Draw a Fish and Write the Word

Under the drawing paper on this page run three handwriting lines: the word fish printed as a model, the same word in dotted grey letters to trace, and an empty line to write it alone. The four steps across the top show the fish from its outline to its finished scales, with the new lines of each step in orange. The child draws the fish on the big paper and then writes its name below: one picture, one word, both made by the child. This kindergarten page joins the how-to-draw family to the first weeks of writing.

Drawing a thing and then writing its word is how early vocabulary and handwriting support each other. The word is short and the letters are the ones a kindergarten child meets first; the tracing copy is seated on the line so the letter height is right before the child writes freely. The fish drawn above gives the word a meaning the child has just made.

Print it on plain paper and use a pencil for both the drawing and the word; nothing is marked. The base page of the family is the same drawing without the word line; the bear page asks for three sentences instead of one word. The child draws the animal from its own steps; letter tracing pages, grid-copy pixels and symmetry drawing have their own pages.