The Journey to Continuous Cursive: The Letter ‘y’

Suggested Order 2 Forming Letter Families 5 Increasing Fluency, Style & Speed
The letter ‘y’ should be taught as part of a series of
Year 1 - Sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly. Begin to form lower case letters in the Year 5 and 6 - Children should be clear about what
lessons, which links to the family it belongs to – the standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular
correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place. Understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’
‘ladder’ family. Ideally, it would be taught as the fifth (i.e. letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these. task.
letter in the series of six (l, i, u, t, y, j).
Introduce the letter name and the sound (phoneme) of appropriate seating position and posture for good Explain to the children that they are again going to be
the letter ‘y’. Also, discuss how ‘y’ can make different handwriting using the visual prompt on the Lesson looking at the letter ‘y’ – a letter that joins to other
Gross Motor Warm-Up sounds within other words. Show the animation of Presentation or use the Let’s Look Ready to Write letters using a descender join. Ask the children to
Chair Leg Lift: Children stand sideways how to form the lower case letter ‘y’. Ask children if Poster. think about why a clear, legible style of handwriting
they know which letter family the letter ‘y’ belongs to? is so important. What would happen if you could
holding onto their chair back with their left Remind the children how to position their paper
Explain that this letter belongs to the ladder family not read your own handwriting back? Remind the
hand. Children bend their right knee at a right correctly. Model how to complete the first part of the
(l i u t y j). Children practise air writing the letter shape children of the correct seating position, pen/pencil
angle and raise their leg/knee to hip height. Letter ‘y’ Activity Sheet.
‘y’ with their preferred hand. They could also practise grip and how to position their paper correctly using
Repeat five times before swapping around
air writing on the table, on body parts or on a friend’s Children practise writing the letter ‘y’ using the Letter the Lesson Presentation. Children then complete
Warm-Up Activity

and changing legs. Extend the activity by

back, where appropriate. Make large and small letter ‘y’ Activity Sheet. the Diary Dilemma Activity Sheet where they turn
encouraging children to let go of the chair
shapes. Remind children of the correct pen/pencil grip some virtually illegible notes back into a neat, joined
back and raise their leg by balancing and The children could also complete the Letter ‘y’ Extra
holding their core muscles. using the Lesson Presentation prompts or the How style.
to Grip a Writing Tool Poster. Remind them of the Practice Activity Sheet.
Remind the children of the correct seating position,
Fine Motor Warm-Up pen/pencil grip and how to position their paper
correctly using the Lesson Presentation.
Finger Rhymes: Children work in pairs or 3 Positioning & Pre-Cursive
The children could also complete the Fluency, Style
small groups to sing/play a range of finger
Year 2 - Form lower case letters of the correct size relative to one another. and Speed Practice: The Letter ‘y’ Activity Sheet.
rhymes and games. Use the Finger Rhymes
and Games: Adult Guidance for ideas Explain to the children that they are going to be mini whiteboards. Remind the children of the correct
(these rhymes are also shown on the Lesson looking at the letter ‘y’ and they will learn how to seating position, pen/pencil grip and how to position Assessment Activities
Presentation). Older children could also make place it correctly on a line. Show the children how to their paper correctly using the Lesson Presentation.
up their own rhymes to teach to the rest of correctly form the letter ‘y’ and how to position it on a
Use the Lesson Presentation to discuss positioning ‘y’ Step 1 - Can children explore the playdough and
the class. line using the Lesson Presentation. Ask the children
next to other descenders, next to ascenders and next complete the different activities (with support/
to talk about other descenders that have a curly tail
to letters that sit between the baseline and midline. independently)? Can they make their own playdough
1 Let’s Get Ready to Write! (f, g and j) and how all of these letters need to go below
Children practise writing letter patterns containing the shapes?
the baseline for their curly tails to touch the bottom
line before swooping around ready to join to the next letter ‘y’ and other letters using the Positioning the Step 2 - Can the children form the letter shape ‘y’
Early Learning Goals - Children handle equipment and
letter. Ask the children to practise these letters on Letter ‘y’ Activity Sheet. appropriately, starting and finishing in the correct
tools effectively. Children safely use and explore a
variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting place? Ask the children to put a  next to the favourite
with colour, design, texture, form and function. letter ‘y’ shape that they have written?
Children show good control and co-ordination in large 4 Joining Letters Step 3 - Are all of their letter ‘y’s touching the bottom
and small movements. line? Are all of the pupils’ other letters positioned
Year 3 and 4 – Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, next to their ‘y’ of a relative size and shape?
Playdough Play - Children use playdough to when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined.
practise a variety of exercises to develop their hand Step 4 - Can pupils join from a letter ‘y’
strength and manipulation skills. Explain to the children that the letter ‘y’ is a long letter then complete the Joining from the Letter ‘y’ using a descender join?
(descender) that will join on to other letters using a Activity Sheet, which practises joining from the letter
Use the Time for Playdough Song Sheet (or the descender join. ‘y’. Step 5 - Can the children discuss the
song lyrics on the Lesson Presentation) to model importance of a legible handwriting
and demonstrate how to complete a series of fine Remind the children of the correct seating position, The children can then use the Letter ‘y’ More Joining style?
motor exercises. Give support to children as and pen/pencil grip and how to position their paper Practice Activity Sheet to practise writing that use a
when required. correctly using the Lesson Presentation. The children ‘y’ as to make a short /i/ sound.

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