAL LETTERS, FULL STOPS AND FINGER SPACES.
According to www.memoriapress.com, cursive handwriting has numerous mental, physical, social and practical benefits:
The children need to focus on cursive letter formation firstly, so we don't join letters together in Senior Infants. You will notice slight gaps between each letter.
I have attached some cursive and print style templates. These can be adjusted to suit children's writing size, personal details, and daily news over the coming weeks. I ruled blank pages in two colours, which will help with letter placement. The yellow page is the official cursive style that we follow in school.
Take a look at attachments under blog post 2/4/20 for further practice on pencil control and print handwriting.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO FOCUS ON CAPITAL LETTERS, FULL STOPS AND FINGER SPACES.
According to www.memoriapress.com, cursive handwriting has numerous mental, physical, social and practical benefits:
READING LEVELS
Did you get a moment to check out the wide selection of books contained on the Collins website?! No pressure, but if you are interested, the log-in details are on my April 20th post.
Here is a link to reading band levels:
Here is a link to reading band levels:
It is useful to look at the 'Learning Opportunities' section before/after the student reads, as well as learning prompts in the chosen book.
The following is a general guide on how the reading levels can be interpreted in this scheme. Try a few books to get a better sense of reading level. Some levels will be for older children.
Lilac/Band0: These are wordless books, with pictures only. Suitable for pupils who find reading very challenging at Senior Infant level and cannot sound out or identify any words.
Pink A/Band 1A + Pink B/Band 1B: Lower ability
Red A/Band 2A + Red B/Band 2B: Middle ability
Yellow/Band 3 + all other bands: Upper ability
The following is a general guide on how the reading levels can be interpreted in this scheme. Try a few books to get a better sense of reading level. Some levels will be for older children.
Lilac/Band0: These are wordless books, with pictures only. Suitable for pupils who find reading very challenging at Senior Infant level and cannot sound out or identify any words.
Pink A/Band 1A + Pink B/Band 1B: Lower ability
Red A/Band 2A + Red B/Band 2B: Middle ability
Yellow/Band 3 + all other bands: Upper ability
Consider if you are judging capability on 'learning off-by-heart' skills or on good phonological awareness. Pick out random words for the child to decipher.
In upper ability books, check fluency, some awareness of punctuation and/or grammar and the use of expression. Comprehension skills can be developed by discussing characters, setting, problem and solution (children are familiar with these terms in school).
In upper ability books, check fluency, some awareness of punctuation and/or grammar and the use of expression. Comprehension skills can be developed by discussing characters, setting, problem and solution (children are familiar with these terms in school).
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