Letter reversals can be a huge problem, and sometimes the letter b comes out looking like the number 6.
This is a fun way to practice the correct letter formation and the letter sounds at the same time.
Letter reversals can be a huge problem, and sometimes the letter b comes out looking like the number 6. Some students start both by drawing a straight down and then they can not remember which way the b or d should turn.
So we use the h b h b practice. I tell them the letter h and b are almost the same, the only difference is the letter b is closed at the bottom. So, make the tall letter h then close the bottom. Now it is the letter b. Be sure to make the letter sounds when you write. “h, b, h, b.” This is very important to make the letter sounds. Be careful not to use the letter name too much. Referring to the letter by its sound can help to avoid letter name interference. Letter name interference is very common with w, y, and u.
This is also a great time to remind them that the letter h is a tall letter, and the letter n is a small letter.
It is super important that students learn to start the letters at the top, not the bottom. We have found that when students start the letters on the bottom line there is a good chance that they will turn out backwards. We were seeing confusing letters and thought “Is it dyslexia?” In this case no, it was not. It was just bad handwriting habits that needed to be corrected by teaching the students to start the lowercase letters at the top, and not the bottom.
This is one of the reasons that I wrote this book R’s Pirate Handwriting Storybook. The shape of the letter r is a really good way to group all the letters that make the same starting shape. Practicing these letters together can also help remove the b d confusion. This book series is full of effective practices for teaching writing.
Foundational skills of handwriting and vowel knowledge are a huge treasure for kids. Treasure-seeking pirates find things in the sand to trace around. This is how they learn the new skill of handwriting. Pirate-themed word-play helps create a memorable and fun storyline, with playful use of the letters: r, i, c, and x. The similar grouping of letter shapes makes it easy for them to learn the four-letter groups quickly. Special attention is shown to the importance of the vowel letters.
Four Pirate Adventures. Four Visual Handwriting Discoveries.
Join the pirates as they explore their island and uncover the patterns hidden within lowercase letters!
From r-shaped seaweed to coconut c-shaped curves, then on to straight-line turtle tracks and slanted shark-teeth letters, each adventure introduces a different group of lowercase letters through imaginative visual clues and storybook illustrations.
Follow the pirates with messy map pro from their first discovery of letter formation to their final discovery of all five vowels. Four adventures, one continuing story, and a treasure trove of handwriting discoveries!
Four Pirate Adventures in One Complete Storybook
Why Four Letter Groups in One Story
Each story builds one skill of handwriting, then the next story groups letters of similar shape and starting points, till they complete all the styles.
Four books in one. The complete lowercase letter handwriting storybook collection in a one-book volume.
Treasure-seeking pirates find things in the sand to trace around. This is how they learn the new skill of handwriting. Pirate-themed word-play helps create a memorable and fun storyline, with playful use of the letters: r, i, c, and x. The similar grouping of letter shapes makes it easy for them to learn the four-letter groups quickly. Special attention is given to the importance of the vowel letters. With the help of a chatty parrot, the story has incorporated a few vowel sounds. Each letter has a specific visual cue to demonstrate the correct letter starting point. The letters are organized in clusters to help correct letter reversal errors. Each book in the series shares a close relation to Orton-Gillingham’s Style of handwriting instruction groups. Handwriting is an adventure to treasure.
The four titles included in this book: R’s Pirate Letters, C Pirate Letters, I Pirate Letters, X Pirate Letters.
This complete storybook brings together all four Pirate Handwriting adventures, from R Pirate Letters through C and I Pirate Letters to the final adventure, X Pirate Letters.
Likewise, the posters and cards for these writing lessons are a great match for this book.
Visual Links to Handwriting Groups
1. r, n, m, h, b, p – Letter r is seaweed on the sand; the pirates trace the /r/ shape, and that helps to make the other letters in this group. These are the dive down, slide up, and hook letters. Dark blue water is on the bottom of the cards.
2. c, a, g, d, q, o, s, e – Letter c is half a coconut. The pirates trace around it in the sand to make the curved letters in this group. These are the /c/ curved letters that share the same starting point. Letter e was added to this group. (funny story in the book for letter /e/) Tallgrass on the bottom of the cards. Great for sand trays.
