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Handwriting Teaching Guidelines and Lesson Plan Essay

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Table of Contents

Lesson Plan
General Information
Standards and Objectives
Materials and Resources
Instructional Plan
References

Guideline	Rationale
The program should include instructions, practices, and activities which are based on all the channels of perception and learning. These channels can be described as auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic.	It is inappropriate to use only one channel to teach students to write because of the individual differences in perceiving the material. Moreover, the combination of different channels in explaining the handwriting principles and techniques is effective to guarantee the children’s understanding of the material with references to its further practice (Gunning, 2010). Furthermore, it is important for students to develop their fine motor skills with the help of specific tactile activities. It is possible to preserve the children’s attention with the help of exercises based on the physical activities when students reflect the form of a letter with the help of their bodies (kinesthetic channel).
The handwriting instructions used in the program should be based on the principle of combining verbal and visual instructions when children are taught with the help of verbal explanation and demonstration of handwriting patterns and principles of writing.	It is impossible to expect the students’ understanding of the activity when teachers do not explain verbally what is written at the blackboard or presented in the pictures and charts. Writing the new letter, the teacher demonstrates movements which should be performed by students. However, the absence of the verbal explanation of the activities makes the procedure inappropriate for teaching because students have no opportunities to understand the principle of writing the letter clearly. That is why, the combination of the verbal explanation and demonstration is effective to teach students print and cursive handwriting (Stout, 1998).
The accents should be made on practice based on the varieties of activities which help to overcome the transition from manuscript handwriting to cursive handwriting.	The most problematic stage in teaching handwriting is the transition from manuscript handwriting to cursive handwriting. Those students who are in the third grade are challenged to learn how to write again, using cursive letters. Effective handwriting programs provide a range of principles and activities according to which it is possible to cope with the transition difficulties successfully. There is no single opinion on the appropriateness of handwriting programs presenting different approaches to teaching vertical or slanting print letters to overcome the transition difficulties (Koenke, 1986; Stout, 1998). That is why, the choice can be based only on the number and effectiveness of the activities determined to make the transition to cursive handwriting.
The handwriting program components and activities should be presented in a specific way in order to provide the possibilities for students’ rewriting and reinforcement.	This aspect is important because students should see the progress in their learning process in order to achieve the better results (Koenke, 1986). Moreover, it is important to provide the opportunities for students to learn the principles of print and cursive handwriting in the positive atmosphere of appreciating their successes and providing the chances to improve the results if students experience some difficulties in practice.
The handwriting programs should include definite self-assessment tools which are necessary for students to evaluate their successes and achievements.	It is important to pay attention to the fact that to stimulate students’ activities in achieving the higher results while learning how to write print or cursive letters, students should receive the opportunity to assess their successes independently, from their own point of view, but according to the fixed criteria. The accentuation of only teachers’ assessment of the students’ work is often inappropriate to motivate students to develop their skills. Moreover, assessing their results, students compare patterns and their work and have the opportunities to discuss the difficulties which were experienced while completing the definite task. Self-assessment is important to help students correct their work and avoid making similar mistakes in the future (Koenke, 1986).

Lesson Plan

Name:
WGU Competency Number(s):

General Information

Subject(s): Handwriting
Topic or Unit of Study: The Introduction of Lowercase Letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ from the Basic Stroke Family
Grade/Level: 1^st grade
Instructional Setting: the lesson plan will be implemented in the classroom for a group of twenty children. The lesson activities will be based on the review of two basic strokes (top-down vertical lines and left-right slides). The lesson aims to develop students’ motor skills and abilities to write print lowercase letters basing on the principles of vertical print handwriting.

Standards and Objectives

Your State Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standard(s): 1a. Print lowercase letters (Wisconsin Academic Standards, 2012).
Lesson Objective(s): By the end of the lesson, after reviewing two basic strokes (top-down vertical lines and left-right slides) and practicing new patterns, children will be able to print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ belonging to the basic stroke family. The objective of the lesson is to introduce lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’, using vertical print principles, and teach students to print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ according to the patterns (Wisconsin Academic Standards, 2012).

Materials and Resources

Instructional Materials: guided note templates; worksheets; large pictures demonstrating print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’.

Resources: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Curriculum.

