Italic Handwriting Book F Grade 5
Master cursive while exploring wordplay galore—palindromes, similes, oxymorons, and more! Book F brings English language charm and handwriting together in a clever, confidence-boosting workbook for fifth-grade writers.
$13.75
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Italic Handwriting Book F continues your fifth grader's cursive italic practice using the Getty-Dubay method, with English itself as the connecting theme. Practice content moves through word origins, word groups, figures of speech, oxymorons, onomatopoeia, analogies, palindromes, proverbs, and tongue twisters. This way, handwriting time doubles as exposure to language your child will keep meeting in reading and writing. Capitals practice features First Nation tribes and communities of North America, and short notes on the history of the alphabet appear throughout.
Because italic uses a single alphabet, your child isn't switching letterform systems at any point in the series—he's continuing to refine the cursive italic he's been building for several years by now.
We've been recommending italic handwriting for just about as long as Timberdoodle has existed. Back when our orders came in by mail, the legible ones were a small daily relief. Decades later, good handwriting is still a small gift to the recipient.
Book F is a good fit for a typical fifth grader, or for a child who has worked through Book E and is ready to keep refining cursive.
How to Use Italic Handwriting Book F
- Two pages a week is a steady pace. At two pages per week, the book's 64 pages fit into a typical school year with room for breaks. More is fine if your child wants to do more; less is fine if he doesn't.
- Expect more than handwriting on each page. Book F pairs cursive italic practice with word-study content—word origins, word groups, figures of speech, oxymorons, onomatopoeia, analogies, palindromes, proverbs, and tongue twisters. The writing practice is the main work, but the content is worth reading and discussing with your child.
Handwriting today is both a tool for learning and a professional skill. We need a handwriting style that keeps up with the demands of modern life. It needs to be legible and logical, easy to write and easy to learn.
When it comes to being understood, handwriting still matters.
And yet, as authors Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay write, “American handwriting is in a woeful state. We have become a 'please print' nation. But there is hope. We can stop mumbling on paper and become legible writers. We can go italic.”
Keep the focus on learning.
For early learners, literacy and language development are foundations of readiness, and research suggests that handwriting is a key component. Learning to write letters and form words are powerful first steps toward academic success.
A seamless transition.
With the Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series, kids learn one alphabet — basic italic transitions naturally to cursive. In elementary school, handwriting is an important scaffold for basic literacy skills. For middle school students, fluent handwriting means more language arts success, and better preparation for high school.
Publisher's Information
Publisher: Getty-Dubay Productions
Authors: Barbara Getty & Inga Dubay
Age Recommendation: 10-11
Grade Recommendation: 5th
Faith-Based: No
Consumable: Yes
Pages: 64
ISBN: 9780964921559
Format: Softcover
Copyright: 1994
Made in: USA
Awards and Endorsements from:Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about this product below:
Shorter, meaningful, and regular practice is better than longer and/or sporadic sessions. For students in 3rd to 6th grade, we recommend 60-120 minutes per week (12-24 minutes per day).
Some general recommendations:
- Plan on practicing no more than a page at one sitting.
- Spend some time during practice doing some self-assessment. Encourage the student to choose which letters (or joins) they did well, have them mark them and try to replicate those. Ask them to choose which ones they feel do not match the model and therefore need a mental plan (e.g. “I want the ‘h’ ascender downstroke to be straighter”.)
- Put practice to use as soon as you can. For instance, try to avoid asking them to practice a single letter over and over.
- While you might be tempted to jump around in the book, we suggest going page by page, reading all the material as you go.
- Do start with the “Pre-Test” sample of your student's current handwriting. It will be important to see how your student's handwriting has changed over time when the book is finished and the student does the “Post-test".
While you may experience improved handwriting after just a few sessions, most gains will come from repeated practice over time. Handwriting is a lifelong skill built up over many years of study. As you use the workbook, encourage the student to try out your new handwriting on other school work, especially spelling and vocabulary lists, writing short compositions, thank you notes, and other correspondence.
Print / Basic / Manuscript: Writing with no letter joins. Some systems call their printing "ball and stick."
Cursive / Script / Longhand: Writing with joined letters. Used to increase the speed and ease of writing by limiting the number of times one lifts the pen or pencil from the paper.