3. i, j, l, t, f, k –Letter i: tracks made by turtle hatchlings. The pirates copy the straight-line letters in the sand. Light blue water is on the bottom of the cards.
4. v, w, y, x, z, u – Letter x: These are the v-shaped letters; it traces around a shark’s tooth. These are the slanted line letters. Letter u was added to this group. (funny story in the book for letter /u/) Tree trunks are on the top of these cards. The letter x is the title of the book because, of course, the pirates use the all-important x to mark the spot for the treasure.
Easy letter formation instruction with four sets of illustrated card and posters.
Orton Gillingham Style Illustrated Handwriting worksheets, letter strips, and letter cards.
Lowercase letter support to stop letter reversal errors. Easy to follow letter groups. Make handwriting fast and simple to remember by grouping similar letter shapes, making a muscle memory link.
These 4 different letter groups make a wonderful classroom display and reference for handwriting instruction.
Letter Group 1
1. r, n, m, h, b, p – The letter /r/ is seaweed on the sand, the pirates trace the /r/ shape and that helps to make the other letters in this group. These are the dive down, slide up, and hook letters.
Dark blue water on the bottom of the handwriting cards.
This first group helps teach students to start the letters at the top
Left to right direction of reading and writing
Letter Group 2
2. c, a, g, d, q, o, s, e – Letter c is half a coconut. The pirates trace around the coconut in the sand to make the curved letters in this group. The /c/ curved letters share the same starting point. Letter e was added to this group because it shares the same c shape. (Follow the interaction between a pirate and a monkey. It is a funny story in the book for letter /e/.)
Tallgrass on the bottom of the cards.
Letter Group 3
3. i, j, l, t, f, k – Letter i, are tracks made by turtle-hatchlings. The pirates copy the straight-line letters in the sand.
Light blue water on the bottom of the cards.
Letter Group 4
4. v, w, y, x, z, u – The letter /v/, traces around a shark’s tooth. These are the slanted line letters. Letter u was added to this group. (funny story in the book for letter /u/ and pirate underwear)
Tree trunks on the top of these cards.
Print your own set of letter strips. Great for daily practice, intervention, and more….
Using the Letter c worksheet and letter strips is a great way to teach letters c, a, g, & d. Make a tactile handwriting adventure with a sand tray.
Letter g is just the letter a with a monkey’s tail. In the story, the monkey jumps down from the tree to grab the coconut.
Pirate Book Series Starts with the Letter r.
Starting the r letter set is what the pirates do. This is the best letter to start with, it sets kids up for the correct starting and stopping pencil strokes. It helps create good writing habits. This letter needs to start at the top, not the bottom. It has the same shape and pattern as the often tricky letter b. (r, h, b, they all go the same way)
In this book, the pirates discover the slanted letters v, w, y, x and z, along with a surprise discovery: the final vowel, u!
Join the Pirates as they learn the slanted lines of a shark’s tooth
The lowercase letters are grouped by their shared starting positions and slanted line movements, helping children recognise familiar patterns as they learn new letters. Repeated practice of related movements helps build muscle memory and makes letter formation more manageable.
The illustrations bring the letters to life through the experience of tracing shapes in the sand. Children can see how familiar strokes and movements come together to form different lowercase letters.
Special attention is given to the vowel u, introduced by the colourful bird, in a fun and memorable story that engages young learners.
Vowels Are Another Kind of Treasure!
In this fourth adventure, the pirates discover the final vowel: u!
With this discovery, the pirates have found all five vowels and completed their journey through the four lowercase letter groups. Their search for treasure has led to two special discoveries: the patterns of letter formation and the five vowels!
X Pirate Letters, by D. Passmore
This is a perfect book to use with sand tray letters.
Handwriting in a storybook to make learning visually memorable
Join the pirates on their third adventure as they follow turtle tracks in straight lines across the sand towards the ocean. Along the way, they discover six lowercase letters that share straight-line formation movements:
Through the story and illustrations, children explore starting positions, downward pencil movements, letter height, and the pencil lifts needed to complete different letters. The turtle eggs and hatchlings provide a special visual clue for the dots above i and j.
