Resources L 1.1 a The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson: During guided reading at the pre-A level spend about 1 minute per session on a letter most students know by name. Students write the letter in the air, on the table and on a white board. Letter formation takes several days. See Pg. 66 for formation prompts and see checklist on pg. 61. Nancy Fetzer Writing Manual K-1 Letter identification and formation. This resource provides strategies to teach unknown letters or letters students are confusing therefore are having difficulty learning. Handwriting Rubric to assess students’ overall handwriting habits. http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=X4WW53 In this first grade level unit 1 series of lesson plans, students review the alphabet (upper- and lowercase letters) and concepts about print as they explore books about the library, ABCs, and friendship. Students have opportunities to participate in shared research and writing, as they write a class ABC book focusing on complete sentence formation and respond to a prompt about ways to stay healthy. http://www.readtennessee.org/sites/www/Uploads/Grade%201st%20Unit1% 20Alphabet%20Books%20PDF.pdf and Alphabet Books and Children Who Read Them (PDF) This link has a variety of printable worksheets to help students practice writing upper- and lowercase letters correctly. http://www.teachnology.com/worksheets/language_arts/handwriting/ Alphabet Handwriting Templates: This website has various worksheets to practice letter formation. http://www.firstschool.ws/theme/alphabetp1.htm#handwriting Letterland Rainbow Writing- Children can use this app to form the letters correctly and recognize both lowercase and uppercase letters. (This is not a free app.) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letterland-rainbowwriting/id941049123?mt=12 iTrace- Handwriting for kids- Engaging and kid friendly handwriting app. It is customizable and there is a D’nealian selection. (This is not a free app, there is a free version, bus has limited amount of letters and choices) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itrace-handwriting-for-kids/id583678381?mt=8