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Differentiating Literacy Instruction for Culturally, Linguistically and Ability Diverse Students

Case Study

References

Written Language: Manuscript & Cursive

The main objective of handwriting (printing or manuscript) or keyboarding is efficient legibility.

• Numerous factors can contribute to handwriting difficulties, including:
  • poor visual perception
  • lack of gross and/or fine motor skills
  • poor visual memory
  • poor instruction
  • lack of motivation
• Students may demonstrate handwriting problems, such as:
  • slowness
  • illegibility
  • incorrect directionality of letters or numbers
  • too much or too little slant
  • spacing
  • omissions
  • inability to stay on a horizontal line
  • too much or too little pressure on the pencil or pen
  • reversals of letters
• Research has demonstrated that children often make similar errors (Mercer & Mercer, 2000):
  • 50% of errors involve the letters a,e,r, and t
  • 12% of the errors are the incorrect formation of the letter r
• When assessing handwriting, teachers may select three writing samples (the student's usual, best, and fastest) in order to explore the problem. For example, it may appear from the student's usual and fastest writing sample that he does not know how to correctly write the letter m. Examination of the student's best writing sample, however, indicates that he is able to correctly form the letter m, but may not have mastered it. Therefore, the problem is not formation, but rather consistency under time constraints.
• When assessing a student's writing, there are many factors one should consider:
  • Position
  • Letter formation
  • Letter size
  • Spacing
  • Line quality
  • Slant
  • Rate

• In the multisensory approach, the student sees, hears, and traces the letter. The steps are as follows:

  1. The teacher shows the students the letter or word to be written.
  2. The teacher says the letter name or word, and then describes the writing technique (e.g., We start up on top and move our pencil down. Next we…)
  3. The students trace the model letter or word with a finger. The students may also repeat the writing technique used.
  4. The students trace the model with a pencil.
  5. The students replicate the letter or word in a separate area or to another sheet of paper.
  6. The students write the letter or word from memory while saying its name. This is done without any visual cue.

• If remediation is needed, specific strategies may be used, such as:
  • Model correct positioning-a firm grip on the pencil, paper positioned straight on the writing surface, and sitting near enough to desk that writing is comfortable.
  • Have students develop their motor skills, which can be helpful in letter formation, by mimicking motions done in writing (e.g., drawing a straight line in the air, draw a circle clockwise). Using scissors, have students cut out letters or shapes; perform art activities that require the student to draw specific shapes; or do finger painting or clay modeling to develop hand and finger strength.
  • Have students practice letter formation by drawing the letter in a tray with sand, salt, cornmeal, or my favorite pudding mix.
  • Make stencils of letters and words demonstrating correct formation, size and slant. The students then can practice writing using the stencils.
  • Provide students with examples of good handwriting and examples with errors. Have the students identify the problems and explain how to fix them.
• If transition from manuscript to cursive is difficult, make a chart that compares the two styles or have the students make two-piece puzzles with manuscript on one piece and cursive on the other.
  

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