Really Great Handwriting
Found in the Supply Room of Countdown, Blast, and HD Word Online
Introducing Really Great Handwriting, an engaging, explicit, and systematic program that is designed to enhance your students' handwriting skills. With a focus on pencil grip, spacing, and letter formation (print and cursive), this component of Really Great Reading’s literacy instruction aims to empower students to write with ease and speed, allowing them to free up their working memory to excel in spelling and written expression. Get ready to unlock your students' true writing potential!
Really Great Handwriting is a complimentary addition to the Countdown for K, Blast for 1st, and HD Word for 2nd-3rd Teacher Online Tools.
The downloadable PDF teacher guide lessons that complement the workbooks are available in the Supply Room of Countdown Online and Blast Online. The HD Word Handwriting teacher guide lessons are available in the Supply Room of HD Word Online. Print versions of all Countdown, Blast, and HD Word Really Great Handwriting teacher guides are available for purchase as well.
Countdown Sample Packet Blast Sample Packet HD Word Sample Packet
Why is Handwriting Important? At the core of Really Great Handwriting (RGH) is the belief that foundational skill-building is critical to educational success. We teach readers how to break down the shapes and squiggles they see on a page that represents the letter sounds. RGH begins by addressing foundational skills like pencil grip, control, and positional concepts to set students up for handwriting success. Once students have built the necessary foundational skills, RGH introduces instruction in letter formation. This instruction strengthens our students’ orthographic mapping skills. By teaching these three important skills together, students establish a strong connection between reading and spelling. When students can shift their focus from letter formation to writing, they are able to concentrate on spelling and expressing their ideas effectively. Research shows that when students are taught how to properly form the letters and master phonics skills, students can free up their working memory to focus on the content of their writing.
What Grades Does This Program Serve? Grades K-2/3, Countdown, Blast, and HD Word.
How to my current instruction? The online instructional materials (animations, images, etc.) for the Really Great Handwriting programs are embedded in the online teacher tools at the end of each lesson for ease of implementation. All materials are downloadable from the Supply Room, and hard copies of teacher guides and workbooks can also be purchased separately.
The instruction in Really Great Handwriting is purposefully integrated with the phonemic awareness and phonics instruction that students receive in the standard Countdown, Blast, and HD Word lessons. For instance, in Countdown, after the Name that Sound activity where students learn the letter sound and letter name of the cluster m, t, p, and s, they can segue directly into the handwriting lesson, where they will learn the proper letter formation of those same letters. This empowers students to see the letter, name the letter, hear and say the letter sound, and write the letter with proper formation. This will allow students to simultaneously spell and properly form the letter. In Blast and HD Word, students practice writing words with the phonics patterns they are learning to decode and encode.
What is provided in this handwriting program?
- Scope and Sequence aligned with phonics instruction
- Workbook of activities and practice pages
- Animations with letter scripts for print lowercase and capital letters (Countdown, Blast, HD Word)
- Animations with letter scripts for cursive lowercase and capital letters (HD Word)
- Dot to Dots to build fine motor skills
- Following direction activity sheets
- Handwriting paper
- Glossary of Terms
- Alternative Scope and Sequence
- Library of A-Z/a-z animations
- Multisensory tips and tricks
- Lessons embedded into online tools
