Literacy Coach's Corner
The Importance of Letter Formation
Handwriting: It's More Important Than You Think!
"Handwriting is the use of the hand to produce units of written language- single letters, written words, sentence, and text-to express ideas and thinking" (Beringer, 2012).
Why is handwriting taught?
- To help learn letters/sounds for reading
- For composition and writing
- Frees brain for other things
- To help with Memory and Learning
- Legibility Impacts Success
Make it Multisensory!
Have your child work in a fun way on a larger surface, the activities are less stressful than working on paper with a pencil.
Check this site out for tons of resources
https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/letter-formation-activities.html
Instructional Activities
1. Modeling Clay
Finger strength and dexterity play a crucial role in one’s handwriting. Encourage them to play with clay for 30 minutes a day. The malleable material will strengthen their hand muscles and improve their control over writing utensils.
2. Paper Mazes
Putting pen to paper requires fine motor control, a skill that is engaged through puzzles like paper mazes. To reach the end, your child must keep their writing utensil within strict boundaries, thus improving their coordination.
3. Dictation
Dictation exercises are another fun way to improve your child’s handwriting and orthographic coding abilities. Simply read a letter aloud, and have your student copy it down. To add some excitement, try selecting a series of letters that spell out a fun, familiar word.
4. Prompts
Once your child is comfortable with memorizing and writing individual letters, they may ask to venture into full words and sentences. You can introduce the topic by creating an amusing prompt and giving them five minutes to compose a small, related text.
I
Free the Brain to Think!
When writing is automatic the brain is free to recall correct spelling and to develop ideas. The brain is free to think! No conscious effort is required!
All Feedback Welcome!
Email: jwarner@somervilleschools.org
Location: 51 Union Avenue, Somerville, NJ, USA
Phone: (908)218-4105
Twitter: @VDVReading