I.  INTRODUCTION 

The Steps4Kids to Write Their ABCs DVD is designed to be used with children functioning at the age equivalent of ages of 4 – 7 who are learning to write or struggling to write.  Whether your child is an early learner or a delayed learner, the below suggestions may help you support the children or child in your home or classroom. 

Remember, children will enjoy learning best if the tasks are broken down so that they can be successful.   When first beginning, use the DVD for 15 minutes or less (depending on your child’s ability to tend to the task) and build from there depending on your child’s interest and attention.  Use rewards (e.g. get to be leader of the line, pick a book to read, paint during free time, get a goodie from the class treasure chest, etc.) and/or movement breaks where possible to motivate children to stay on task.

A good way to start with students or a child just beginning to write is to talk about how letters are drawn going from the top to the bottom.  Have them practice drawing lines form the top to the bottom until they can do what is termed in the DVD as “zoom” lines.  Make it fun by seeing who can make the best zoom sound and draw the straightest line! 

II.  LETTER WRITING PREP : 

Tool: Beginner’s Writing Template (used in the DVD)
          (Click here to access writing templates) 

Have the children practice drawing lines from the top to
the bottom on lined writing paper or just from the top to
the bottom of any type of paper.  Then have the children practice tracing the top and bottom lines of lined paper from left to right.  Show them how they can make a square by drawing from the top to the bottom and from left to right.   If a child can write lines vertically and horizontally, the child is ready to start learning to write.

III.  SAMPLE GAMES 

  a.  The Alphabet Game – Learning Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

Tools:  Letters of the Alphabet written on small pieces of paper placed 
in a box for children to pick them.

At the beginning of the uppercase and lowercase tracks, there is a
colorful display of the letters "a" through "z".  Play the DVD and then pause it once the full screen of the letters shows (uppercase version shown to the right).

If using the uppercase display, write the lowercase letters on tiny pieces of paper and have the children pick letters out of the hat and take turns running up to the screen to pick out the corresponding uppercase letter.  Make the game more challenging by asking the child to say the letter's sound, or say words that use the letter's sound. 

This exercise not only provides a little movement break but also helps children learn what the differences are between the upper- and lowercase letters and helps them learn the letter sounds.  

Note:  For extra challenges when vowels show, consider asking the child to say the long vowel sound and the short vowel sound!

      b.  Spelling Games – Learning the 100+ Sight Words on the DVD

Before each letter writing exercise, there is a colorful letter graphic
displaying the letter and two sight words that reinforce the letter sound.  Divide the class into two teams and as soon as the letter graphic shows, pause the DVD and ask the first person on Team A to point to whichever word you read first.  Then give Team B a turn.  This gives a brief movement break and helps make learning the sight words used in the DVD fun!

c.  Writing "Bee"

Divide the students into teams and have them take turns writing the letters on the wipe off board or chalk board as they appear on the DVD.  Start with just the letters then build to having the students write the letters correctly on lined paper, a lined wipe off board, or a lined "template" on the wipe off or chalk board.   Teams earn points if the student correctly forms the letter or correctly places the letter on the lined paper.

IV.   USING DRAWING BREAKS 

 Tools:  3 sheets of Beginner’s Writing Template or 1 sheet of multi-
lined paper, 1 Sheet of White drawing paper for Flag Drawing, & 
Crayons (or colored pencils)

Talk about how you are going to start by working on 3 letters and discuss with the children how after practicing those letters, they are going to learn how to draw a flag using one of the letters. 

Make it a game and ask them which of the letters they think they are going to make into a flag.  Write down their predictions to make it fun.  Start the DVD and have the children practice letters F, E and L and pause the DVD. 

Then pass out the drawing paper and crayons.  Turn the DVD back on and have the children practice drawing the flag using a black crayon.  After they have finished with their F Flag, have them color it in for a colorful display in the class of the letter F. 

