Writing Practice
Drawing Makes It Fun!

Motivate children to practice handwriting or to write sentences and paragraphs by integrating drawing instruction into your curriculum. It isn't hard to teach basic writing skills — the challenge is motivating children to practice carefully and regularly.

Drawing is a fun hands-on activity.

Drawing a picture inspires creativity and is a great writing or speaking prompt.

Drawing is a fundamental form of communication.

The following methods are used by teachers and parents to adapt the Draw Write Now lessons to best fit their needs:

Speech Development
Talk About the Drawing

Talk with a child about their drawing. A drawing may begin a conversation with a quiet child. With a child who is talkative, a description of their drawing can be used to help focus their verbal skills. Prompt the conversation with questions, such as, Where is the bird flying? What is the boy doing? Is it a hot day or a cold day?

Demonstrate the relationship between speech and writing. Sit beside the child and ask them to tell you about their drawing. Write their story, then read the story back to the child. Point to each word as you read.

Letter Formation
Write the Letter

Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce the letter.

Word Formation
Write the Word

Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce each letter in a word. Help them correctly space the letters.

Sentences
Write Short Sentences

Demonstrate how to write a short sentence, such as "Hens lay eggs.", and have the child copy it. Highlight the parts of a sentence:

the first letter of the first word in a sentence is a capital letter
there are spaces between words
a period is at the end of the sentence

As the children become more comfortable with writing, have them practice by copying two to four sentences. The Draw Write Now lessons have four short sentences. Change the sentence so that they are appropriate to the child's skill level, but keep the sentences short and fairly simple.

Self-Editing
The Child Who Loves to Write

One mother told us that her daughter loved to write -- she wrote page after page -- which was wonderful, but improvement was needed in spelling and paragraph structure. So, the mom began giving a drawing lesson each day, and the girl wrote a story about her drawing. They selected several sentences that highlighted the story, and corrected any spelling or grammar errors in those sentences. The child copied the sentences onto another paper using her best handwriting.

Writing Prompt
The Child Who is Reluctant

Drawing instruction is an excellent pre-writing activity that engages the children and augments their work. Have the child copy the sentences with you. Work for success, but push them a bit. If you know they can write one sentence, have them write one sentence plus one more short sentence. Lesson to lesson, increase the amount of writing. If they balk, use the coloring time as an incentive — remind them that you'll bring out the crayons (or color pencils, watercolors, etc.) after the sentences are finished.

Composition
Write a Story About Your Drawing

The background drawings that the children add can be very interesting! As the child composes the story, allow them to write quickly to get their ideas on paper — this is not a time to stress careful handwriting!

Grammar Excersize
List the Nouns

After drawing a picture, provide the children with another sheet of paper and ask them to write all the nouns in their drawing. Another time, have them write all the verbs or all the adjectives.

Structure
Write a Paragraph or Report

Encourage independent research and study. Have the child write a paragraph or more about the subject they have just drawn. Help the children learn how to gather information from sources like encyclopedias, the Internet or library.

Handwriting Styles

There are a variety of handwriting styles: cursive, manuscript, Italic, D'Nealian, Victorian, and New South Wales. See samples of popular handwriting styles. A school district usually decides to teach one style. If you have a child who is not yet attending school and is ready to write, call the school office or contact the kindergarten teacher to learn the handwriting style used. You always have the option of teaching your child another style, but it might be a needless frustration for the child.

Homeschool parents have more options. Take time to familiarize yourself with the various styles. Most start with a manuscript form for the first several years, then move into a cursive form. Some start with cursive. When my coauthor, Marie, was a child in the 1920's, she learned cursive first. Manuscript was used for map or poster labeling. Several handwriting curriculums have reintroduced the concept of teaching cursive from the start.

Handwriting Charts

There are many styles of handwriting, each with its own letter formation -- see them all in one place on our sample page of handwriting styles. The following list includes online sources of handwriting style charts. For a complete selection of charts, visit a teacher-parent school supply store. Some of the large discount retailers carry a good selection of handwriting style charts.

