The Handwriting Zoo

One of my best friends was getting married recently and realized she the calligrapher had forgotten an invitation. The first thing out of her mouth was, "Oh, Sarah, you can do it because you have that nice teacher handwriting!'  I think it came from my mom, but there is nothing prettier than neat handwriting. (I was the weirdo that re-wrote my notes in college if my handwriting wasn't quite up to par!)

Having neat handwriting is something I have always wanted to motivate my students to strive for. There is nothing that makes me prouder than seeing neat handwriting displayed outside my door. First grade is such an important time to learn correct letter formation and begin to prefect nice printing! Each year we play games, give stickers, and use all sorts of creative writing materials to help improve our handwriting! This year, our class is going to be taking a field trip to the state zoo. I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them they get to travel 2 hours on a charter bus to a zoo! (Some of these nuggets have never even been on the highway). So to get them excited in the beginning of the year about their animals research and their big trip, we are going to master handwriting ZOO STYLE!

In this unit the kiddos will practice writing their letters, analyze letters based on common characteristics, receive motivational reward notes and play 'I Have, Who Has?" I am so excited about teaching this unit  this year and to start the kids off on the right foot with neat handwriting! Stop by my TpT store or Teachers Notebook store to grab this unit! To get you excited about teaching handwriting this year, you can use these motivation rewards for FREE. 

How do you guys promote nice handwriting in the classroom? I would love to hear! Also, if you use e-books you can join in on my Linky Party below to let us know what your favorite resources are! Happy Humpday!