The older teacher smiled and said, "We write round the mulberry bush." She then went on to tell me how they practice making strokes for weeks before she teaches them how to form letters. She demonstrated how they learn to go from top to bottom and left to write as they sing the song. They do a different stroke for each verse.
Note! I think a key to this is "purposeful practice for automaticity." By repeating this every day children are able to master these basic strokes.
Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush so early in the morning.
(Pick up your pencil and place it at the top left corner.)
This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes.
This is the way we wash our clothes so early Monday morning. (Make vertical lines.)
(I explain how people used to scrub their clothes on a wash board.)
This is the way we iron our clothes...so early Tuesday morning. (Make horizontal lines.)
(Some children don't know what an iron is, so this is a good chance to explain and demonstrate.)
This is the way we scrub the floor...so early Wednesday morning. (Draw circles.)
(Explain when you scrub you go around in circles with the brush.)
This is the way we mend our clothes...so early Thursday morning. (Make a cross.)
(Show a button that has been sewn on with a vertical and horizontal stitch.)
This is the way we sweep the floor...so early Friday morning. (Diagonal lines.)
(Pretend to hold a broom and sweep in a diagonal fashion.)
This is the way we bake our bread...so early Saturday morning. (Make X.)
(Pretend to hold a rolling pin and show how you move it from top to bottom in a slanted way.)
This is the way we smile and sing...so early Sunday morning. (Draw a smiley.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljY0FscXBmekxxSDg/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-bLTeh9uOhcHpY2Jj5KMJxQ
Pencil Stories
Pencil stories are a similar way to help children develop top to bottom and left-to-right orientation. They’re also an engaging way to develop small motor skills. These stories should be told multiple times so children can practice the pre-writing strokes and feel more competent. You might want to do the same story every day for a week as you invite the children to recall what will come next. You could also make a tape of the story to put in a listening center. Demonstrate these stories on the board or a large chart so children will be able to copy what you do.
Beginners
Here's an easy version for the the little ones. Just to get them to go from left to right and make a few strokes would be a good beginning.
An Autumn Walk (More challenging)
Let’s take an autumn walk. (horizontal)
The leaves are falling down. (vertical)
Ooooo! Do you hear the wind blow? (diagonal)
There’s some kids throwing the football. (diagonal other direction
The crickets are chirping. (X)
The squirrels are digging holes for their nuts. (zig zag line)
The birds are migrating south. (curvy line)
The scarecrows are standing in the fields. (t)
The pumpkins are getting ripe on the vine. (o)
Time to put on sweaters and hats. (triangle)
What a happy time of year! (smiley face)
Hint! Put a green line down the left side to show them where to start and a red line down the right side to indicate where they should stop.
*Older children would probably get a kick out of creating their own “pencil talk” stories.