Mrs. Frederick's Kindergarten

Handwriting in Kindergarten with iPads

Research shows that handwriting has been found to be directly related to achievement. Classroom teachers have so much to cover throughout the day that there's little time to focus on handwriting instruction. This can have a detrimental outcome for students. The kinesthetic process of forming letters is directly linked to students’ ability to structure written work . Strategies can be put into to place in order to make direct instruction of handwriting developmentally appropriate in kindergarten. Becoming an efficient, automatic writer is integral to students’ ability to keep up in class.

This fall the Media Specialist and I conducted a very informal action research project to gain a better understanding of effective and ineffective handwriting instructional strategies. Of the effective strategies, I wanted to determine which ones make the greatest impact on letter formation and use these strategies to help kindergarten students carry supported letter formation into independent formation. My hope was that kindergarten students will take a more global view of handwriting, using these skills to become capable and passionate writers outside of the classroom. I want students to develop a love of writing at an early age. This idea connects to the questions for the research project: If the researchers utilize a combination of iPad applications, tactile strategies, and various computer programs, what will happen to the kindergarten students’ ability to form letters correctly?

Children enter kindergarten with varied handwriting experiences. Some children will be ready to write first and last name while others may need weeks to perfect their first name There is a strong need for new and innovative strategies, including strategies that incorporate technology, to be put into to place in order to make direct instruction of handwriting developmentally appropriate in kindergarten.

Effective handwriting instruction can be accomplished with a surprisingly small amount of time. It is the recommendation that in kindergarten through third grade, students should be instructed in short intervals throughout the week, with an estimated 75 minutes a week devoted to instructional time. It is important for students to be instructed in the art of handwriting in order to develop decipherable writing that can be formed rapidly with mindless effort. Students must first be taught the pattern for forming individual letters in order for this to be achieved. Factors that contribute to handwriting skills include: letter formation, time spent on difficult letters, knowledge of letter recognition, pencil grip and paper position, handwriting speed, and neatness.

The centers the we implemented were:

Play-Doh with alphabet mats and alphabet stamps
IPads with an app called Letter Story
Geoboards with cards that have rubber-band illustrations of the alphabet
Starfall Website
SMART board with letter tracing
Dry erase boards center with direct instruction from intern

The app that I used with the iPads was called

“Letter School." This app shows the dots at the beginning point of each letter and then again at the points where the letter connects. The introduction helps the children to memorize the letter’s shape, name and sound. The students learn where to start, change direction and finish by tapping the dots on the letter. Finally it allows them to test their letter knowledge by writing from memory. The kids love this app it is very engaging and entertaining.

Christy Waters from "AMSTI Kindergarten Style"

helped with the kinesthetic centers. She also came in to work one on one with the children.

We focused on three strokes in letter formation. The straight line, the slanted line and the curved line. The students practiced making these lines on the computer with Mrs. Shelly Hellums, the Media Specialist.

They also practiced making the three strokes at the dry erase board center.

Incorporating differentiated handwriting stations positively supported the challenge of meeting every learning modality of the kindergarten students. After analyzing the collected data, we concluded that we met our initial goal of gaining a better understanding of effective and ineffective handwriting instructional strategies. We also feel confident in reporting that the students’ dedication to the handwriting stations reflected our own dedication in implementing the strategies. As the study developed, the students became more apt to stay on task and work independently.

The quality of the students’ work improved the deeper we progressed into the study. Small gains were made daily in the student’s ability to form letters correctly. The journals and other day-to-day work showed vast improvements. The Letter School app also reinforced letter name and sound skills that some students were struggling with. At the end of this rotation the students’ knowledge was tested by a small, informal assessment requiring them to form letters from memory. As the students mastered one handwriting skill the settings could be changed to be more challenging. This proved to be a great way to differentiate instruction and ensure the activity was developmentally appropriate for every learner. The computer station had a somewhat rocky beginning but in the end proved to be a valuable resource to support handwriting. We began the study having the students create straight, curved, and slanted lines on a pain program. The media specialist found plenty of letter and sound recognition programs but struggled finding quality programs than reinforced handwriting skills. The students worked on the handwriting tracing program Basic Handwriting for Kids. After a few sessions with this program we began implementing handwriting clips and animations that demonstrated correct letter formation. This exposure reinforced the skills the students were learning in both the iPad and tactile stations.

This study had positive implications in more areas than handwriting. Even though this year’s kindergarten class is more challenging, behaviorally and academically, than in years passed, we found that the centers served as a motivational tool. The students seemed to relax and put forth an extreme amount of effort. Towards the end of the study the students greatly enjoyed the ability to choose their writing station. The students also grew on a social scale, becoming supportive of students in their group. Some students even took on the role as peer tutor, guiding their classmates having trouble at a specific station. Through observations and students free time to write in their journals we can also conclude that our hope of the students developing a love of writing was met.

Although the study was successful, we found areas of weakness in which we needed to enhance and discovered some ineffective handwriting strategies. Initially, an inordinate amount of time was spent on managing the handwriting stations. Modeling the centers and teaching the students to follow directions, how to manipulate the materials, rotate stations, and clean up before rotating proved to be very time consuming. To address this weakness we began having a focus lesson that lasted no longer than 5 minutes per session. In this whole group, mini-lesson the students were given simple yet explicit instructions on how to do each activity at the stations. For example, we noticed that students wanted to play with the play-doh inappropriately. We had a focus lessons were used to teach how to roll out the play-doh and place it onto mats. The students were told specifically to roll the dough out like a snake and break it off to fit inside alphabet letters. Another focus lesson taught students how to correctly put on headphones, choose the right app, and get back to that app if they accidentally got off in the iPad center. We continued the focus lessons until the students had been instructed on every strategy that was implemented. After several sessions the students became proficient at the centers and the focus lessons were phased out, allowing more time for the students to work on learning stations while at the same time allowing more time for the teachers to target struggling students and keep the class engaged. Another issue that had to be addressed was the computer station. Our original plan was to get the students started on the instructional activity and travel around the room to help with other stations. The students were not as adept at using the computer as hand-held devices. They kept exiting out of the website and needed help getting back. Also, the mouse was harder for the students to manipulate than expected. The media specialist spent the majority of her time focused on the students working on the computer.

I have learned many things through this study. I found new ways to help with pencil grip, was reminded that when forming letters students need to start at the top of the line and I discovered songs to sing that will reinforce that students need to start at the top of the line. I also learned that kindergarten students are capable of improving letter formation and staying in the lines. I entered this research project with the mindset that my kindergartners were too young to have formal handwriting instruction that required them to write on lines. The results of our research have proven me wrong. Not only were my students capable of writing on lines but they are now doing it successfully. Because of our success with differentiation in the handwriting centers I am also differentiating math stations and reading stations as well. I have changed the way I teach because our handwriting instruction model had such a positive impact on my students. In the future I will begin the school year by introducing these centers as their first learning centers.

Here's a copy of our fall newsletter that was sent out earlier this year.