Lesson Note – Nursery First Term Pre-Writing Activities Week 7 & 8

Introduction to Lesson Note – Nursery First Term Pre-Writing Activities Week 7 & 8

I wrote this Lesson Note – Nursery First Term Pre-Writing Activities Week 7 & 8 based on the Pre-Nursery Scheme of Work. This scheme of work is drawn from the latest National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education by NERDC. Accordingly, this lesson note is for teachers and schools in Nigeria. Nonetheless, its vastness makes it useful to other people including other schools and teachers elsewhere. Particularly, parents from wide range of places use these guides to help their young scholars.

Note for Teachers:

If you are a teacher or school owner/administrator, kindly note that this lesson note is not same as what you (the teacher) should submit to your supervisors. The Quality Assurance Department of most of the ministries of education have standard layout for teachers to develop their lesson plans. If you intend to submit this as lesson plan, click here to download our professional lesson plan template. Once you get it, you can easily create your lesson plan by filling the template with the contents that I have already written here.

Introduction to Pre-Writing Activities

Eligible writing is one of the cardinal points (objective) of early years schooling. The others being social skills, reading and numeracy. Teachers of children in their early years may be evaluated by the children’s level of penmanship; just as children’s level of improvement.

One who is close to a parent whose child is in the early years would often hear such parent say “my child can now write “. Such parent may complain that “my child cannot still write well “. This is because the parents also understand the importance of penmanship.

Professionally, it is recommended (and often debated) that children should develop writing skills before reading. And just like any other skills, writing must be practiced.

The practice of penmanship is divided and taught as two related subjects all through the early years; pre-writing and hand writing. Pre-writing is usually reserved for the first of the early years. Both denote all activities a child undertakes in order to enable them write well and fast.

Typically, Pre-Writing Activities prepares children for eligible handwriting. It teaches children how to hold pencil correctly, form patterns that make up the letters and numbers; and also correct letter formation or how to form the letters.

These are the objectives of Pre-Writing Activities at the Pre-Nursery level. This week discusses the last of the writing patterns. As such, pupils should thenceforth be able to form a handful of the letters; with appropriate guidance.

Lesson Note – Nursery First Term Pre-Writing Activities Week 7 & 8

SUBJECT:  Pre writing Activities

TERM: First Term

WEEK: 4

CLASS: Pre – Nursery

TOPIC: Writing Pattern – crescent shapes making – concave and convex

OBJECTIVES of Lesson Note – Nursery First Term Pre-Writing Activities Week 7 & 8

At the end of the lesson, the pupils should be able to do the following:

• Cognitive: identify the three straight line patterns in writing; and differentiate between the lines
• Psychomotor: arrange sticks into vertical, horizontal and standing position to form net or a mesh.

TEACHER’S ACTIVITIES

The teacher shall collect straw (pipes) to be used for the mesh – making activities. Alternative to making all straw (pipes) mesh a combination of four straws (pipes) and thread may be used. To make the mesh more aesthetic different colors of straw/rope may be used.

PRESENTATION

To deliver the lesson, the teacher follows the steps given below:

Step 1: Introduction
The teacher introduces the lesson by revising the previous (Week 4 – 6) lesson. He or she does this by carrying the following exercises with the pupils:

