SALTA 4th grade

selected type without having to learn a different style each year. There are benefits to both types of manuscript and your Reading Street materials provide guidance for each. The table below offers considerations to inform your decision. Zaner-Bloser D’Nealian • Students often enter kindergarten already knowing how to form some letters • Smoother and faster transition to cursive • More closely matches the print students are reading • Reduces “b” and “d” letter confusion Note: Difficulty in forming letters in not related to cognitive skills, but to fine motor movement. Movements using a rigid fist grip come from the muscle of the upper arm, not smaller hand movements. Strengthening the muscle of the upper arm will help handwriting development (Moats, 2008). Tips for Teaching Letter Formation:

1. Use lined paper (with top, middle, and bottom lines in each row) that has well-marked margins. The top line is the “hat line,” the middle line the “belt line,” the bottom line the “foot line,” as cued by a figure sketched on the left margin. (M. Sprick, L. Moats et al.) 2. Name a letter, then demonstrate the letter’s formation by verbally describing each stroke as you model writing the letter.

3. Utilize the handwriting models in your Reading Street curriculum to support verbal cues with direction and strokes. 4. Ask students to imitate the motion with their whole arm, with index and middle fingers pointing, tracing in the air or on a rough surface. 5. Ask students to trace on top of a well-formed letter on paper before they cover-up the model and write the letter from memory. Always have students name the letter as they write it. 6. Ask struggling students to trace over the model letter on a large surface, such as a chalkboard or whiteboard before trying to write it between lines of paper.