Promoting Academic Achievement and Developing Cognitive Automaticity

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Handwriting Instruction in a New Century

• Promoting Academic Achievement and Developing
  Cognitive Automaticity

Dr. April Blakely Dr. Faye Deters
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Background
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Does Handwriting Matter in a Digital World?
Public schools drop cursive requirement
Why Schools Should Keep Teaching Handwriting,
Even If Typing Is More Useful
Handwriting Is on the Wall for Cursive Instruction
The many health perks of good handwriting Not
only does it help the brain develop, it can also
improve grades and confidence
You type. I type. Why bother with handwriting?
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What teachers are saying

• There are areas in the world without
  technology...   I feel students should be
  equipped with tools to prepare them for whatever
  life brings for their future.
• Middle School Language Arts Teacher

My school has been having many debates about
handwriting lately. many believe computers will
eventually take the place of pencil and paper. My
response is I only have 6 computers in my
classroom what would I do if I needed to be able
to read what the other 19 students in my
classroom are writing? 1st Grade Teacher
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What teachers are saying

• We live in a very technologically advanced
  society, and not teaching our students to use it
  to its fullest potential would be ludicrous.  But
  I do think that we have to understand the written
  language before we can use technology to our
  advantage.  For example, I have students who are
  proficient calculator users but when given a word
  problem the calculator is useless because they
  don't understand the basic process they are being
  asked to do.  I think word processing is the same
  way.  Usually my kids who have difficulty writing
  have difficulty producing a word document on the
  computer. 
• 5th Grade Teacher

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What teachers are saying

• I have always had my students practice in
  handwriting journals everyday as they come into
  class. This time spent in their handwriting
  journals is strictly handwriting/penmanship
  practice. However, I'm not really seeing an
  improvement in their handwriting since the
  beginning of school. My students must print
  legibly so that they can get their ideas across
  in writing. I've realized that maybe having them
  write authentically and more for an intended
  audience every morning would be a better approach
  to handwriting practice, rather than just line
  after line of letter formation practice.
• 1st Grade Teacher

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Handwriting Summit
National Handwriting Day January 23
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What does research tell us?
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The Digital Shift

• With the adoption of the CCS, many states are
  dropping cursive instruction totally.
• CCS calls for a technology-based approach to
  producing and publishing writing, spending more
  time on research and reflection, and less time on
  actual composition.
• Starting in 4th grade, students under the CCS are
  required to take an exam demonstrating command of
  the keyboard by typing a minimum of one page in a
  single sitting.

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Curricular Shift
PK-3
3-4
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Formal keyboarding instruction begins.
Print handwriting instruction taught formally in
classrooms with practice for homework.
Shift to cursive handwriting instruction to build
speed and fluidity formally taught with practice
required on assignments.
Formal keyboarding instruction with no cursive
handwriting instruction.
Print handwriting instruction.
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Does Handwriting Still Matter?
ACT/SAT college-entrance exams Scorers unable to
read a students writing assign an illegible
score of 0.
Improved writing A study of 2nd, 4th, 6th
graders indicated that students wrote more
words, faster, and expressed more ideas when
writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard.
Test scores Good handwriting can boost a test
score from the 50th percentile to the 84th
percentile while bad penmanship can drop it to
the 16th percentile.
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Indiana Univ. MRI Scans

• In children who had practiced writing by
  hand, the scans showed heightened brain activity
  in a key area, circled on the image at right,
  indicating learning took place.

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Is Handwriting Faster?

• Researchers who tested second-, fourth- and
  sixth-graders found that children compose essays
  more prolifically and faster when using a pen
  rather than a keyboard.
• In addition, fourth- and sixth-graders wrote more
  complete sentences when they used a pen.
• Forming letters by hand may engage our thinking
  brains differently than pressing down on a key.
• Source Dr. Virginia Berninger, Univ. of
  Washington, 2011.