Extra:  See if the class can come up with other drawings using the letters F, E and L (DVD shows how to use the letter L to make a scooter for example).

Repeat with other letters as appropriate.  To keep the drawing exercises interesting, have the children do something a little different with the drawing each time to build upon their imagination and to connect with class projects or themes.

Examples:

First time:  Do a big flag & Color it
2^nd Time:   Do small flags and draw something that goes with a flag
3^rd Time:    Draw a flag with a holiday symbol on it
4^th Time:    Draw someone holding a flag  (and so forth). 

V.   CLASSROOM USES

The DVD can be set up at a computer for a small group or individual
student that needs extra practice.

1:1 Use:  Use it at a small table during "station" learning or "centers." 

Group Lessons:  Use it with the whole class and walk around the room to check on each student's grip and letter formation.  Don't forget to pause the DVD if the class needs extra instruction!

Learning Centers:  Use with children who need a little extra help or
who have a hard time focusing in larger class settings.  Most children
who are easily distracted can "hyper-focus" when visual media is used.

Recommend it to parents to use at home for students who need additional support and daily practice to
master the formation of letters and the alignment of the letters on paper.   
(For a sample draft letter to send home, click here)  

VI.  HOME USES   

For pre-k or kindergarten students, begin with the alphabet graphics at the beginning of each track to help them learn the letters first.  Then proceed to the single letter graphic and work them on the letter sound.  Help them memorize the sight words on each letter graphic!

Set it up on a portable DVD player at the kitchen table during meal preparation.  (Don’t forget to place a stool or phone book under your child’s feet for stability if the child's feet cannot reach the floor!) 

Have one child work with the video while you work with a sibling!

Play it in the car during long car rides or errands!  (Don’t forget to provide a lap tray for your child to write on while watching in the car.) 

Use during school or summer breaks to avoid regression or to give extra support by providing little bursts of practice so that your child learns or maintains their skills for when school resumes. 

Thank you for purchasing the Steps4Kids Handwriting DVD!  We hope you enjoy teaching with our DVD!            

                                   CURSIVE DVD 
                                                      

 I.      Introduction
II.     Letter Writing Prep
III.    Sample Games
IV.    Using the Look2Write Game Breaks




I.  Introduction:

By definition, "cursive" simply means "written with the characters joined."  The Oxford College Dictionary (2d Ed. 2007).   While there are many different fonts and styles used throughout the world, the cursive style we selected for our DVD is commonly called "modern cursive."  Teachers will notice its similarity to the D'Nealian® or McDougall, Littell® fonts.  "Modern Cursive" was selected because the slanted letter strokes are made without the use of elaborate curls or loops in the writing of the letters and can be easier for elementary school students to master.



Cursive writing can be difficult for many children initially because cursive letters do not always look like the printed letters they may have learned earlier in school (e.g. capital and lowercase J's, g's, f's, capital Q, etc.).  Also, most cursive writing uses strokes that start from the bottom while most printing programs used in K-1 teach strokes that start from the top. 

Finally, very few things are written in cursive outside the classroom other than signatures or personal notes so an elementary student's exposure to cursive words may be very limited.  We encourage teachers, parents and friends to make cursive writing fun by: 1.  setting up "cursive corners" with special pens and paper for cursive notes only; 2.  designing fun cursive writing projects (a note to the President, a note to someone special to get them to visit the class, a note to a secret assigned classmate telling that classmate something positive every day for a week, and 3.  "cursive story time" where children can earn extra credit or rewards for writing and reading stories written in cursive!  

Adults should also be encouraged to write the students fun notes using cursive (for example notes offering special praise, a funny joke, a fun fact, etc.) to encourage the students' reading of cursive. 

We hope our DVD not only helps children learn to write cursive letters but also helps them learn to read and write cursive words.  Thank you for using our product!

