Grade 2 · Lesson 1 — Grip and posture, checked

Unit 0 · handwriting · blocked · 30 min · 19 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure
Anchor to leave them with: Grip first, then the letter.
Objective Re-establish grip, posture and paper position at Grade 2 speed.
Smallest piece A grip that was right in Grade 1 has usually drifted over a summer, so it is re-set before anything is written.
Spot test “Three fingers holding, two curled in?”
Why that test works A drifted grip looks fine until the hand tires, and then the writing collapses at exactly the moment a child is trying hardest. Counting fingers catches it in two seconds and does not require you to judge whether writing 'looks neat'.
Why — in your own words Returning to a good habit after a break is itself a kind of discipline, and the year is a good place to begin one.
Practice mode blocked
If it breaks Remedial 03 — grip with a short pencil stub, which forces the pinch
Vocabulary — pre-pointed T2 GRIP = the way the hand holds the pencil
Materials Mini-whiteboard + pen per student · Printed student sheet (one each) · Deck — 19 slides · Teaching page — printed at the top of the sheet (file no. 40) · Remedial 03 — grip with a short pencil stub, which forces the pinch

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it What you SAY What happens, and why
Slide 1
LAUNCH
Writing — Day 1
(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)
Have Writing — Day 1 up before they enter. Say nothing about it.
Same slide every lesson, number only changes. It marks the transition into writing before you speak, which saves you having to.
Students: See it on the way in. Know writing is next.
Slide 2
LAUNCH
Grip and posture, checked
“This is how we set our hand and our page up to write.”
CONTEXT — say where this lesson sits: what it follows, and what it is part of. One sentence. The children should know what kind of work is starting.
Context, not a hook. A child who knows what KIND of lesson this is spends no attention working it out.
Students: Listen. Orient.
Slide 3
LAUNCH
Today ›› Launch I Do We Do Read You Do Closure
“Here is what we will do today.”
Point to Launch once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Retrieval on MWB  ·  3-5 min
Mini-whiteboards: Retrieval on MWB
Students: Look.
Slide 4
LAUNCH
Re-establish grip, posture and paper position at Grade 2 speed.
“Re-establish grip, posture and paper position at Grade 2 speed.”
PURPOSE — say it slowly, in these words. The teacher objective in the header is for you; this is the version the class hears.
Never read a teacher objective to children. The version in the brief header is written for you and is too long and too abstract to say to a class; this one is what they hear.
Students: Listen.
No slide
LAUNCH
WHY — SAY IT ten seconds, off screen, in your own words
“Returning to a good habit after a break is itself a kind of discipline, and the year is a good place to begin one.”
Why this matters. Say it, do not read it. Ten seconds, then move on.
Your words, not these. This is the one beat of the lesson that should sound like you mean it rather than like it is written down.
Students: Listen.
Slide 5
LAUNCH
Words we will use T2 GRIP = the way the hand holds the pencil
“Two words we need before we start.”
Read each, point to it, move on. Do not drill them here.
Pre-pointed vocabulary. Naming them now stops the lesson stalling later on a word that was never the point.
Students: Listen.
Slide 6
LAUNCH
What we will do A grip that was right in Grade 1 has usually drifted over a summer, so it is re-set before anything is written.
“A grip that was right in Grade 1 has usually drifted over a summer, so it is re-set before anything is written.”
Click once per line. Do not elaborate.
Students: Listen.
Slide 7
I DO
Today Launch ›› I Do We Do Read You Do Closure
“Now we i do.”
Point to I Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  3-4 min
Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed.
Students: Look.
No slide
I DO
(board — build the VIP, then leave it up)
(you are narrating each stage as you build it)
Build on the BOARD, not the slide. Teacher models the three quickly, then models one WRONG version of each and asks what is wrong.
Then leave it up for the whole lesson.
One click per step. The footsteps are never erased — the same strip is printed at the top of their sheet, so come back to it if anyone stalls.
Students: Watch it being built. It stays there to look at.
Slide 8
I DO
The test “Three fingers holding, two curled in?”
“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “Three fingers holding, two curled in?””
Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board.
WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: A drifted grip looks fine until the hand tires, and then the writing collapses at exactly the moment a child is trying hardest. Counting fingers catches it in two seconds and does not require you to judge whether writing 'looks neat'.
