Printed Manual: Letter and Sentence Formation

Once students become familiar with the routine, the lessons take about 10 minutes or 15 minutes with share time (whole group / partners). 

We don’t want students to feel overwhelmed in these beginning stages of literacy, so we divide the skills/expectations.  These Letter & Sentence Formation lessons are designed to focus on penmanship and building the muscle memory for correct letter formation.  The manual gradually increases in difficulty with smaller fonts, longer sentences, and students applying their own ideas for sentence completion.  This manual is meant to be taught separately from the genre studies but alongside the genre studies (at different times in the day). 

In the genre studies, where the focus is ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions, we do not place importance on correct letter formation.  Students need the flexibility to allow for a safe place to practice communication without the pressures of proper letter formation.  Gradually, as students gain proficiency, we encourage teachers to combine the expectations when appropriate.  

The genre studies are research-based and based on State writing standards (primarily Common Core) , the Six Traits of Writing, the Writing Process (Plan, Research, Outline, Draft, Revise, Edit), and systematic instruction (objective, direct instruction, modeling, practice, partner share, self-assessment with the rubric).

Yes, the manual is reproducible for your classroom.  We ask that schools use the honor system in making only copies for students within a class, not for teachers within a school.