This easy to follow checklist from Letter-join will help you to prepare everything you need to teach handwriting when children return to school.
Print out the correct Handwriting Lesson Planner for your class
Build handwriting lessons into your timetable and download the Letter-join Handwriting Lesson Planners by logging into a Classroom account and choosing the ‘Info’ button. There are seven modules which offer teachers the choice to teach printed or cursive handwriting from Early Years through to Year 6 with links to the relevant lessons.
Early Years and KS1 teachers can also print out the Phonics Lesson Planner which delivers extra games, activities and worksheets to support your school’s validated phonics programme. This enables you to seamlessly combine the teaching of phonics with handwriting. Teachers have a choice of fonts to use with these resources, including the Letter-join Print Plus font which is in line with the DfE phonics guidance.
Choose your fonts
Be prepared by selecting your preferred font for teaching handwriting in your classroom. Download the fonts to create documents in MS Word (use Letter-join Basic for Smart Notebook and Powerpoint). Choose which type of Letter-join font to use in your class for Worksheet Generator, Online Word Processor and Letter-join’s Fun activities. The same font is automatically selected when children use the Pupil log-in details and choose their class name.
Create some fun childrens’ name labels
In the Fun section:
• Select the Magic Words facility.
• Choose a background.
• Type in the child’s name.
• Trace over it.
• Take a screenshot.
• Print on to card and laminate.
Laminate A4 reference printouts
Printout our handy reference resources to laminate for each classroom table so that children can refer to themwhen completing handwriting tasks:
• Printed, cursive and capital letters.
• Alphabet strips.
• Tall, small, fall letters.
Make classroom displays
Brighten up your classroom and model good handwriting, ready for the new term with:
• Letter-join’s gross motor skills posters.
• Phonics posters (phases 1-5).
• Numbers and alphabet friezes.
Letter-join’s training videos and presentations
For new subscribers and staff members new to Letter-join, a series of training videos and presentations and a handwriting workshop for parents.
• An introduction to Letter-join, a video introducing the wide range of available resources and facilities for staff.
• A comprehensive overview of Letter-join as a Powerpoint presentation, helpful for explaining how the website works, for members of staff or schools new to Letter-join.
• An editable handwriting workshop to present to parents.
• Become familiar with Letter-join’s handwriting Lesson Planners which offer a whole school approach to the teaching of printed or cursive handwriting. Choose your year group from Early Years to Year 6.
• To set up your school’s Letter-join account, the named school administrator needs to log in using the details sent with the ‘Welcome’ email. This video will guide you through how to access all the different facilities on the School Admin page.
• Find out how to build a word bank to make your own word animations for children to watch and practise at school and at home.
• For help with fonts (whether it’s downloading them, displaying them correctly, choosing fonts for your class or selecting your preferred letterforms) these video tutorials are an essential aid for staff members.
- Alternative letterforms >
- Classroom fonts >
- Download fonts for MS Word >
- Use fonts correctly in MS Word >
• Finally, don’t forget, Letter-join school subscriptions include lots of great handwriting activities for pupils to enjoy at home, using the same letterforms which have been selected by your school. See where you can find your schools’ Pupil log-in details and prepare parents to set up for home learning with Letter-join.
Check out these fun handwriting activities for the summer term
Step into summer with Letter-join’s bright and colourful, summer–themed handwriting worksheets:
- On the beach
- How to build a sandcastle
- Summer poem
- Summer morning
- Bucket and Spade list
- My New Teacher
- Thank you note
To find these, just type ‘summer’ into the Search bar.
Introduce some seasonal ‘summer’ words using Letter-join’s Word of the Week template.
In addition to handwriting practice, children can explore new and unfamiliar words to help them use more adventurous and exciting language in their writing.
Here are some summer vocabulary suggestions: humidity, balmy, sultry, quench, oppressive…
From Early Years through to Year 6
Targeted worksheets and online resources to support your handwriting teaching at home. Ideal to help children reach handwriting expectations for the new academic year in their new class.
Letter-join has two sets of home learning handwriting packs for each year group. Each pack has been put together by the Letter-join Team and is linked to the main focus points in Letter-join’s Lesson Planners. The Home Learning Packs are full of handwriting tasks and online games and activities to keep pupils on track with their learning and are designed to be easy to follow for both parents and children.
Class teachers can choose to do one of the following:
• Print a pack, fill in the pupil log-in details and photocopy to send home for each child.
• Email the PDF of the relevant pack, along with the pupil log-in details to parents for them to print or for children to complete in their handwriting books.
• Add to the school website for parents to print or for children to complete in their handwriting books.
Each pack contains guidance and instructions and contains a selection of online activities, worksheets and printouts, with suggestions for extra tasks. Now, children are all set to enjoy plenty of fun handwriting with Letter-join’s colourful and engaging animations and resources.
As with all Letter-join activities, a school’s preferred letterforms and font, printed or cursive, will be as chosen by class teachers.
Click here to find out more about the content Letter-join’s Home Learning Packs.
Support your pupils with the physical demands of handwriting and establish fundamental pre-writing routines with this new, Letter-join Ready to Write Resources pack, offering teachers the following go-to references:
• an IWB presentation for your class
• a selection of classroom posters
• links to fun, interactive videos to boost fine and gross motor skills
Display
A complete set of key, handwriting resources at your fingertips, including an IWB presentation and classroom posters modelling:
• Posture
• Pencil grip
• Paper position
• Pencil pressure
Videos
A series of lively, new videos are included in Letter-join’s Ready to Write Resources pack to motivate your learners. Have fun with your class as they practise these animated activities to get them ready to start handwriting.
The engaging, ready to write routines modelled in the videos can be easily integrated into daily classroom practice.
Gross Motor Skills
A lively, seven-minute warm-up session encouraging children to copy large, whole-body movements.
A focused, five-minute selection of fun exercises designed to improve strength, dexterity and control in fingers and hands in readiness for handwriting.
Clear, step-by-step guidance for learning the tripod pencil grip method, accompanied by a memorable rhyme.
An extended ‘How to Hold a Pencil with warm-ups’ video combining selected gross and fine motor skills activities is also available.
To download the Ready to Write Resources pack here > as a PDF to explore the resources.