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Handwritings Impact on the Brain

• If you write yourself a list or a note then
  lose it you're much more likely to remember
  what you wrote than if you just tried to memorize
  it.
• The more one practices a skill such as
  handwriting, the stronger the motor pathways
  become until the skill becomes automatic. This
  automaticity allows one to focus on the subject,
  rather than worry about how to form letters.
• Handwriting engages different brain circuits than
  keyboarding. The contact, direction and pressure
  of the pen or pencil send the brain a message.
• Source Dr. Katya Feder, Univ. of Ottawa

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Current Research
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Purpose of this Study
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Research Questions
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Data Collection

• Pilot survey sent to sample of elementary and
  middle grades teachers statewide.
• 150 Teachers participated in the pilot phase.
• Responses will be examined against state reported
  testing data for reading and writing.
• Teachers invited to participate in a focus group.
  (72 volunteers)

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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Preliminary Survey Results
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Handwriting vs. Keyboarding

• I cannot spend valuable class time teaching
  handwriting if it is not a CCS.
• Students can't read cursive much less write a
  correct signature due to lack of instruction.
• We realize that in today's society that everyone
  must know how to type on a keyboard, but we also
  feel that it is just as IMPORTANT that our
  children may express themselves without the use
  of technology!!

• This is not taught until 9th grade....how
  ridiculous! This needs to be a rotation class
  along with PE, music, etc. in middle school.
• Keyboarding will allow students to effectively
  use written expression skills to complete essays
  and assignments with greater efficiency in later
  grades.

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A forward-balanced approach
Cursive 2-4
Key- Boarding 6
The 21st Century Writer
Manuscript PK-2/3
Tech Familiarity PK
Digital Handwriting Tools PK-12
Voice to Text
Hand to Text
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Major Resources
American College Testing. (2011). Scoring
guidelines. Retrieved January 30, 2012 at
http//www.actstudent.org/writing/scores/guideline
s.html Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Augsburger,
A., and Garcia, N. (2009). Comparison of pen and
keyboard transcription modes in children
with and without learning disabilities. Learning
Disability Quarterly, 32(3), 11-
18. Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Jones, J., Wolf,
B., Gould, L., Anderson-Youngstrom, M., et al.
(2006). Early development of language by hand
Composing, reading, listening, and speaking
connections three letter- writing modes
and fast mapping in spelling. Developmental
Neuropsychology, 29(1), 61-92. Cutler, L.,
Graham, S. (2008). Primary grade writing
instruction A national survey. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 100(4), 907-919. James,
K., Atwood, T. (2009). The role of sensorimotor
learning in the perception of letter- like
forms Tracking the causes of neural
specialization for letters. Cognitive
Neuropsychology, 26(1), 91-110 James, K., Wong,
C., Jobard, G. (2010). The case for letter
expertise. In Gauthier, I., Bub, D.,
Tarr, M. (Eds.), Perceptual Expertise Bridging
Brain and Behavior (305-331). New York, NY
Oxford University Press. Jones, D.,
Christensen, C. (1999). The relationship between
automaticity in handwriting and students
ability to generate written text. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 91, 44-49. Longcamp, M.,
Boucard, C., Gilhodes, J., Anton, J., Roth, M.,
Nazarian, B., et al. (2008). Learning
through hand- or typewriting influences visual
recognition of new graphic shapes
Behavioral and functional imaging evidence.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(5),
802-815. Longcamp, M., Zerbato-Poudou, M.,
Velay, J. (2005). The influence of writing
practice on letter recognition in preschool
children A comparison between handwriting and
typing. Acta Psychologica, 119, 67-79. National
Institute of Child Health Human Development.
(2000). Report of the National Reading
Panel Teaching children to read An
evidence-based assessment of the scientific
research literature on reading and its
implications for reading instruction. (NIH
Publication NO. 004769). Washington, DC U. S.
Government Printing Office. Vander Hart,
N., Fitzpatrick, P., Cortesa, C. (2010).
In-depth analysis of handwriting curriculum
and instruction in four kindergarten classrooms.
Reading and Writing, 23, 673-699.
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Support Resources
Indiana Public Radio Interview w/Dr. Karin James
and Dr. Steve Graham
http//stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2011/09/29/why-
schools-should-keep-teaching-handwriting-even-if-t
yping-is-more-useful/ Education
Week http//www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/25/
18handwriting_ep.h31.html ACT Scoring
Guidelines http//www.actstudent.org/writing/score
s/guidelines.html Handwriting in the 21st
Century? An Educational Summit http//www.hw21summ
it.com/ Hanover Research White
Paper https//www.zaner-bloser.com/media/zb/zaner-
bloser/pdf/hw_hanover.pdf
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Contact Information

• Dr. Faye Deters
• Faye.deters_at_eku.edu
• 859-622-2159
• Dr. April Blakely
• April.blakely_at_eku.edu
• 859-622-2396
• Department of Curriculum and Instruction
• Eastern Kentucky University
• 215 Bert Combs Building
• 521 Lancaster Ave.
• Richmond, KY 40475