LE

MP
S A
EE
FR

Pencil Pals
Pacing Pandas
SLANTED LINES
Instructions
Pencil Pals “introduces” kids to new animal friends, who teach them the basics of pencil mechanics and
common directions they can follow with their pencil.

Basic Motions

LE
P
This first sequence takes the student through increasingly more difficult patterns. In Turtle Race and
Jumping Kangaroos, students trace longer and longer straight lines. Ant Highway creates a unidirectional
“underground” channel of connected horizontal and vertical lines for students to follow with their pencils.
Pacing Pandas features slanted lines, Dancing Dolphins introduces soft curves, and Flying Fun loosely
simulates the writing of words using sharper curves.

AM
S
Basic Directions
The second sequence gives students an opportunity to practice following basic instructions with their
pencils. Though they may not yet be able to read the directions, the titles are graphic to depict their
meaning. In Trace, they create a spider web by tracing the dotted lines. In Underline, they practice
selectively underlining only the information of interest which, in this case, is a frog. (They should not
underline the plants. In fact, you can even tell them they are creating lily pads for the frogs so they can sit
on the water.) In Fill In, students color in the fish bubbles as neatly as possible, an action that simulates
filling in responses on test answer sheets. In Circle, students circle the dots on the butterfly. Finally, in
Draw, students draw a picture of a sun in the frame.

Putting it All Together

The final page is a culmination of all the directions they have learned.
Butterfly dots should be circled, frogs should be underlined, the spider web
should be traced, the fish bubbles should be filled in, and a sun should be
drawn in the sky.
 Thankyoufordownloadingthefreesampleof PencilPals !
AppleCoreCreationswelcomesyourfeedback.

Todownloadthefullversionorviewmoreofourclassroommaterials,visitusat:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Apple-Core-Creations