Questions & Answer

1. Who like to be able to write like adults so they can write about the things they want?
2. What is the first step to be able to write well? Answer: Holding pencil well
3. Invite a pupil to demonstrate correct (tripod) pencil grasp: Who can show us the correct way to hold pencil? Pick a volunteer
4. Discourage improper pencil grasps: Who can show us one bad way to hold pencil? Pick volunteers
5. Is it good to hold pencil the bad way? Answer: No
6. What will happen when one holds pencil the bad way? Answer: He or She will not be able to easily write well and fast. And/or his or her fingers will hurt.
7. Access their understanding of the difference between left and right: Raise your right/left- hand. Also, sing rhyme such as ‘If You Are Happy and You Know’ with them with emphasize on left hand, right hand, left leg, and right leg.
8. Practice clockwise hands movement with the pupils: go to circular swing, and rotate in left to right direction; etc. – see previous lesson for more exercises
9. Practice shading exercise with the pupils:
10. What is the second step to write like an adult? Answer: Correctly making writing lines (or marks) – i.e. writing patterns
11. Mention one kind of writing lines? Answer: Straight (writing) lines
12. What are the kinds of straight (writing) lines? Answer: up to down (standing or vertical); left to right (sleeping or horizontal); and side to side (falling or slanting)
13. Teacher shows pupils many of the kinds of straight pattern and demands pupils to identify
14. Re-do making straight writing patterns with the pupils – only one or two exercises for each line.

Revision

Succeeding the exercise above, the teacher once again revises the three straight patterns – vertical, horizontal and slanting.

Afterwards, s/he shows the pupils designed crescent moon. Then the teacher tells the pupils that they shall design their own crescent moon. Also, s/he tells the pupils that there is one last writing lines they need to learn before they begin to write like grown-ups. And finally, the teacher reveals that they shall learn the new writing lines during the week – the line that form the moon which adults also form when writing.

Step 2: Meaning of a curve

In continuation of the lesson, the teacher teaches the pupils that the moon is a curve. Thereafter, s/he explains the meaning of a curve – a curve is a line which is not straight but bent. S/he may teach the pupils to pronounce the word, curve.

The teacher may make the meaning of a curve into a rhyme which s/he sings with the pupils while demonstrating the bend with the hands in the air.

Following the explanation of the meaning of a curve, the teacher draws or shows different curved lines while identifying it for the pupils.

The teacher follows this with exercise of differentiating between straight and curved lines. To do this; the teacher draws or shows a curve and a straight-line side by side then asks the pupils to identify the curve, the straight and/or both lines.  S/he does this in a fun and game-like manner, many times.

As a follow-up to identifying curved lines, the shows real objects – or the picture of the objects – that have curve. Then the teacher identifies the curve in such objects with the pupils. Examples of such objects include moon, rainbow, umbrella, bow, etc. If the models of these objects are available, the teacher places each on the board, and traces the outline so as to make the curve part apparent to the pupils. After the pupils have reasonably become conversant with curves, the teacher may lead them to identify the straight part of the objects as well.

Step 3: Tracing Curved Objects

Succeeding the step above, the teacher distributes a model of curved object which s/he picks – such as the crescent moon. Then, the teacher also picks his model and shows it to the pupils. Telling them to look at him/her, the teacher places the model on the board and traces it to give the outline. The teacher celebrates his new drawing skill with the pupils then teaches them to do same.

The class traces the object (s) as many times as possible to obtain several outlines of the object(s). Note that the pupils may begin tracing the object on the floor before progressing to paper. I recommend that the teacher makes the pupils to trace at least four different objects with the four different curves – concave, convex, upward curve and downward curve. Accordingly, I recommend that the teacher uses 2D cutout of a rainbow, crescent moon, an umbrella and a cup for this exercise. The teacher does this with the pupils gradually.

The teacher ends the drawing exercise with shading of the objects. After creating several outlines of the curved objects – say a crescent moon or a rainbow – the teacher calls the attention of the pupils and then s/he tells them that s/he will now make his/her look like the original – beautify it – by shading. Thereafter, the teacher shades the outlines along the curved path.

After this, s/he teaches the pupils to do the same. Note that the shading should be along the curved path. This is so as to acquaint the pupils’ hands with the curve movement.

Step 4: Forming curved writing patterns

In the concluding part of the lesson, the teacher teaches the pupils to trace and form the actual curved lines.
First, s/he gives the pupils the tracing exercises. The pupils trace the dotted curves with increasing intervals of dots thus:

Exercise 1: Trace the following (click to view larger size)

Exercise 2: Trace the following

Exercise 3: Trace the following

Formation of Curve (Writing Patterns)

Following the tracing exercises, the teacher demonstrates the formation of curve as I have outlined below:

Concave Shape

1. Mark off two dots such that one is directly above the other. These serve as the starting and end points of the curve

2. 

