Section 5 – Learning to write
Learning to write is now a mere doddle. You want your pupils to get in the habit of sounding out words while they write them, so it’s a good idea to teach writing alongside the phonic programme.
Children should have the experience of forming the letters correctly, and writing them neatly, from the start, then they won’t need to ‘unlearn’ anything later. It won’t stifle their creativity, because they can dictate to adults, giving full rein to their own original ideas and use of language; and copy out some of what they have dictated afterwards, concentrating at that point on the mechanics of writing. Teachers in a classroom can find ways of doing this with several children at once, e.g. by asking them to contribute to a group story.
Joined cursive writing is easier to learn than printing, particularly for dyslexics (see following section). The three Tallying Approach to Phonics books help children to sound out a selection of phonic words, and contain lists of the same words in cursive script. Youngsters then practise sounding out these words while they are writing.
Use handwriting paper printed in tramlines, to make it as easy as possible for your pupils to write letters of the right size, and in the right position.
As they move on to independent writing, encourage them to follow the same sounding out process. Suppose a child asks you how to spell a word, don’t tell her the letters, help her to build up the sounds in the spoken word, and think of the matching letters by herself. E.g. if she wants to write ‘magnet’, suggest “Make it say ‘mŭ’ – what letter do you think? Now make it say ‘mă’ – write the letter? Now ‘mag’ – now ‘magn’ – now ‘magnĕ’ – and now ‘magnet’. Well done, you’ve written ‘magnet’.”
Next time she wants to write the same word, ask her to sound it out in her head, and try to think of the letters by herself; but always be ready to step in and correct her if she gets in a muddle.
If she wants to write words containing two-letter sounds, or ‘magic’ letters, remind her how the letters work.
The procedure will soon become established, until your pupil finds herself sounding out and spelling most words without really thinking about it.
You can download the relevant handwriting pages from the Alphabet Magic phonic books. Or, if you prefer, I have designed handwriting folders (one primary, one secondary), which teach cursive handwriting by means of the same phonic lists.
Teach the alphabet words last, because they contain ‘irregularities’ (see section on Dyslexia, and the problem of spelling, for ways of dealing with these). The alphabet words at secondary level are more advanced, otherwise the folders are identical.
Once again, I am putting these folders on line, so you can download them and print them off if you wish. Print the title page on A3, then it can fold around the A4 pages.