Learning How to Write Uppercase Letters2023-10-02T12:46:37-05:00

Posted by: Alesia Netuk

Updated: October 2nd, 2023

Learning How to Write Uppercase Letters

Learning How to Write Uppercase Letters

It is important for children to learn how to print letters correctly. This includes using the correct starting point, following the right path, and using the proper formation. Printing letters accurately allows children to write efficiently and makes their writing more legible. When children “draw” letters haphazardly, starting and ending at different points, it can be difficult to remember how to form each letter. They need to use the same pathway each time, and they need repetition to commit the pathway to memory.

PREPARING ENGAGING LESSONS
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Save hours on your lesson preparation time every week with an organized collection of high-quality, low-prep, hands-on printables right at your fingertips!

PREPARING ENGAGING LESSONS
JUST GOT EASIER …

Save hours on your lesson preparation time every week with an organized collection of high-quality, low-prep, hands-on printables right at your fingertips!

What Order is Best to Teach Letters

An important consideration is the order to teach the letters in. Think of letters that require similar pathways, including horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonal lines, and curves. Introduce letters according to these physical characteristics. Children may find letters that use only horizontal and vertical lines to be the easiest to begin with. These are the letters L, F, T, H, I, and E. Next, introduce letters that contain curves, such as D, B, P, and J. Lastly, have children practice letters that contain diagonal lines, including A, M, W, and Z. You will see that having directional arrows as well as guidelines on the paper will be very helpful for beginning writers. They will develop a motor plan for writing, which allows them to automatically know the steps to follow to form each letter, in the correct order.

When learning how to print the uppercase letters, children start each letter at the top and move downwards. This makes it easy for them to know where to start. Use worksheets that provide directional arrows so children learn the correct pathways.

There are three writing styles to consider using: Zaner-Bloser style, D’Nealian style, and Handwriting Without Tears style. Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian styles use 3/4 horizontal ruling, a red baseline, a broken blue midline, and a descender space. Handwriting Without Tears style uses 3/8 inch double-lined ruling.

Example of multisensory explicit instructions when teaching writing uppercase letters

Today you’re going to learn the letter D and the sound it makes. Say the letter. (d) Dog, dice, dad, desert, darts, desk, drink, dinner start with a sound /d/. Say these words with me. (dog, dice, dad, desert, darts, desk, drink, dinner).

SOUND OUT & WRITE IT

First, let’s write the letter D in the air with your index finger (or using a juggling scarf). Start at the top. Pull down straight. Lift. Go back to the starting point. Slide right – curve forward (right) to the bottom – slide left! (model the letter together with a child and say it aloud d)

Let’s look at these words and trace the letters. Look at the top of the page. What do you see? (dad, drink) Let’s say the beginning sound. /d/ What letter spells the sound /d/? (d) Trace a d. Begin your writing with a starting dot and follow directions to form a letter. Start at the blue headline. Pull down straight to the red baseline. Lift. Go back to the starting point. Slide right – curve forward (right) to the red baseline – slide left. (you can use the handwriting worksheets below to teach all letters)

LEARNING MATERIALS TO MEET EVERY CHILD’S NEEDS

Here, at PrimaryLearning.Org, we tend to deliver the best-differentiated learning materials to K-2 students. Our resources can be easily incorporated into multisensory lessons to meet every child’s needs, whether s/he is a visual, kinesthetic, or auditory learner.

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