   1. Starting from the upper dot, draw a bent line through the right to the lower point.

Convex Shape

1. Mark off two dots such that one is directly above the other. These serve as the starting and end points of the curve.

2. 

   1. Starting from the upper dot, draw a bent line through the left to the lower point.

Upward Curve

1. Mark off two dots along a horizontal path such that the dots are not too spaced nor too close

1. Starting from either of the dots through the bottom, draw a bent line to join the other dot

Downward Curve

1. Mark off two dots along a horizontal line such that the dots are not too spaced nor too close

1. Starting from either of the dots through the top, draw a bent line to join the other dot.

GENERAL NOTE:

Curves are of especial difficulty for children to make. Hence, the teacher needs to demonstrate repeatedly while the pupils also practice accordingly for them to be able to make the patterns. For this reason, too, as well as the fact that the topic is two-week long; I recommend that you teach each of concave, convex, upward and downward curves on separate days.

SUMMARY & EVALUATION

Prior to evaluating the pupils’ understanding and subsequent conclusion of the lesson, the teacher summarizes the entire lesson into questions and answers; which s/he revises with the pupils many times:

Revision Questions and Answers

1. Who like to be able to write like adults so they can write about the things they want?
2. What is the first step to be able to write well? Answer: Holding pencil well
3. Invite a pupil to demonstrate correct (tripod) pencil grasp: Who can show us the correct way to hold pencil? Pick a volunteer
4. Discourage improper pencil grasps: Who can show us one bad way to hold pencil? Pick volunteers
5. Is it good to hold pencil the bad way? Answer: No
6. What will happen when one holds pencil the bad way? Answer: He or She will not be able to easily write well and fast. And/or his or her fingers will hurt.
7. Access their understanding of the difference between left and right: Raise your right/left- hand. Also, sing rhyme such as ‘If You Are Happy and You Know’ with them with emphasize on left hand, right hand, left leg, and right leg.
8. Practice clockwise hands movement with the pupils: go to circular swing, and rotate in left to right direction; etc. – see previous lesson for more exercises
9. Practice shading exercise with the pupils:
10. What is the second step to write like an adult? Answer: Correctly making writing lines (or marks) – i.e. writing patterns
11. Mention one kind of writing lines? Answer: Straight (writing) lines
12. What are the kinds of straight (writing) lines? Answer: up to down (standing or vertical); left to right (sleeping or horizontal); and side to side (falling or slanting)
13. Teacher shows pupils many of the kinds of straight pattern and demands pupils to identify
14. Re-do making straight writing patterns with the pupils – only one or two exercises for each line.

Lesson Summary Questions and Answers/Exercises

1. What is a curve? Answer: A curve is a line which is bent.
2. What are the kinds of curve? Right curve, left curve, up curve & down curve – demonstration with pupils. If possible, make into a rhyme and recite with them
3. Practice formation of curve in the air: who can show (make the sign for) us right (left, up, or down) curve? Pick a volunteer and practice after him or her.
4. Which writing line has a rainbow (show the poster)? Answer: up curve
5. Which writing line has a moon (show the image)? Answer: Right curve
6. Identify the lines that form the objects below (show colorful 2D design/image)

Exercise 1: Trace the dots to form the objects then shade very well with color

Exercise 2: Trace the dots to form the curved lines

Exercise 3: Trace the following

Exercise 4: Join the dots to form left curves

Exercise 5: Join the dots to form right curves

Exercise 6: Join the dots to form down curves

Exercise 7: join the dots to form up curves

Exercise 8: Copy down

CONCLUSION

The teacher concludes the lesson by marking the pupils’ notes and giving them appropriate feedback – as well as for parents too, if necessary.