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Revising:
Have students use their Unit 4 Checklist to verify that all of the skills
and vocabulary they wanted to use is included in their writing project. Review
with students the prefixes and suffixes learned earlier in the unit. Remind students
of how prefixes can change the meaning of words, whereas suffixes can change
the part of speech. Also remind students to monitor their subject-verb agreement,
and make sure they understand the concept. Students can check off each item on
the checklist as they revise their drafts.
Ask students to use a highlighter as they reread their writing. Have them circle
any spelling or punctuation errors, inserting punctuation as needed. Have
them highlight sentences that do not make sense or may include an incorrect
verb. Then, ask students to go back to their highlighted sentences to make the
appropriate edits. Remind them again about usage of present tense verbs and the
agreement of subject and verb.
Rewriting:
Have students rewrite their writing project in cursive on a new
sheet of paper. Encourage students to write carefully so that all of their revisions
are included in their rewrite. If time permits, students can illustrate their work.
Remind students that the final version of their writing project is for public reading,
so they should pay careful attention to their handwriting.
Unit 4
My Community
143b
Penmanship Tips
Tell students that the bottom line that their
letters rest on is the base. Refer to the line
that lowercase rest on as the middle line. If
you are using three-line handwriting paper,
refer to the line that the uppercase letters
rest on as the top.
Remind students to start their letters at the
top of the letter. If they are writing lowercase
letters, they start the letter on the middle
line. Students should bump the bottom, or
base, line as their pencil travels down when
writing the letter. The height of lowercase
letters should be the middle line. The height
of lowercase letters with an upper or lower
extension (b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, q, t, and y)
should be the top line if you are using three-
line paper. If you are using standard two-line
paper, the height of letters with extensions
should be double the height of the middle
line.
Write the word
hat
on the board using
handwriting lines to border the word. Ask
the class to chorally read the word. Have a
student come up to the board to trace the
letters. Ask
What do you notice about the
height of each letter?
Then, have the class
identify the differences in letter height.
Explain to the class that when their letters
are the proper height, they are easier to
read. Point out that each letter bumps the
bottom line. Point out that the
h
and
t
have
extensions that go above the middle line and
touch the top line. Then, point out that the
a
does not have an extension; it bumps the
bottom line and rises up to touch the middle
line.
Have students practice writing one row
with the letter
h
, one row with the letter
t
,
and one row with the letter
a
. Then, have
students write a row with the word
hat
.
Ask students to identify and circle their best
writing.