Students: Listen, then say the test back.
Slide 9
WE DO
Today Launch I Do ›› We Do Read You Do Closure
“Now we we do.”
Point to We Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  PRIMARY MWB use  ·  5-6 min
Mini-whiteboards: PRIMARY MWB use
Students: Look.
Slide 10
WE DO
Together
“Now with me.”
Partners check each other's grip against the model and fix one thing.
Take answers from boards, not from hands — that is how you see all thirty.
Students: Answer on boards.
Slide 11
WE DO
Interactive Modeling 1 of 7 — Describe what you will model
“We are going to learn how we hold a pencil, checked. We do it this way because it lets everyone be seen, not just the child with a hand up. Watch for three things.”
IM 1 — Give the why and relate it to how we work here. Exactly three criteria.
Interactive Modeling, step 1 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Listen.
Slide 12
WE DO
Interactive Modeling 2 of 7 — Model it — silent and slow
“Watch carefully. After, I will ask you what you noticed.”
IM 2 — Do the whole thing twice, SAYING NOTHING while you do it.
Interactive Modeling, step 2 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Watch in silence.
No slide
WE DO
(no slide — teacher and class)
“What did you notice?”
IM 3 — Take answers. If a child says “you didn't…”, ask “what DID I do?”
Interactive Modeling, step 3 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Say what they saw.
No slide
WE DO
(no slide — teacher and class)
“Now watch her do it. Same three things.”
IM 4 — Pick a child you are confident will do it well; this model sets the standard the class copies.
Interactive Modeling, step 4 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: One child models; the rest watch.
No slide
WE DO
(no slide — teacher and class)
“What did you notice that time?”
IM 5 — Same question again. Let the class name the criteria, not you.
Interactive Modeling, step 5 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Name what they saw.
No slide
WE DO
(no slide — teacher and class)
“Now everyone. Same three things.”
IM 6 — All children do it at once while you watch.
Interactive Modeling, step 6 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Practice it.
No slide
WE DO
(no slide — teacher and class)
“That is how we do it from now on.”
IM 7 — Reinforce what was right. From here it is an expectation, not a lesson.
Interactive Modeling, step 7 of 7. Do not shorten it — the silent model and the two 'what did you notice' beats are the whole method; narrating instead of showing gives them the answer.
Students: Do it this way from now on.
Slide 13
READ
Today Launch I Do We Do ›› Read You Do Closure
“Now we read.”
Point to Read once. Do not explain the others.
Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed.
Students: Look.
Slide 14
READ
The teaching page — printed at the top of today's sheet
“Look at the top of your sheet. Read it with me.”
Read it with them — FASE or teacher read-aloud, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
NO BOOK. This grade works from printed sheets, and the teaching page is the top of the sheet already in front of them. The page number is for YOUR filing — it is how these pages accumulate into a Grade 2 volume later — and it is not said aloud.
Students: Follow along. Read when asked.
Slide 15
YOU DO
Today Launch I Do We Do Read ›› You Do Closure
“Now we you do.”
Point to You Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Written on the sheet  ·  4-5 min
Mini-whiteboards: Written on the sheet
Students: Look.
Slide 16
YOU DO
Write a row of l and a row of c with a correct grip. Stop and re-check your grip halfway.
“Write a row of l and a row of c with a correct grip. Stop and re-check your grip halfway.”
Set them off. Walk the rows. Correct the grip and the setup, not the content, in the first minute.
Students: Work in the notebook.
Slide 17
CLOSURE
Today Launch I Do We Do Read You Do ›› Closure
“Now we closure.”
Point to Closure once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Display answers on MWB  ·  2-3 min
Mini-whiteboards: Display answers on MWB
Students: Look.
Slide 18
CLOSURE
Name the one thing your partner fixed.
“Name the one thing your partner fixed.”
Exit Direction. Take it from every child before anyone stands.
It belongs to today's content — it is how you know who has it.
Students: Answer, then pack away.
Slide 19
CLOSURE
Grip first, then the letter.
“Grip first, then the letter.”
Say it once. Leave it on screen as they pack away.
The anchor — the one line you want them to still have tomorrow.
Students: Hear it. Repeat it if asked.
As-Suffah Academy · Writing · run sheet