Grade 2 · Lesson 4 — The same letters, a smaller space — into the notebook

Unit 0 · handwriting · blocked · 30 min · 19 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure
Anchor to leave them with: The middle line moves into your head.
Objective Write the same letters on notebook ruling, keeping the height the dashed line used to give you.
Smallest piece Notebook ruling has no dashed middle line, so the child must hold the letter height themselves.
Spot test “Is my small letter about half the height of a tall one?”
Why that test works On practice paper the dashed line TELLS the child how tall a small letter is. Take it away and size collapses within a week — and it reads as carelessness when it is actually a missing scaffold. Giving them a ratio to check replaces the line they lost.
Why — in your own words A person who has been carried must learn to walk. Help that is never removed is not help.
Practice mode blocked
If it breaks Remedial 24 — the same letters on both papers, side by side
Vocabulary — pre-pointed T2 RULING = the lines printed on the page
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. 43) · Remedial 24 — the same letters on both papers, side by side

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it What you SAY What happens, and why
Slide 1
LAUNCH
Writing — Day 4
(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)
Have Writing — Day 4 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
The same letters, a smaller space — into the notebook
“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
Write the same letters on notebook ruling, keeping the height the dashed line used to give you.
“Write the same letters on notebook ruling, keeping the height the dashed line used to give you.”
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
“A person who has been carried must learn to walk. Help that is never removed is not help.”
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 RULING = the lines printed on the page
“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 Notebook ruling has no dashed middle line, so the child must hold the letter height themselves.
“Notebook ruling has no dashed middle line, so the child must hold the letter height themselves.”
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 writes 'a b c' on practice paper, then the same three on notebook ruling beside it, joining the two baselines and pointing to where the dashed line WOULD be. The point is said plainly: the middle line does not disappear, it moves into your head.
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 “Is my small letter about half the height of a tall one?”
“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “Is my small letter about half the height of a tall one?””
Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board.
WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: On practice paper the dashed line TELLS the child how tall a small letter is. Take it away and size collapses within a week — and it reads as carelessness when it is actually a missing scaffold. Giving them a ratio to check replaces the line they lost.
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.”
Class writes three small letters on practice paper, then the same three on notebook ruling, and compares the two for height.
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 writing on notebook ruling. 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
Copy one row of small letters on notebook ruling. Check each is about half the height of a tall letter.
“Copy one row of small letters on notebook ruling. Check each is about half the height of a tall letter.”
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
Point to a letter that kept its height.
“Point to a letter that kept its height.”
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
The middle line moves into your head.
“The middle line moves into your head.”
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