The letter u is an x-height letter.
The letter u is formed by going down, around, back up, down and finish with a flick.
The letter y is like a u but goes under the baseline to the descender line and curls up.
The letter j is formed by going down, curls up and finishes with a dot at the top.
The letter j and y have descenders.

Common misconception

Confusion on the direction for the 'curl up' on the y and j.

Be consistent with wording and modelling. Left direction is 'curl up' whereas 'flick' is when the direction is to the right.

Keywords

Tripod grip - a special way of holding the pencil with three fingers (thumb, index, and middle fingers) that helps us write smoothly and with control
X-height letter - letters that reach the middle height on the line
Ascenders - the part of a letter that extends above the level of the top of an "x"
Descenders - the part of a letter that descends below the level of the bottom of an "x"
Baseline - this is the line that most letters sit on

Use consistent actions to support children's understanding and recall of key words. For example reaching up for ascenders and reaching down for descenders.

Teacher tip

Equipment

Pencil and paper

Content guidance

Physical activity required.

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).