Developing Handwriting Skills Coach Handbook by Rhea Bazeley
R P and C J Bazeley 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright owners or their licensee, Read Easy UK, a charitable incorporated organisation (Registered Number 1151288).
1 INTRODUCTION This pack has been designed to help you to provide your reader with a structured approach to developing handwriting skills. In the process, the hope is also to reinforce reading skills and teach early spelling patterns. However, please note that the packs are not intended as a complete course to be worked through, but rather as a dip into resource according to the needs of your Reader, and they should not be used as the main activity of a reading session. Although it is intended that the pack can be used at the same time as someone is learning to read (using a phonics-based programme), we do not suggest that you start until the reader has a secure understanding of the relationship between all the individual symbols in the alphabet and the sounds which relate to them. It is also vital that you only use these resources if the learner him/herself expresses a real interest in the process of writing; for some learners, the commitment of learning to read will be quite enough at one time and working on writing can come later. Why it is important not to rush learning to write Experience suggests that one of the mistakes often made in education is to expect learners to progress too quickly in both reading and writing at the same time. The act of learning to read is a huge undertaking in itself. Some people do it easily, but many struggle at some point in the process. It is important to understand that while reading is a skill that involves decoding marks on a page, writing is more abstract. It requires the learner to begin with a blank page and create the marks themselves. For this reason it is important to keep any practice of writing to a very basic mechanical level in the early stages so that reading is still the main focus of learning. Without the ability to read, writing is, in any case, meaningless. Having said all this, learning to write is still very important and this should be stressed. Although in this age of technology our need to use actual handwriting to communicate is minimal, the ability to write by hand is still necessary. Moreover, the process of learning to write is linked to the process of learning to spell, which is also of course still necessary and a very great advantage, even with the advent of spell checkers! Pre-writing activities There are two useful pre-writing activities you can introduce while your reader is gaining confidence with the early stages of phonics and reading: 3 of 14 06/02/18
Alphabet resources to introduce your learner to correct letter formation before they start writing, you can encourage them to trace over the letters of the alphabet, using the alphabet sheet, which shows the direction for correct letter formation. Hand and Finger Exercises to help develop a correct pencil hold see the following pages. Please note: This Handwriting Coach Handbook and the resources for practice can be downloaded from the Coach Resources page of the Read Easy website as PDFs. You can then choose to print out just the sheets you want to use. The packs may also be available either in your Resources Box or from your Coordinator 4 of 14 06/02/18
2 HAND AND FINGER EXERCISES These hand and finger exercises help to develop the dexterity needed to be able to control a pencil. They can be used as a bit of useful fun during reading sessions when learners and coaches need a 2 minute break from concentration! To achieve success in learning to write a certain amount of dexterity is needed to be able to control a pencil. Young children are often expected to use a pencil long before they have developed the physical ability to control it. Children develop this ability at different ages, so there is no hard and fast rule as to when it is safe to ask a child to begin writing. As a general rule little boys do not develop the dexterity required to write as early as little girls. Some of the strange pencil holds one sees in adults may be directly attributable to that individual being forced into a writing situation too early in life. Mature learners who wish to improve their writing skills will have developed the dexterity, but may not have used it, and may still find controlling a pencil difficult. Hand and finger exercises are useful to help mobilise joints that are unused to concentrated, controlled movement. It is important to do all the exercises below with both hands at the same time, regardless of whether you are right-handed or left-handed. To use both hands is more challenging but more beneficial as research suggests it helps to establish neurological pathways on both sides of the brain.* This is particularly beneficial for dyslexic people and indeed anyone who is learning to read and write. If you or your learner has arthritis or any other physical condition affecting your hands and wrists it would be advisable to limit your use of these exercises and only attempt what is safe and comfortable. Finger tip touch Simply touch the tip of your first finger to the tip of your thumb 5 times, on both hands at the same time. Now repeat with the second finger on each hand to the tip of your thumb 5 times. 5 of 14 06/02/18
Then repeat with the third finger 5 times followed by the fourth finger 5 times. Now reverse the order and move back to the third finger, then the second finger and finally the first finger, touching each finger to the tip of your thumb 5 times. You can repeat this sequence at intervals as many times as you like and you will be surprised how much easier it becomes and how much more quickly you can do it. Wrist rotation Hold both hands up in front of you as if you are touching a wall. Rotate your hands, one clockwise and the other anti-clockwise 5 times, stretching your wrists so that you feel the pull as your hands move round. Now repeat turning each hand in the opposite direction. Repeat the sequence at least 3 times regularly for maximum benefit. Penny pinch Take a 2p coin between your first finger tip and your thumb in each hand at the same time. Pull the coins towards the palms of your hands and see if you can touch your palms with the edges of the coin. For an extra challenge and more fun try the same thing with your second, third and fourth fingers too! NB. Do this over a table so that if you drop the coins you won t have to scrabble around on the floor chasing escaped 2p coins! 6 of 14 06/02/18