II.  Letter Writing Prep

Before a child can master the "art" of cursive writing, a child should first be able to write a "cursive line" by drawing a slanted line from the bottom line to the top and middle lines.  While not all cursive styles use slanted letters, the mastery of writing a slanted line is key to being able to connect letters to make words and is an essential stroke to forming several cursive letters. 

Once the students are comfortable with writing slanted lines from the bottom to the top, teach them how to do "back loops" by writing a slanted line to the top line on their paper and then continuing without lifting their pen to the left of the slanted line and crossing the line near the middle line (if using paper with a top, middle and bottom line) ending at the bottom.  "Back loops" are used in many cursive letters (such as the uppercase S and G, lowercase l, e, f, etc.).

Use tracing sheets if necessary to help struggling students master the foundational strokes before making them actually write the letters. 

III.  Sample Games:

In order to encourage writing practice, there are numerous ways the cursive DVD can be used as a game:

    a.  Letter Graphics:  Colorful graphics precede each letter writing exercise setting forth the letter to be practiced and two sight words.  The upper and lowercase tracks are set up with menus so that the graphics for each letter can be clicked on directly.   

Game 1:  Using these letter graphics, divide the classroom into 2 teams and each time a colorful graphic is displayed, have the students at the front of the line race to the board, read a word on the graphic and then proceed to write it.  Give them points for writing it correctly in cursive and/or spelling it correctly.

Game 2:  As students become more comfortable in their cursive writing abilities, click on a graphic and then have the students write as many words of things they see in the picture in a set amount of time (determined by the teacher based upon the students' abilities).  For example, using the "e" graphic above, students could write the words: "eggs," "yellow," "blue," "circle," "green," "shadow," etc.  After the allotted time is over, see who in the class was able to find and write the most words!  Establish a "writer's" line on the wall and give points for the first, second and third place writers.  At the end of the week (or month, or year!) award certificates for the persons who wrote the most words!  

Game 3: For a nice end of the day activity, select two students to go out of the room and have the class select a letter graphic.  Call in the first student and give him or her one minute to call out all the words they see in the letter graphic and write them down.  After the first student's time is up, have that student sit down and call in the second student.  Repeat the exercise to see if s/he can beat the prior student's score.   A fun way to end the day!  (Consider dividing the class into teams at the beginning of the week and doing this at the end of the day each day.  See which team has the most words at the end of the week!)

For learning disabled classes or mainstreaming, children with special needs or difficulties speaking or writing can instead point to items in the picture and the teacher or buddy can write down the item!  Or, have the teacher or buddy call out an item in the picture and have the student with the learning disability try to find the item called out!

    b.  Look2Write^TM games:  

In both the upper and lowercase tracks, there are Look2Write^TM game breaks.  Each Look2Write^TM game has a colorful photograph containing items that start with the cursive letters shown.  In the DVD, these photographs are shown for approximately 30 seconds.  Consider pausing this for longer periods of time to encourage more writing. 

For individual practice, have the student write down as many words as s/he sees and then count up all the words written at the end of the track.  The student's goal should be to beat his or her prior word score from a prior practicing section so that the student bases his or her success on their own ability and not that of another student. 

Points Option:  Points for use during team play or for individual competition can be determined in a number of different ways.  Below is a possible way to assign points:

1 point   = for each word writtenof an item in the picture that starts 
with one of the cursive letters shown

2 points = for each word either written in cursive or spelled correctly

3 points = for each word written in cursive and spelled correctly.

For younger students or learning disabled classes, the Look2Write photographs can be used by having children simply pick out items beginning with the letter called out.  For example, using the "e, l, f ..." photograph shown above, a teacher could call out the letter "h" and then the student can go up to the photograph, identify which letter is the letter "h" and then try to find an item that starts with the letter "h,"  earning a point for the item found or for appropriate compliance or game behavior!

The bottom line is to make cursive lessons fun so that that students want to keep practicing!

Thank you for using our product and for your commitment to children!

The Steps4Kids Team