Serif: An addition to the letter used in cursive writing to initiate the join.
Letterform: The path the writing tool takes to form the letter, numeral or punctuation.
Calligraphy: Literally means "Beautiful writing". Used for formal correspondence, presentations, or artwork. Not intended to be written quickly. Tools: edged pen and ink (either felt, cartridge or dipped), or brush.
Handwriting: Everyday writing used for communication and notes, often with the necessity for speed and legibility. Tools: pencil, felt-tip or ball-point pen, crayon, etc.
The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series is a developmentally appropriate course that starts with Book A, is designed for use in Kindergarten, and progresses by grade through Book G. Each book supports the motor skill, attention span, and content level of its respective grade level.
If your student needs remedial handwriting work, it is best to use that Getty-Dubay Italic book that matches the student's language skill. For example, an 8th grader who needs help with basic italic would probably be happier using Book G, instead of going back to Books A or B.
Ask the child to look at the letter and tell you how it's different from the model. Is it wider, taller, thinner, smaller? Are the letters further apart than the model? Never, ever use the word "wrong." It is simply different from the model.
Encourage the child to assess his/her own writing, with your guidance.
Our books useful no matter with which hand you write. One way this is true is that where possible the page content is arranged carefully so that your writing hand does not cover up the handwriting model you are copying. For left handers we recommend having your wrist below the line of writing and slanting the paper down to the right — in other words, a slight turn in the clockwise direction. Having good over-all posture and enough space for comfortable movement of your arm are also important for a good handwriting experience.
For parents of left-handed children: Left-handedness is perfectly natural, but does present some challenges in our right-handed-centric world. The good news is that, with encouragement, left-handed writers do find ways to adapt. Never insist that the student change writing hands.
- May 31, 2012
produced neat, legible handwriting
blessed4xover
We started with Reason for Writing, but traditional cursive was very frustrating for all three of my kids. By the time we got to book F, all three were writing, if not beautifully, at least legibly and smoothly. After the series, one went on to master calligraphy, and another decided to teach himself traditional cursive and Spencerian penmanship, simply because they were interested in the way the italic script looked, and in the upper levels the student is encouraged to personalize his or her own hand. So this program turned out to be a good stepping stone to self-directed learning.
- May 31, 2012
Beautiful Dreamer, Write on!
Pam f.
Sticks and balls belong on the playground, in my mind. Writing should flow, if you have to wield a pen or pencil. That's what this series offers. My children's penmanship improved while they did this program. Even my all-boy boy can write legibly when he puts his mind to it after using the Getty-Dubay books. They do offer some ideas for practicing in real life, but I would have liked more practice in the books themselves. I guess I'm just lazy that way.
- November 5, 2008
We have used Italic Handwriting for 17+ years!!
Mary S.
We have used Italic Handwriting for years (17 and counting) on Timberdoodle's initial recommendation. People have always commented on how neat our children's handwriting is. It is very legible and moves into calligraphy easily with a chiseled marker. My older children complained a little that their friends and relatives were writing a different way so, after they were proficient at italic cursive, we went over conventional cursive and I told them they were free to adjust their handwriting if they liked. I have liked the results of Italic Handwriting and we are continuing to use it with the rest of our 11 children. A benefit to teaching it is that I have improved at calligraphy myself.
- November 3, 2008
My son LOVED it!!
Michelle L.
My oldest son was resistant to learning cursive. Someone suggested letting him try calligraphy. It made me remember the information I had read about Italic Handwriting in the Timberdoodle catalog. We switched over to italic manuscript and then the transition to italic script was painless. My son LOVED it and his handwriting improved greatly. I also find using the program helpful for my other son who is dyslexic. He can work very independently and the lessons are short.
- October 24, 2008
Used this series with eight children!
Kellyanne E.
I have been using this handwriting program for almost 20 years. I have used it with eight children (so far!) and I have been very pleased with the results. The children have been able to use the books without difficulty (or tears, a big plus). Some of my children have really made the effort to duplicate the beautiful handwriting in the books and have even been inspired to try the calligraphic hand taught in book G. Some of my children have not been as eager to emphasize their handwriting to that degree. However, even those who took the "only what is required" attitude, have fine, legible handwriting.