Manuscript, Cursive (Zaner-Bloser)
HandwritingForKids.com -- charts and demonstrations on how to form the letters -- a generous, well-organized site! This site has many variations on manuscript and cursive writing, including the popular style developed by Zaner-Bloser.

Peterson-Handwriting.com -- another great place to get charts and demonstrations on forming the letters. Peterson has lots of products for teaching handwriting. (These demonstrations are not Zaner-Bloser.)

Modern Manuscript and Modern Cursive - (D'Nealian)
D'Nealian introduces slanted letters right from the beginning and has gained popularity in many school districts in the United States. Products similar to D'Nealian are sold as "Modern Manuscript" and "Modern Cursive".

www.janbrett.com

look under "Activities Pages", Alphabet

Handwriting Without Tears
Handwriting Without Tears was developed by an occupational therapist. This style is simplified, and does not have a slant. The Handwriting Without Tears program has lots of products for writing readiness.

Print - Handwriting Without Tears
Cursive - Handwriting Without Tears

Italic and Italic Link
Italic writing is beautiful and fluent. There are several variations -- Portland Italic, Barchowsky, New South Wales, Victorian, and Queensland.

Italic charts

Barchowsky


Writing Practice Drawing Makes It Fun! Motivate children to practice handwriting or to write sentences and paragraphs by integrating drawing instruction into your curriculum. It isn't hard to teach basic writing skills — the challenge is motivating children to practice carefully and regularly. Drawing is a fun hands-on activity. Drawing a picture inspires creativity and is a great writing or speaking prompt. Drawing is a fundamental form of communication. The following methods are used by teachers and parents to adapt the Draw Write Now lessons to best fit their needs: Speech Development Talk About the Drawing Talk with a child about their drawing. A drawing may begin a conversation with a quiet child. With a child who is talkative, a description of their drawing can be used to help focus their verbal skills. Prompt the conversation with questions, such as, Where is the bird flying? What is the boy doing? Is it a hot day or a cold day? Demonstrate the relationship between speech and writing. Sit beside the child and ask them to tell you about their drawing. Write their story, then read the story back to the child. Point to each word as you read. Letter Formation Write the Letter Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce the letter. Word Formation Write the Word Show the children how to correctly form and pronounce each letter in a word. Help them correctly space the letters. Sentences Write Short Sentences Demonstrate how to write a short sentence, such as "Hens lay eggs.", and have the child copy it. Highlight the parts of a sentence: the first letter of the first word in a sentence is a capital letter there are spaces between words a period is at the end of the sentence As the children become more comfortable with writing, have them practice by copying two to four sentences. The Draw Write Now lessons have four short sentences. Change the sentence so that they are appropriate to the child's skill level, but keep the sentences short and fairly simple. Self-Editing The Child Who Loves to Write One mother told us that her daughter loved to write -- she wrote page after page -- which was wonderful, but improvement was needed in spelling and paragraph structure. So, the mom began giving a drawing lesson each day, and the girl wrote a story about her drawing. They selected several sentences that highlighted the story, and corrected any spelling or grammar errors in those sentences. The child copied the sentences onto another paper using her best handwriting. Writing Prompt The Child Who is Reluctant Drawing instruction is an excellent pre-writing activity that engages the children and augments their work. Have the child copy the sentences with you. Work for success, but push them a bit. If you know they can write one sentence, have them write one sentence plus one more short sentence. Lesson to lesson, increase the amount of writing. If they balk, use the coloring time as an incentive — remind them that you'll bring out the crayons (or color pencils, watercolors, etc.) after the sentences are finished. Composition Write a Story About Your Drawing The background drawings that the children add can be very interesting! As the child composes the story, allow them to write quickly to get their ideas on paper — this is not a time to stress careful handwriting! Grammar Excersize List the Nouns After drawing a picture, provide the children with another sheet of paper and ask them to write all the nouns in their drawing. Another time, have them write all the verbs or all the adjectives. Structure Write a Paragraph or Report Encourage independent research and study. Have the child write a paragraph or more about the subject they have just drawn. Help the children learn how to gather information from sources like encyclopedias, the Internet or library.	