TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING

Letter formation

1. Provide demonstration when introducing and teaching letter shapes. Whiteboards and overhead projectors are useful for this.

2. Observe students while they practice. This enables the teacher to recognize and correct faults as they arise. Giving immediate feedback is vital to prevent incorrect forms. Common faults-include.

• Faulty pencil/pen grip

• Incorrect letter formation

• Faulty paper positioning

• Heavy pressure on the paper

3. As the teacher demonstrates the skills of handwriting, it is important to describe the movements involved, for example, start at the top, round, down, up, stop. Encourage students to verbalize what they are doing from time to time. This gives a ‘window’ into the thought processes while writing. Verbalizations include reference to the starting point, directions of stroke, and stopping point.

4. Writing is a visual and motor skill. Use the following ideas to reinforce letter shapes before writing on paper with a pencil:

• Encourage students to form letters by drawing them in the air

• Finger trace over tactile letters, on the desk or the tabletops

• Draw round templates

• Write in the sand with a finger or a stick

• Write with chalk on a chalkboard

• Write letters boldly with a wax crayon

• Form letters with pegs on a pegboard or with beads in plasticine

Whole class and group teaching

• In the early stages, it is appropriate to give handwriting lessons to small groups of students with similar levels of readiness and motor control. Individuals within each group may require specific help.

• Later, as students come to understand the concept of written language and show evidence of developing control, it may be efficient to work with large groups and whole classes.

Regular practice

Regular practice is essential for the development of writing skills in primary schools where class teachers are generally responsible for teaching handwriting to their classes. There are many opportunities to practise the skills of handwriting in the course of writing. It may be helpful to provide extra lessons when the joins are being introduced. With young students, it is appropriate to have short daily lessons, while older pupils may benefit from one or two longer lessons each week.

The Mechanics Of Handwriting

Writing tools

Students should experience writing with different tools, i.e. pencils, chalk, and crayons. In the early stages, a soft pencil with a thick stem may be most appropriate. A thinner pencil offered too soon, may result in too tight a grip. The standard pencil should be introduced as the student’s motor skills begin to improve. At the beginning of junior school, a student’s main writing tool will be the standard pencil. In the second term of class 5, the students begin to write in ink using a fountain pen. Pencil grips, thicker pencils, triangular pencils and wider lines will be used by children who experience problems writing.

Paper

In the early stages, students should be encouraged to make free-flowing movements and to produce large patterns, letters and words on large sheets of plain paper. As their motor skills develop, the size of writing should decrease. Exercise books can then be used for handwriting reinforcement.

GETTING READY TO WRITE Atmosphere

Try to create a relaxed atmosphere. Wrist-shaking exercises, scribbling and doing writing patterns all help to loosen up muscles ready for writing.

Seating and posture

The student’s chair and table should be at a comfortable height. The table should support the forearm so that it rests lightly on the surface and is parallel to the floor. Students should sit up straight and not slouch. Ideally, left- handed pupils should sit on the left of their partner so that their movements are not restricted.

Pencil and pen grip

Students should be taught to hold a pencil comfortably. The right-handers should hold a pencil lightly between the thumb and forefinger about 3cm from the point. The middle finger provides additional support. This makes a three-point grip. The book or writing paper should be placed to the right, tilted slightly to the left. The left hand should be used to steady the paper.

Left-handers need plenty of encouragement and support. Encourage them to hold their pencils far enough away from the point to allow them to see what they are writing. The three-point grip should be much the same as for a right-hander. The book or paper should be positioned to the left and tilted slightly to the right.

The ability of students to control a pencil or pen develops gradually and is assisted through simple exercises. Faults in holding a pencil could be:

• holding the pencil or pen too tightly

• holding the pencil too close to the point

• crossing the thumb over the pencil to rest on the forefinger

• holding the forefinger and middle finger on top of the pencil

• holding the ring and the little finger too tightly curled into the palm.

The Writing Process

Handwriting Patterns

Writing patterns that reinforce basic handwriting movements will help in developing fluency, control, confidence, and hand-eye coordination.

Focus

Each handwriting lesson should have a clear objective and should be discussed and demonstrated to emphasise key teaching points.

Practice

Motivated and directed handwriting practice is essential.

Fluency and Speed

The essential qualities of good writing are fluency, neatness, and speed. Students should be expected to develop greater control and fluency. Fluent handwriting is writing in which the pencil flows from letter to letter in a smooth and almost continuous process. Students should be encouraged to write at a reasonable speed to develop this skill. Teachers should provide activities to develop writing speed and to assess it.

Individuality

Students should not be expected to make exact reproductions of the letterforms presented as models. In due course, many students will likely develop individual variations on this style. These variations will give their writing character and, provided that the writing is legible, are to be encouraged.

Presentation

Students should have an awareness of clear and neat presentations to communicate their meaning effectively. Students need to consider the visual impact of their writing as well as its accuracy. Aspects of presentation also include spacing, margins, and borders.

Teacher’s style and model

It is essential that the teacher demonstrates basic script and joining style so that the samples of writing students see on the blackboards/whiteboards and wall charts provide as good models. The teacher must also demonstrate the correct movements for each letter and assist each student in mastering them.

Some suggestions for encouraging aesthetic presentation of written work:

• Hold a handwriting competition every term or year.

• Have a notice board on to display samples of good writing

• Encourage students to write individual anthologies of favorite poems and extracts along with illustrations.

• Produce a class magazine in which individual contributions are handwritten.

• Produce handwritten programmes for bazaars, concerts and parent’s evenings

Assessment

It is important to establish ways of assessing handwriting at several levels:

• whole school/class assessment

• individual assessment

• self-assessment

Whole school/class assessment

A regular survey of students’ writing allows for a general, impressionistic assessment and may indicate the need for a more detailed investigation. Criteria for assessing handwriting might include:

• Is the writing generally legible and pleasant?

• Are the letters correctly shaped and proportioned?

• Are the joins correctly made?

• Are the spaces between letters, words, and lines appropriate?

• Is the size of the writing appropriate?

• Is the writing properly aligned?

Individual assessment

To assess the progress of individual students, it is necessary to assess them as they write, as well as the finished product. Criteria for individual assessment should include:

• Does the child adopt the correct posture?

• Does the child hold the pen/pencil correctly?

• Does the child use the correct movement when forming and/or joining letters?

• Does the child reverse or invert any letter?

• Does the child write fluently and rhythmically?

• Is the writing legible?

• Is the writing speed appropriate?