LA 9.03Writing Capital Letters
Once lowercase letters are secure, the child learns to form each capital letter from a sandpaper capital or a letter chart and writes it on lined paper.
Presentation
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Choose two or three capitals whose lowercase letters the child writes well, such as M, S, and T.
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Lay the lowercase sandpaper letter beside its capital: "This is a small m. This is a capital M. They make the same sound."
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Trace the capital with two fingers in the direction it is written.
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Show on lined paper that a capital reaches from the baseline all the way to the top line.
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Write the capital slowly, then invite the child to write a row of it.
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Do the same with the other capitals in the group, then match each capital to its lowercase letter.
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Introduce new capitals in small groups on later days.
What catches the child’s eye
- A capital and its lowercase partner side by side, making the same sound
- Every capital standing tall from the baseline to the top line
Extensions, easiest to hardest
- Matching capital and lowercase letter cards in pairs
- Writing the capital and lowercase forms side by side (Mm, Ss)
- Writing the names of friends and places, each with a capital
- Finding capitals in a book
Control of error
The sandpaper capital or chart for comparison; the lines show height.
Ready to move on when the child…
- Writes all capital letters from memory
- Matches every capital to its lowercase letter
- Keeps capitals between the baseline and the top line
Guide note
Capitals come after lowercase because most of what the child reads and writes is lowercase. Many children already write the capital that starts their own name; that is fine.