Presented by Susan du Plessis – 083-390-7964 – susan@edublox.com
Table of contents:
- Download the workshop content in PDF format
- Arrows with a twist
- Handwriting exercise
- Crumple papers exercise
Download the workshop content in PDF format
Arrows with a twist
This exercise consists of three levels and develops various skills such as rapid naming, directionality, eye-tracking and divided attention. Divided attention is a higher-level skill where you have to perform two (or more) tasks simultaneously, and attention is required to perform both (or all) tasks. Copyright: Edublox (Pty) Ltd.
Level 1
The tutor needs the arrow chart for this exercise. The arrows are printed in four colours and point in four directions: up, down, left and right.
The tutor must fix the arrows chart to the wall so that the learners (or learner) can look at it directly. The learner must stand upright and call out the colour of each arrow, starting with the top left arrow through to the bottom right arrow. The tutor must turn the chart 90 degrees before asking the learner to call out the colours again.
It is important that the learner does these exercises at a relaxed and leisurely pace at first. Do not let them rush through them. Only when they really start getting comfortable with the exercise should one aim at greater speed.
Proceed to Level 2 when the learner can call out the colours on the whole chart quickly and fluently, without any hesitations or mistakes.
Level 2
The tutor must fix the arrows chart to the wall, so that the learner can look at it directly. The learner must stand upright, with their clenched fists held at their shoulders (or fingers on their shoulders). The learner must “read” the arrows one after the other, simultaneously announcing the direction in which each arrow is pointing and pushing out their fists (or fingers if they prefer an open hand) in the direction so announced.
This means that if the learner starts “reading” the arrows, they will shoot out the left fist towards the left while simultaneously calling out, “Left!”
The learner must immediately bring their left fist back to the shoulder, ready to “read” the next arrow. This means they will shoot out the left fist again, saying, “Left!” Again, they must bring the left fist back to the shoulder immediately. Then, they must “read” the third arrow. They must shoot out the right fist to the right and say, “Right!” The right fist is also brought back to the shoulder immediately, and then the direction of the next arrow is announced. The left fist is pushed out again while the learner says, “Left!” To “read” the next arrow, the learner must shoot out both fists above the head, simultaneously announcing, “Up!” Both fists are brought back to the shoulders, ready to “read” the next arrow, which is “Down!”
In this way, the learner must read through the whole chart from top to bottom. The tutor must turn the chart 90 degrees before asking the learner to read it again.
The learner must use their fist to indicate the direction in which each arrow is pointing while simultaneously announcing the direction. Left and right are shown with one fist only, whereas up and down are shown with both. The tutor must check that the learner does everything correctly.
Proceed to Level 3, when the learner can read the whole chart quickly and fluently without any hesitations or mistakes.
Level 3
The learner must now call out the colour of every red and yellow arrow, but the direction of every green and blue arrow, simultaneously pushing out their fists when “reading” the green and blue arrows.
Download the arrows chart
Handwriting exercise
Step 1
Print the pages numbered 1 to 34 in the file below. The learner must fill at least one sheet of each page by connecting the dots.
The first page — page number 1 — is just a vertical line. The learner must connect the dots by drawing a vertical line from the top dot to the bottom one. They must continue drawing line after line until they have filled the whole page.
When they have filled the whole page, the tutor must decide whether the standard of the work the learner has produced is good enough to proceed to page number 2. If, towards the end of the page, the lines are quite straight and neatly drawn, the learner may proceed to page number 2. However, if the neatness of the lines is not quite acceptable yet, it is advisable to do another page before going to page number 2.
The tutor must then first print another page of number 1. If, after another page, the tutor decides that more practice on this example is required, then a third must be filled. One may continue for several pages with the same shape or figure until the learner can draw it satisfactorily.
As soon as the tutor is satisfied that the learner can draw straight vertical lines satisfactorily and neatly enough, the learner may be allowed to continue to page number 2, which is a straight horizontal line.
In this way, the learner must work through all 34 examples, filling at least one page with each. The examples gradually get harder and harder. Once the learner has worked through all 34 examples, they may continue to Step 2.
Important notes:
- When doing numbers 1 to 24, each stroke should involve one movement. The learner may not lift their pencil.
- When doing numbers 1 to 24, preference should be given to making strokes from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom.
Download Handwriting exercise Step 1
Step 2
For Step 2, the tutor must print the pages numbered 35 to 68 in the file below. These pages are the same as those numbered 1 to 34 but without any dots.
To start this step, the learner must draw a straight vertical line on page number 35, which is exactly the same as page number 1 but without the dots. The learner must continue by filling the whole page with vertical lines.
Work through all the pages in the same way.
Download Handwriting exercise Step 2
Step 3
Step 3 consists of writing the letters of the alphabet.
To start the exercise, the tutor must print the pages numbered 69 to 93 in the file below.
Starting with a, the learner must fill the whole page with the same letter. If the learner manages to do this neatly enough, the tutor may, on the following page, let the learner continue with b.
Work through the whole alphabet in this way.
Download Handwriting exercise Step 3
Crumple papers exercise
Step 1
For this exercise, one needs sheets of soft paper.
The tutor gives the learner one sheet of paper. They must then crumple the piece of paper into a tight ball. It is very important, however, that they use only one hand for this task. The learner may also not press their hand against their body.
Then the tutor gives the learner another sheet of paper and lets the learner crumple this also, but this time with the other hand.
The learner must crumple at least three sheets of paper with each hand at every practice session.
Step 2
For this exercise, one uses scrap paper of A4-size. The tutor gives the learner one sheet of paper in each hand. They must then simultaneously crumple both papers into tight balls. It is very important that each hand must strictly do its own work. The learner should sit with their hands wide apart so that one hand cannot help the other. The learner may also not press their hands against their body or on any other object, like a table.
The learner should crumple at least three sheets of paper per hand per session.