HOME PAGE DRAW WRITE COLOR UNIT STUDIES Pencil Grip Handwriting Styles This site is by the authors of the Draw Write Now series. Our Shop 1. EIGHT BOOKS Draw Write Now 2. HANDWRITING StartWrite Software 3. IN HAND Pencils, Grips 4. PAPER Paper, Workbooks, Puzzles 5. COLOR Crayons, Color Pencils 6. OTHER FAVORITES Wikki, BookZup, Rubber Bands Site Map Contact Us	An updated version of this lesson is included in Draw Write Now, Book 3. The student paper shown here is from Marie Hablitzel's 2nd grade class, (1979). See more of her students' work. "I teach second grade and use Draw Write Now books for handwriting practice. My students beg me to do handwriting every day. I never thought I'd hear those words! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful program with teachers!" -- Jennifer, Second Grade Teacher Handwriting Styles There are a variety of handwriting styles: cursive, manuscript, Italic, D'Nealian, Victorian, and New South Wales. See samples of popular handwriting styles. A school district usually decides to teach one style. If you have a child who is not yet attending school and is ready to write, call the school office or contact the kindergarten teacher to learn the handwriting style used. You always have the option of teaching your child another style, but it might be a needless frustration for the child. Homeschool parents have more options. Take time to familiarize yourself with the various styles. Most start with a manuscript form for the first several years, then move into a cursive form. Some start with cursive. When my coauthor, Marie, was a child in the 1920's, she learned cursive first. Manuscript was used for map or poster labeling. Several handwriting curriculums have reintroduced the concept of teaching cursive from the start. Whatever handwriting style your children use, help them develop the habit of holding the pencil in a tripod grip. Handwriting Charts There are many styles of handwriting, each with its own letter formation -- see them all in one place on our sample page of handwriting styles. The following list includes online sources of handwriting style charts. For a complete selection of charts, visit a teacher-parent school supply store. Some of the large discount retailers carry a good selection of handwriting style charts. Manuscript, Cursive (Zaner-Bloser) HandwritingForKids.com -- charts and demonstrations on how to form the letters -- a generous, well-organized site! This site has many variations on manuscript and cursive writing, including the popular style developed by Zaner-Bloser. manuscript - uppercase manuscript - lowercase cursive - uppercase cursive - lowercase Spanish lined paper Peterson-Handwriting.com -- another great place to get charts and demonstrations on forming the letters. Peterson has lots of products for teaching handwriting. (These demonstrations are not Zaner-Bloser.) manuscript - uppercase manuscript - lowercase cursive - uppercase cursive - lowercase Modern Manuscript and Modern Cursive - (D'Nealian) D'Nealian introduces slanted letters right from the beginning and has gained popularity in many school districts in the United States. Products similar to D'Nealian are sold as "Modern Manuscript" and "Modern Cursive". D'Nealian - manuscript and cursive chart D'Nealian - manuscript only www.janbrett.com look under "Activities Pages", Alphabet Handwriting Without Tears Handwriting Without Tears was developed by an occupational therapist. This style is simplified, and does not have a slant. The Handwriting Without Tears program has lots of products for writing readiness. Print - Handwriting Without Tears Cursive - Handwriting Without Tears Italic and Italic Link Italic writing is beautiful and fluent. There are several variations -- Portland Italic, Barchowsky, New South Wales, Victorian, and Queensland. Italic charts Barchowsky

Writing Practice Drawing Makes It Fun!

Speech Development Talk About the Drawing

Letter Formation Write the Letter

Word Formation Write the Word

Sentences Write Short Sentences

Self-Editing The Child Who Loves to Write

Writing Prompt The Child Who is Reluctant

Composition Write a Story About Your Drawing

Grammar Excersize List the Nouns

Structure Write a Paragraph or Report

Handwriting Styles

Handwriting Charts