The Palmer Method of Business Writing · Lesson 136 · Part 14: Sentences and line-writing
131. Drill 160: a sentence with X
Goal: Your child writes the sentence "Xenophon fixed historical events." and fills a page with it evenly.
You'll need
- Wide-ruled lined paper (several sheets)
- A sharp pencil or a smooth gel pen
- The book open at today's page
What's in the book
Lesson 136 is drill 160, a line of writing to copy: "Xenophon fixed historical events."
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Two or three minutes of your usual movement drills: compact ovals, then a line each of small o, m and l.
Then a line of capital X.
Look at the model
Open the book page. Look at drill 160: "Xenophon fixed historical events."
What the book says
Capital X is made with a figure six inverted, and a figure six right side up. Keep this in mind when making it.
Write a 6 upside down and a 6 the right way up side by side to see it.
Word by word
Write each word of the sentence on its own two or three times, especially any word that has a hard letter.
A page of the sentence
Then fill a page (half a page for a young child) with the whole sentence, without resting between lines. Halfway down, check the position, the light grip and the wrist off the paper.
Gentle check
Look at the page as a whole: even height, even spacing, the same slant? Pick the best line and the weakest.
Finish
Write one more copy of the sentence, slowly and in your best hand, and date the page.