Finger stretch and change Hold your hands straight out in front of you as if you were touching a wall. Your fingers should be straight up, now open a V space between the third and fourth finger on each hand at the same time. Hold it open for a count of 3 then close your fingers again. Now hold your third and fourth fingers together on each hand and open spaces between the first and second and third and fourth fingers at the same time. Hold that for a count of 3 then close fingers again. Now see if you can repeat the whole sequence a few times. It is important to try to do it with both hands at the same time --- it will be easier with one hand than the other, but it is worth persevering! In my own experience I have used these exercises to great effect and I have also seen young people progress in literacy quite quickly as soon as they have learned some elementary physical skills that require co-ordination between both sides of the body, such as skipping, swimming, or riding a 2-wheeled bike. * Dr Harry Wachs is an American optometrist who did a great deal of work in the 1970s and 1980s with adult dyslectics. Dyslexia is a complex condition but in simple summary one of the theories is that messages are not easily transmitted from one side of the brain to the other. Harry Wachs proved that learning and practicing physical exercises involving both sides of the body simultaneously helped individuals to gain literacy skills which had previously been causing them great difficulty. 7 of 14 06/02/18
3 LEARNING TO HOLD A PENCIL CORRECTLY The pictures below demonstrate correct pencil hold. Left hand hold Right hand hold Differences between left-handed and right-handed scribes There is no difference in the way right-handed and left-handed people should hold a pencil. Many left-handed people hold a pencil very strangely and are successful writers. However if a left-handed learner is new to writing, it would be beneficial to learn a correct pencil hold as it causes less physical discomfort and tension in hand, wrist and arm. A left-handed learner will probably be comfortable tilting paper to the left before writing on it and a right-handed learner will probably tilt their paper to the right. Horizontals of t, f and all capital letters can be done in either direction. Right handed people generally start at the left of the horizontal and move to the right. Left-handers are more comfortable beginning at the right of the horizontal line and moving to the left. The horizontals of all capital letters follow the same rule. Horizontals are the only differences for right and left-handed letter formation. Please note: It is advisable to always use a pencil when practising writing instead of any other writing implement. Ball point pens tend to have minds of their own and skid about the paper being very difficult for new writers to control, they will have much more success with the better behaved pencil! 9 of 14 06/02/18
4 INTRODUCTION TO PACK 1: EARLY LETTER FORMATION The letter sheets included in the first pack show the correct formation of every lower case letter in the alphabet. Knowledge of correct letter formation is essential because writing will be much more difficult and less successful without it. It is the key to fluent handwriting in the long term. Use of cursive script A cursive script has been used for the lower case letters. This may be different from the letter formation that the learner is used to, but it is an approach to handwriting that has now been standard for many years. Cursive script has a curved flick at the end of the last stroke of some letters, instead of ending with a straight line. The flick is valuable as it allows progression towards the next letter in joined writing where letters need to flow from one to the next. This encourages much greater writing fluency, as well as cementing phonic connections and letter blends in the learner s mind. There is also evidence that it helps to facilitate the learning of spelling patterns. These letters look significantly different to any printed text, but this can be discussed with the learner if the interest is there and the coach feels it is appropriate. It is useful for learners to know that there are variations in how the same letter is represented and discussions about this will be valuable. The q on the letter sheets has a traditional straight flick at the end of the downward stroke. This has been done to help distinguish it clearly from the p. When the flick is not included, these letters look very similar, particularly to dyslexic learners, which can cause confusion. Encouraging correct letter formation Pack 1 provides the new writer with the opportunity to practise forming each letter of the alphabet in a controlled way on the practice sheets provided. On each sheet there are letters at the beginning of each line shown with the correct starting point marked with a dot and the direction of the stroke indicated with an arrow. These can be used to model the correct letter formation either by the coach or by the learner. After this there are letters shown in broken lines which learners often find helpful to trace over before they attempt to write their own letters along the rest of the line. If they wish, learners can start by using a fingertip to trace over the individual letters, adding a multi-sensory experience to the learning of phonic connections. 11 of 14 06/02/18
