How to Teach Handwriting with Limited Time
How to teach handwriting with limited time
As an elementary teacher, I understand how jam packed your day is. With 4-6 different subject areas to prep, it can get overwhelming fitting everything in. Especially after the past few years and how behind many of our students are. Teachers put a lot of pressure on themselves to be everything for our students and to teach them all the missing gaps so they’re ready for the next year. Many teachers have asked me how to teach handwriting with limited time. It’s a great question and one I’m going to tackle in this blog post because I’m able to teach handwriting every day to my first-grade students. If I can do it, so can you.
Handwriting is a crucial skill for elementary students
With so much technology in our student’s hands daily, you might be wondering if handwriting practice serves a purpose anymore. No matter how much technology our students use daily, I’m here to tell you that handwriting is just as important today as it was 50 years ago. In the primary grades, students are practicing fine motor skills when they learn how to hold a pencil and form their letters correctly. This also helps them tie their shoes, zip zippers and button buttons. All skills we want our students to be able to do independently once they reach a certain age. I’ve taught kindergarten and first-grade so I know that all students start school at different levels. If we downplay the importance of fine motor skills, we harm our students later on when these skills are more difficult to acquire the older we get.
So, how do we find the time to practice handwriting when our school day is jam packed? I’m going to share with you how I’m able to fit handwriting in each day and hopefully inspire you to do the same.
Include handwriting a part of Daily 5 or reading stations
Make handwriting a part of Daily 5 or reading stations
I use the Daily 5 to teach reading stations. I talk about this more in this blog post. I love the Daily 5 because I’m able to get to all of my reading groups each day while my other students are independently working on a task. My students have a new letter each day to work on. I show them how to correctly form the letter during morning meeting and remind them where the worksheet will be located during Daily 5. You can have this be their Work On Writing station or Word Work station. I personally have it as a part of Word Work and once they are finished they may get a choice of their choosing from the word work area. If they don’t get their handwriting practice done during that rotation, then they must finish it during free time right after lunch. This motivates them to get their work done and to do it correctly, because if it’s sloppy, it’s an automatic redo during free time as well.
Provide plenty of opportunities to practice handwriting independently
Provide plenty of opportunities for independent practice
One of the goals of literacy time is for students to become independent so you can teach reading groups. Showing your students how each letter is formed before they have independent practice is so important. Show students what is expected so you aren’t interrupted during reading stations. Many worksheets can be turned into laminated copies so you can use them again and again! Another idea is to have handwriting be a station during writing time. No matter when you do it, handwriting can be practiced daily!
Explicitly practice handwriting to make it natural
Explicitly practice handwriting so kids find it natural
It’s true that we get good at what we practice. Handwriting will always be hard for students if they’re not explicitly practicing their fine motor skills. As a teacher, I’ve had kids coming into school with varying levels of fine motor skills. Making handwriting a part of Daily 5 is the perfect way to practice with intention and to strengthen our student’s fine motor skills.
Encourage proper handwriting by making it fun
Encourage proper handwriting by finding ways to make it fun
Animal sentences are a great way to make handwriting fun! Students will get to learn a few animal facts a day while practicing handwriting. They can also color in the clip art when they are finished. I love having students trace first and then must practice handwriting on their own. I promise if you act like handwriting is fun, most of your students will think it’s fun too!
If you’re looking to transform your literacy block to grow more independent learners and finally get to all your reading groups on a daily basis, grab my FREE 10 step guide to walk you through the first 10 steps to transform your classroom.