Instructional Plan

Sequence of Instructional Procedures/Activities/Events

Identification of Student Prerequisite Skills Needed for Lesson (5 minutes)

Students have learnt how to distinguish between top line, middle line, and baseline and how to write two basic strokes which are top-down vertical lines and left-right slides during pervious lessons. Listening to verbal instructions (“Imagine a sheet of paper. Pull down straight. If you are a right hander, push to the right to make a slide. If you are a left hander, pull to the right to make a slide”) and following the demonstration of the teacher, children write imaginary lines and slides in the air in order to develop their motor skills and review the two basic strokes necessary for printing new lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’.

Presentation of New Information or Modeling (5 minutes)

The teacher explains the necessity to review two basic strokes with references to the objective of the lesson which is to learn how to write lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’. The teacher demonstrates the letters depicting in the large pictures. The teacher asks students to compare the forms of these letters with some things in the classroom. Students are expected to compare the form of letters with the form of pencils, pens.

The teacher asks students to remind what words begin with these letters (‘leg’, ‘tall’). The teacher demonstrates how to write these letters at the blackboard, commenting on the movements made, “To write the lowercase letter ‘l’, starting with the top line, pull down straight. To write the lowercase letter ‘t’, it is necessary to pull down straight, starting with the top line, and then to cross the vertical line. Writing a vertical line, lift. Touch the midline and slide right. If you are a right hander, push to the right to make a slide. If you are a left hander, pull to the right to make a slide”.

Guided Practice (7 minutes)

The teacher provides students with the opportunities to practice writing lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’. The first stage is the finger tracing exercise with writing imaginary letters. The teacher asks students to write imaginary letters basing on the teacher’s oral instructions and demonstration. The students repeat the teacher’s movements following the teacher’s movements visually and basing on the oral instructions.

The next stage is the writing of print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ at the worksheets provided. Students are asked to trace the shaded letters presented at the worksheets with their pencils and basing on the teacher’s oral instructions. Students practice writing the lowercase letter ‘l’ and then ‘t’. The next stage is the practice of writing lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ at the lines without shaded letters. Students complete the task basing on the teacher’s oral instructions.

Independent Student Practice (5 minutes)

The teacher asks students to continue writing lowercase letters ‘l’ and then ‘t’ at the next lines of the worksheet without oral instructions, basing only on the patterns presented at the worksheet. Students are asked to write the line of print lowercase ‘l’ letters and then, the line of print lowercase ‘t’ letters. The teacher pays attention to the necessity to write strict vertical lines, to follow the middle line while crossing the ‘t’ letter, and making all the lowercase letters of the same size.

When students are ready with the task, the teacher asks them to check the quality of their writing according to the mentioned criteria. The teacher asks, “Is your ‘l’ straight up and down? Is your ‘t’ straight up and down? Is the slide right stroke of the letter ‘t’ written on the midline?”. The teacher monitors the students’ successes, paying attention to everyone’s worksheet and asking to circle the best letter. The teacher asks children to correct letters which are not straight, pulling their index fingers straight down before writing (Zaner-Bloser Handwriting, n.d.).

Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event (3 minutes)

The teacher concentrates on the students’ successes in writing the letters and reminds to pay attention to the straight vertical lines, slides at the middle line, and uniform size of the lowercase letters. The teacher focuses on students’ understanding of two basic strokes with references to their effective usage while writing the lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ and distinguishing between vertical and horizontal lines, straight and slanting lines.

Pedagogical Strategy (or Strategies) (during the whole lesson)

Direct instruction, the combination of the visual demonstration and verbal instruction while introducing and practicing the lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’.

Differentiated Instruction (during the whole lesson)

The teacher pays attention to right handers and left handers while providing instructions. The English Language Learners and hearing impaired learners are placed into groups. They are provided with additional pictures, where movements to repeat are described with the help of arrows. The teacher monitors these students’ understanding the material during the lesson.

Student Assessment/Rubrics

Students have acquired all the important skills, appointed in this lesson if they are:

able to write print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ using straight vertical lines and horizontal slides;
able to write the lowercase letter ‘t’, crossing the vertical line with references to the middle line;
able to write print lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ of the same size appropriate for lowercase letters.

The achievements of the students are checked comparing with the patterns provided. Those students who are able to write two lines of the lowercase letters ‘l’ and ‘t’ with less than 6 corrections are scored with the higher marks. The other students are expected to make the necessary corrections and review the patterns.

References

Gunning, T. (2010). Creating literacy instruction for all students. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson Education.

Koenke, K. (1986). Handwriting instruction: What do we know? ERIC Digest. Web.

Stout, K. (1998). How to teach handwriting. Web.

Wisconsin Academic Standards. (2012). Web.

Zaner-Bloser Handwriting: Handwriting instruction program. (n.d.). Web.

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