Do we still need pencil and paper?

1. Do we still need pencil and paper? If you answered yes and have struggling students this is for you baby!

2. Why do we still need to teach handwriting? • Research supports the active teaching of handwriting. Recent findings demonstrate that writing by hand improves creative writing skills and fine motor skills. In fact, elementary students have been found to write more and faster by hand than when keyboarding. • With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, the emphasis and expectations placed on classroom note-taking and expository writing in grades K–5 are greater than ever.

3. What is this ”research” you speak of? • Research shows that handwriting is a foundational skill that can influence student’s reading, writing, language use, and critical thinking (Saperstein Associates 2012). • When children practice printing by hand, their neural activity is far more enhanced and “adult-like” (Bounds 2010). • Research states that learning how to write by hand is a necessary motor exercise (Saperstein Associates 2012; James and Gauthier 2006; James 2012; Berninger 2012).  • Children consistently do better writing with a pen. They write more and they write faster (Berninger 2009).

4. How do our students actually learn? • We teach the easiest skills first, then build on prior knowledge. Our teaching sequence takes advantage of child development and brain research to promote effective learning and good habits. • There are 3 stages of learning in regards to handwriting:

5. Should I teach certain letters first? • Teaching letters in a developmental order helps children master skills and boosts confidence. Research states to teach capitals first, and then lowercase letters. Letters should be taught in small groups of similar formation. Children master the easier letter groups, and then move to the more difficult letters groups. • For example: • F, E, D, P, B, R, N, M (“Frog Jump” Letters) • H, K, L, U, V, W, X, Y, Z (Starting corner capitols) • C, O, Q, G, S, A, I, T, J (Center starting capitols)

6. What about those lowercase letters? • Teach lowercase c, o, s, v, and w first because they are exactly the same as their capital partners, only smaller. By teaching capitals first, we have prepared children for nearly half of the lowercase letters that are similar in formation. • The suggested order of teaching lower case letters is: c o s v w t a d g u I e l k y j p r n m h b f q x z

7. Do people still teach cursive?! • This might be a surprise but………………………………….YES! • In cursive, teach lowercase letters first to help children learn cursive skills in the easiest, most efficient way. It’s also developmentally planned to start with letters that are familiar from printing, making an easier transition from print to cursive. Children learn their lowercase letters first, and then transition to capitals.

8. Capitals are taught after lowercase letters because of their infrequent use and complex formations. Children usually learn capitals very quickly. The simple letter style and teaching order makes cursive capitals easy to learn. 

9. So, tell me how I can help my students learn to write!