To Write Right: The Role of Handwriting Instruction Plays in the

Composition Skills of Young Writers

“You may not be able to read a doctor's handwriting and prescription, but you'll
notice his bills are neatly typewritten.”
-Earl Wilson, journalist and author

“Read this!” Bella stated with pride as she waved a page in my face following our
morning writing time.  Collections of scratchy writing lie beneath a colorfully detailed
drawing.  I drew upon my knowledge of Bella’s home life as well as what I could
interpret in her picture to help me decipher her writing.  Four bodiless people with broad
smiles (those had to be Bella’s mother, father, big sister and herself) stood beside a
mass of blue squiggles (she had told me that morning that she had gone to the beach
over the weekend) with a brown oval positioned below them (her dog, Scratch).  “I see
the... beach.  My dog is...”  I paused, straining to read the final word as Bella looked at
me with a confused look as if to say “Don’t you know how to read, Mr. Deshais?”
Losing patience for my lack of reading skill Bella blurted out, “Funny!  My dog is funny,
Mr. Deshais.  Scratch likes to dig holes for no reason.”  “Oh, of course that’s what it
says!” I stated with mock realization.  I gave Bella back her paper and commend her on
a job well done.
I wish I could say that Bella’s experience with producing illegible text is unique,
but I cannot.  Ever year I have a good number of students that struggle with mastering
the fine motor skills necessary to keep pace with their want to communicate clearly
through writing.  As such I begin every year with the lofty goal of giving my students the
support needed for them all to produce beautiful handwriting when they leave my
classroom the following spring.  Unfortunately I find myself in the same predicament
every November when the first trimester comes to a close; I have spent too much time
on handwriting instruction and not enough on the content instruction needed to get them
to grade level.  So I virtually abandon (or at least greatly reduce) explicit handwriting
instruction in favor of developing ideas, implementing temporary spelling with
confidence and recognizing complete sentences.  Despite the fact that I repeat the
pattern year after year, I was uncomfortable with this pendulum-like approach and knew
there must be a better way.  It was with this question in mind that led me to ask: Can I
successfully teach handwriting instruction without compromising early writing skills?
I vividly recall a conversation I had my first year of teaching.  I had turned to a
professional mentor of mine (and a 30 year veteran of teaching) to ask what she does
about handwriting in her own classroom.  “The standards have changed a lot over the
years.  We have to move pretty quickly to get these kids ready for first grade”  she told
me one afternoon.  “The ones who struggle the most with handwriting are generally the
ones who struggle to make grade level at the end of the year in writing.  I chose to put
my energy into the skill of writing and hope that their fine motor will catch up with
practice.”  Her logic seemed sound- teach the higher-level skill (composition) and the
lower level skill (handwriting) will catch up in time.  Her view on this matter was not new
to me; I had heard something similar several times before.  I put the matter to rest as
best I could and followed the path endorsed by those more experienced than me.  But I
felt there had to be something I could do help more of my students communicate their
written thoughts clearly.  The answer, or least the first step to the answer, came
attached to an email this last school year.
My site principal is an Internet resource junkie.  Each week she includes multiple
education-related links in our staff newsletter.  Subjects include reading, writing and
math as well as the arts, physical education and holidays.  If she thinks a website will be
even remotely valuable to even one person on staff she will pass it on.  Unfortunately,
due to the sheer number of links forwarded each week it is easy to let many slip past
without notice.  But one day last spring something caught my notice.  With the title,
“Want to Improve Student Writing?  Don’t Neglect their Handwriting.”  I knew I needed
to make the time to follow the hyperlink.  Steve Graham’s assertion was simple: if
students struggle with handwriting they are using precious mental resources that could
be spent on composing.  Despite how obvious this view was upon reading it I realized
that I had never heard it stated before.  I read on with interest and discovered that not
only did Mr. Graham back his thesis up with multiple studies from various sources
conducted over a number of years, he also provided teaching suggestions and a
handwriting program available free online.
 I practically rushed into the staff the room the next morning before school began,
excited to discuss this ground breaking article with my colleagues.  I was disheartened
to discover that only one other teacher had even taken the time to follow the link.  I
proceeded to give a summary of Mr. Graham’s work to a handful of teachers as they
sipped morning coffee and pursued the contents of their mail boxes.  “Oh, I thought
about looking at it” said a one listener with lukewarm interest.  “Who has the time to
read all of those links,” flatly stated another.  Mrs. G., who had actually read some of the
article added, “It’s a great idea, but do we really have the time to fit yet another thing in
our day?”  I felt a sense of deflating acceptance settle on me.  Maybe Mrs. G was right.
My daily schedule was already full and the thought of squeezing in one more lesson
was an overwhelming thought.  Also, I had already tried to implement an explicit
handwriting program with little success?  I tossed the article onto one of the many soon-
to-be-recycled piles on my desk and got back to the task at hand: preparing for the next
lesson.
It wasn’t until May rapidly gave way to June and summer loomed in the near
distance that I gave thought to the article again.  The Redwood Writing Project’s
Summer Institute was almost at hand and I needed to lend more thought to a subject for
my inquiry and workshop.  There it was, like a long forgotten treasure that was only ever
valuable to it’s owner- Mr. Graham’s handwriting article.  I reread the article with
renewed interest in his findings and supporting evidence.  I decided that I too needed to
look into this subject on my own.  
Thanks to the National Writing Project website, Google Scholar and access to
the Humboldt State University library I was soon awash in articles.  I found an entire
book devoted to the history of handwriting in this country which included images of
devices attached to a writers hand to ensure proper form (Thornton 1996).  I discovered
an article showing that fine motor skills and cognitive development are strongly linked
(Diamond 2000).  I read a study that showed that when students devote mental
resources to handwriting, they have little energy left for the composition process
(Mandwell and Wary 2007).  Surprisingly, a recent study found that the tried and true
practice of handing a keyboard to a struggling writer is not always the right way to go
(Berninger 2009).  A sign of hope came from two articles chronically the success
handwriting intervention can have (Case-Smith 2002; Keller 2001).  Finally I learned
that difficulty with transcription can follow some into adulthood, requiring assistance
even in the college setting (Engstrom 2005).  This led me to do less formal research
(namely through Internet searches) on hand writing recognition software for tablet
computers and various voice-to-text programs now quite affordable.
After consuming so much valuable information on the current state handwriting
research I feel prepared to take another look at my writing program.  This coming year I
plan to closely examine my classroom practices relating to handwriting instruction.
Sure, I may not be able to create time in the day or “fit yet another thing” into my already
busy schedule, I do feel confident that I can change how I am doing something.
Furthermore, I now feel confident I can defend my decision to include more handwriting
instruction as part of my writing program, as well as other subjects.  I believe strongly
that I can weave handwriting and general fine-motor instruction into multiple subjects
throughout the school year to help support my students.  After all, I owe it to my
students like Bella to have their writing to be heard.

Works Cited (incomplete citations)

Berninger, V., et al (2009) Comparison of Pen and Keyboard Transcription Modes in

Case-Smith, J. (2002) Effectiveness of School-Based Occupational Therapy.  

Diamond, A. (2000) Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognative

Engstrom, E. (2005) Reading, Writing, and Assistive Technology: An Integrated

Graham, S. (2009) Want to Improve Children’s Writing? Don’t Neglect Their

Graham, S. and Harris, K. (2000) The Role of Self-regulation and Transcription Skills in
Writing and Writing Development.

Keller, M. (2001) Handwriting club: Using Sensory Integration Strategies to Improve

Thornton, T. (1996) Handwriting in America: A Cultural History. Yale University Press