Letter groups It is helpful to present letters for practice in groups that are similar in their formation. For example, letters that begin with a downward stroke are grouped together and letters that begin with a curved left hand stroke are in another group. The letters have been grouped for you on the practice sheets provided: Group 1 l i t j f Group 2 r n h b m p k Group 3 u y v w Group 4 - c o a d g q Group 5 s e z x The practice sheets are numbered to correspond with each letter group and there are up to 4 practice sheets for each group. Each group is accompanied by an introductory note to the learner. If a learner is struggling with a particular letter it is of course valuable to repeat the relevant sheets at the next session. There are additional blank lined sheets in the pack for additional practice if necessary. Your learner may not have to go through all the practice sheets to achieve an acceptable result. Please adapt your use of the sheets available to the needs of your learner. Capital letters Capital letters and the rules for their use are not included until the end of Pack 1 as it is important that the lower case letters are emphasised first. Printing and using the practice sheets All the practice sheets have been designed so that they can be printed out (or photocopied) individually, as and when you need them. The letter practice sheets have been prepared using quite large letters, so that it is easy for the learner to see and follow the arrows for correct letter formation. However, if your learner would prefer to practise using smaller guide writing, you can achieve this when printing out the sheets by scaling down the document in the print options window for instance to 80%. For dyslexic learners, you may also want to consider printing the practice sheets onto offwhite or coloured paper. A choice of three blank practice sheets is provided, with wide, medium and narrow spaced guidelines. Trials of these materials have made it clear that all three of these sheets can be useful, because of the wide range of adults that we work with and it is up to the coach and learner to decide which will suit them best. Once learners have become confident about how the letters should be formed and where they should sit, they can, of course, move on to writing on ordinary lined paper. 12 of 14 06/02/18
5 INTRODUCTION TO PACK 2 PROGRESSION EXERCISES Pack 2 provides the new writer with the opportunity to start joining up letters to make words, and is linked to the phonic spelling patterns that he or she will probably have met in early reading experiences. Please adapt your use of these exercises to the needs of your learner. It is important not to rush into beginning Pack 2 until early reading is well established. It is also advisable to work through most of Pack 1 to ensure that a good basic knowledge of correct letter formation is given. Pack 2 progresses quite quickly through the various exercises. It begins by giving starting points and direction arrows for each practice exercise. These aids are gradually diminished as it is assumed that learners will have become familiar with the patterns and direction of the letters. The exercises have been designed to correspond with phonic blending in order to consolidate learning and build up a practical knowledge of early spelling patterns. Depending on how quickly your learner progresses, Pack 2 may only be needed as a dip into resource. Freewheeling Having learned the correct letter formation by working through Pack 1, some learners may enjoy using the guidelines to practise inventing and writing short sentences of their own using the phonic sounds covered in the handwriting sheets, instead of methodically working through every sheet. Or they may enjoy going back over some of the lists of words and short sentences they encountered during their reading programme and using the guide sheets to write the now familiar words and sentences. It is up to you and your reader to decide what will be most helpful. The ultimate aim of this pack is to enable learners draw on their phonic knowledge and letter formation to write short sentences with confidence, which both they and their coach will be able to read. 13 of 14 06/02/18
6 LOOK SAY COVER WRITE CHECK This is a useful system to encourage your learner to use when beginning to embark on building writing skills. It is designed to encourage learners to use their knowledge and memory to recall the pattern of letters within words, before attempting to write them independently (i.e. spelling). This system can be used for single words initially and later for simple sentences, if appropriate for the learner. LOOK In order to write a word, first look at it and sound the component letters. SAY Read the word out loud so that it is clear that it has been read correctly. Encourage the learner to visualise the shape of the word, by looking at it on the page and then looking up and seeing the shape of the word in the air. COVER Encourage the learner to keep the picture of the word in their head, before covering the word so that it cannot be seen. WRITE The learner should attempt to write the word they have memorised without peeping at it again! CHECK When the learner has finished the attempt at writing the word, it can be uncovered and checked to see if it is correctly written. (The coach resources page of the Read Easy website has a worksheet you can download, which can be used for practising spelling in this way.) Don t forget to praise! It is very important to congratulate the learner at every opportunity, even if the word that has been written is incorrect. There will almost certainly be one or two correct letters, even if they are in the wrong order! It is important to focus on what is correct at every stage in this process and not on what is incorrect. It is an extremely difficult thing the learner is attempting to do and praise is a great motivator. 14 of 14 06/02/18