Page 47 - Module 2: Teachers Guide for Getting Ready for Writing PONY

Summary of the Hemispheres Think Write Animal Categories
IWB000 - Parent Sheet - Letter Formation and Spatial Placement Information Sheet
HTW Letter Formation and Spatial Placement Guide for Parents
Harriet the Cow’s tall straight line letters
b f hk l t
Georgia the Shetland Pony’s up and over letters
a dg q o c s
Rupert the White Sheep’s short straight line letters.
i m n u rp j y
Zac the Grey Sheep’s unusual short straight line letters
e v wx z
Pippa the Rabbit’s below the line letters
fg j p qy
Copyright 2018 Shelley Birkett-Eyles. Hemispheres Think Write Handwriting Programme
Module 2: Getting Ready for Writing Teacher’s Guide.
The following animal categories relate to the rules for letter formation:
Harriet the Cow’s family
The letters that are part of the Hemispheres Think Write Harriet the Cow family all start on the grass and begin with a tall straight line, reaching up towards the cloud, past the helicopter line.
Harriet the Cow’s family letters are:
l h t bk f
Georgia the Shetland Pony’s family
The letters that are part of the Hemispheres Think Write Georgia the Shetland Pony family all start on the grass and go up and over, before coming back round to form the letter.
The Georgia the Shetland Pony letters generally are short and only go as high as the helicopter, with the exception of the letter d.
Georgia the Shetland Pony’s family letters are:
o ad gq s c
Rupert the White Sheep’s family
Harriet
Georgia
Rupert
Zac
Pippa
Objective: Guiding parents
The Sheep category is divided into two groups, the Rupert the White Sheep letters and Zac the Grey Sheep letters. Whilst there are two groups, they are cousins and belong to the one family.
The letters that are part of the Hemispheres Think Write Rupert the White Sheep family all start on the grass and begin with a short straight line, reaching up as high as the helicopter line. Rupert the White Sheep letters all start with a short vertical line, and are the more commonly used sheep letters.
Zac the Grey sheep letters start with either a short horizontal or diagonal line, and are the least commonly used sheep letters.
Rupert the White Sheep’s family letters are:
i r n m u jp y
Zac the Grey Sheep’s family
Zac the Grey Sheep’s family letters are:
e vw x z
The final animal category relates to the rules for spatial placement:
Pippa the Rabbit’s family
The letters that are part of the Hemispheres Think Write Pippa the Rabbit Family are those letters that go below the grass line to go looking for worms. This family group does not reflect letter formation, but helps children to learn which letters descend below the line, and therefore reflects spatial placement. The formation of Pippa the Rabbit letters are taught in Harriet the Cow, Georgia the Shetland Pony and
the White Sheep family groups. Pippa the Rabbit’s family letters are: gq j y pf
Copyright 2013. Hemispheres Think Write Handwriting Programme
Lesson Plan:
Proactive parents are very keen to see their children learn to write. Being able to support and guide parents in the key principles of the Hemispheres Think Write Handwriting Programme will be important. This will enable parents to support their children’s home and school learning in a collaborative and reinforcing manner.
Recommended Action:
1. Introduce parents to the animal characters and their purpose and role in helping
children understand the rules that govern handwriting in terms of size, height, spatial
position and letter formations.
2. Ask parents to support and reinforce the learning in Module 1: Learning the
Cognitive Framework, and Module 2: Getting Ready for Writing. Explain to parents that these two modules will help their children develop the foundation skills that will underpin their writing for life.
3. Reassure parents that the teachers will be monitoring their children’s readiness to write letters and will inform them when they can begin to help their children form their letters.
4. When you have a group of parents whose children are ready to write, follow the guidelines in Module 3: Learning To Write. Here parents are given a set of letters to focus on and begin with – Harriet the Cow’s letters are a good starting point.
© 2016. Shelley Birkett-Eyles. Hemispheres Think Write Limited