What it is. Every letter belongs to one of three heights, and the height is what makes writing readable at speed.
Why our test works. By Grade 2 letters are FORMED correctly and SIZED wrongly — a small letter drawn tall, a tail that never crosses the line. Naming three zones gives a child something to check that is visible on the page, where 'write neatly' gives them nothing.
Leans on. Grade 1's whole-alphabet formation work.
Watch for. Tails are the commonest fault: g, j, p, q and y must cross BELOW the line, not sit on it.
Sort every letter of the alphabet into tall, small or tail, and size each correctly. The worked example is the one you build on the board: Teacher draws the three zones and places b, a and g into them, naming which zone each occu The class reads the teaching page printed at the top of the sheet — our own writing, so a child who was absent can still get the lesson.
You open by saying where this sits — what it follows and what it is part of — in one sentence, and then you give them the reason it matters, in your own words, for about ten seconds.
Then you do one yourself, building it on the board and leaving it up: Teacher draws the three zones and places b, a and g into them, naming which zone each occupies and why. Then the whole alphabet goes up and the class sorts it. The board copy is what they look back at when they stall, so it stays there for the whole lesson.
The We-do is the main whiteboard moment of the lesson — short answers, boards up on your signal, every child visible at once. Class sorts all 26 by calling the zone as the teacher points: tall (b d f h k l t), small (a c e i m n o r s u v w x z), tail (g j p q y). Teacher writes each into its zone as it is called. If the answer is a whole sentence rather than a word, take it on the printed sheet instead, because a sentence written on a whiteboard is written once and destroyed.
They read the teaching page — printed at the top of today's sheet — with you, either read-aloud or FASE, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves. Then they work alone: Copy the alphabet a to z, sizing each letter to its zone. Every tail must cross below the line.
You close on the exit direction — Point to a tail letter that crosses the line. — taken from every child before anyone stands, and then the line you want them to still have tomorrow: Tall to the top, small to the middle, tails below.
Tails are the commonest fault: g, j, p, q and y must cross BELOW the line, not sit on it.