These letters are the third handwriting group: i, j, l, t, f, k.
i Pirate Letters – by D. Passmore
Discover the Straight-Line Letters
These six lowercase letters share straight-line formation movements, but each has its own finishing steps. The pencil lifts for the second stroke.
Children explore where each letter begins, the direction of the pencil movement down, and when the pencil needs to lift and move to another position or make a dot.
i and j: Begin with a downward stroke, followed by a pencil lift to add the dot.
t, f and k: Require additional formation steps and pencil lifts.
l: Is the exception, formed with one continuous downward movement.
The lowercase letters are grouped to help build muscle memory skills and show a common starting point.
Letters are grouped by similar starting points and straight downstrokes; this can speed up the handwriting process and improve letter print recognition for reading.
The straight line letters are made alongside the little sea turtle tracks. Little hatchlings start at the top and head straight to the water. The visual theme in the story creates a reason why we start the letters at the top.
Discover the Different Letter Heights
Letter size is crucial but often overlooked when students are learning to write. Letters like i, j, f, l, t, and k provide great examples to highlight this concept.
The letters in this group also help children recognise differences in letter height and position.
Small letter: i
Falling letter: j
Tall letters: f, l, t, k
The illustrations help children see how these letters fit on the writing line and how their heights differ when they are all lined up together in the sand with the light blue wave under them.
This group of letters is more than just simple straight lines. Lowercase l is the only truly straight line. The other letters in this group have 2 or more steps that require the pencil to lift.
The sea turtle tracks explained
Sea turtle eggs are buried in the sand. When the hatchlings pop out, they head straight for the water. The visuals on the pages of this book use the natural activities of the baby turtle tracks in the sand and the egg as the dot on the letters i and j.
The pirates discover that the turtle eggs are beginning to hatch! The little turtles emerge from their eggs and make their way across the sand towards the light blue ocean.
The turtle tracks follow the direction of the pencil movements, providing a visual reminder of the downward strokes used to form the letters.
The Bird Has Another Vowel to Reveal!
“I see the vowel i” said the bird
The colourful bird returns with another important discovery! This time, the bird introduces the vowel i.
As the pirates continue their search for treasure, they discover that vowels are another kind of treasure. Each adventure brings them closer to discovering all five vowels!
A playful story that brings handwriting and early letter awareness together.
Handwriting letter strips can be found on my TPT page. These are great for students to use daily. Practicing writing the letters and making the letter sounds together is very important for reading and spelling.
This is a perfect book to use with sand tray letters.
Students can pretend to be an airplane, and mirror the letter movements of the teacher. This exercise can help them learn the correct starting and stopping points of the capital letters. The helpful green dot shows the starting point of the letter, with numbered steps for letters that have more than one step. Valuable teacher instruction pages and Flash Card pages that can be cut out of the book to use in class. The reversed alphabet chart on the back cover of this book, helps to remind the teacher in which direction to make the letters. Very helpful when the book or the card is facing the students.
Mirror image; Why does it look backwards?
Remember my right is your left, when we are facing each other. This book will help teachers so the students will NOT be seeing the reversed Image by mistake. It can aid and support future handwriting success, while learning feels like play.
Easy to make this sensory bag with any cream and a few colors sealed in a zip lock-style bag.
Hand Writing with Color Mixing FUN
This is a simple and fun way to change up the Hand writing without tears style of teaching. It is a ziplock bag, sealed with extra layers of clear packing tape to help avoid puncture. Special care was taken on the weak points of the bag, the top, and the seams.
Make sure to press out all the air before sealing.
This bag was filled with cheap dollar-store hair conditioner, blue & red liquid watercolor. Notice the letter cards are secured together with a simple ring after hole punched. It is hard to see, but under the bag is a yellow holographic piece of card stock.
Double Layer the Bags
Funny thing: We like to recycle in our classroom, but there is a limit. The first time we tried this, it was older zipper-lock bag that we had reused for odds and ends. I only taped the zipper end shut. I did not want to waste a new bag. Ha ha! The joke was on me, it gave way and I was cleaning up this clever project. So tape, or double on bags.
