Handwriting can be an effective way for students to learn important early reading and writing skills. Research demonstrates that handwriting instruction during kindergarten can improve both writing and reading outcomes. In spite of these ties, handwriting rarely is mentioned in the national conversation on how to improve the reading performance of elementary students.
There are several likely reasons why handwriting is an often-forgotten aspect of reading instruction. First, the academic standards used by most states quickly pivot from handwriting to typing. Despite rapid advances in computer technology, handwriting with a pencil and paper is likely here to stay.
Second, it can be easy to confuse handwriting as more closely associated with drawing than reading because of the reliance on physical and visual actions and coordination. What distinguishes drawing from handwriting is knowledge of the alphabet—specifically, the ability to name letters, produce their sounds, and form letters with the correct shape, size, and slant. This knowledge needed for proficient handwriting also contributes to proficient reading. For example, when students read or write the letter “b,” they draw upon their memorized representation of the letter shape, formation, and name or sound of “b.”
The interplay between working and long-term memory plays a central role in explaining the benefits of handwriting to overall literacy development. Working memory allows for the temporary storage of information for immediate use, whereas long-term memory stores information relatively permanently. Engaging in writing and reading are cognitively demanding tasks. The numerous skills involved in writing and reading (e.g., decoding and interpreting vocabulary) all compete for a limited amount of working memory resources. Put simply, it is hard to juggle all the skills, content, and processes involved in reading and writing at the same time.
One of the ways to make it easier for students to read and write is to develop fluency—accuracy and efficiency—with foundational skills. When skills are fluent, they are stored in long-term memory, thereby freeing up cognitive resources to attend to other aspects of a composition or passage. The shifting of letter knowledge (e.g., letter identification and formation) from working memory to long-term memory is likely one of the key reasons handwriting instruction improves reading. Specifically, handwriting helps facilitate the storage of alphabetic knowledge—shape, formation, name, and sound of letters—that can also be used to learn how to read.
Given the importance of handwriting on writing and early reading development, what can teachers and educators do to support their students’ handwriting.
Schedule dedicated time for handwriting instruction. When teaching letter identification, also teach students how to form letters using appropriate shape, size, and slant. In addition, try incorporating the techniques described below:
- Show visual cues of letter shape and formation. For example, use instructional materials in which letters appear as dotted lines to be connected, along with arrows and numbers showing suggested shape and sequence, as shown here.
- Give students opportunities to retrieve letters from memory. For example, use activities such as “cover-copy-compare,” in which students look at a letter, say the letter aloud, cover it, write it on their own, and then uncover the original letter and compare it to what they wrote.
- Use systematic and explicit instruction techniques. For example, model correct letter identification and formation, guide students through practice opportunities, and test for student independence.
Incorporating these elements of research-based handwriting instruction, the Iowa Reading Research Center (IRRC) created an online tool called LIFTER (Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading). The tool allows educators to create customizable handwriting materials that align to their reading instruction. It includes videos showing legible letter shape and formation, practice activities in which students gradually recall more letters from memory, and instructional scripts available in English and Spanish. The center’s handwriting resources have expanded to include cursive as well through the release of CLIFTER (Cursive Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading).
Handwriting is an often forgotten and misunderstood element of early literacy. The IRRC’s LIFTER and CLIFTER tools aim to demystify the instruction of handwriting. When incorporated into reading instruction, these tools help reinforce the foundational skills that underlie reading.
For more information, visit: irrc.education.uiowa.edu/lifter.