MAGIC FINGER. No materials. All students. Activity: Before the children start practising writing letters in their books, I have them first write the letter in the air with their fingers and count the amount of strokes needed to complete it. For example, you need 2 strokes to complete the letter ‘p’. I found however that some pupils wouldn’t really join in with the rest of the class at doing this, so I wanted to find a way to make doing so more fun.
One lesson, I accidentally did a poor job of writing a letter on the whiteboard, and I quickly erased it with my finger. One of the students then said ‘Wow! Magic finger!’ and so this idea started.
I draw a letter on the board and tell the class ‘Okay, magic fingers!’. The kids blow on the end of their index fingers, and then rub their fingers on their clothes until they are ‘hot’. This means the ‘magic’ is ready.
Next, children hold up their magic fingers and use their magical power to help me erase the letter I have written on the board. They do this by drawing the letter in the air, stroke-by-stroke. As they draw in the air I copy them with my finger and I erase part of the letter on the board. We end up deconstructing the letter a stoke at a time.
Every now and again I’d run my finger over a letter but not actually touch the board. I’d tell the class their ‘magic’ had ran out and then they had to rub their fingers again to get them warm. It sounds silly but they all love it, and it gets them to practise the strokes necessary to make the letters before I let them loose on their books!
If you have mini-whiteboards that pupils write on, you could perhaps use this activity with them in pairs. One pupil writes a letter, counting out the strokes. The other pupil deconstructs it and erases it with their finger. They then swap roles and repeat.