“His writing is terrible!”

All too often the phrase “the writing is just so messy” is uttered. But what does it really mean? Are we talking about penmanship? Cursive writing or printing? The ability to write quickly while remaining neat? The ability to write on a whiteboard? And if we go about “correcting” it, what approach do we take?

For those of us tasked with the formidable responsibility of “correcting” the way a person expresses their writing, I have to say, it is hard to know where to start. For me, it is all about going back to the roots.

I spent some time, a few years ago, observing lessons at the Eaton Arrowsmith School. While the jury may be out for some on the power of Neuroplasticity, I have to say that I was intrigued. Students sat at computers and work stations completing drills with almost mathematical precision. Clock dials, squiggly lines, (why is there a patch on these children’s eyes?), repetitive work. It all seemed very foreign and daunting. But the underlying principle is the same: rewire the brain = do a task. Over and over and over. Anyone who has spent five minutes on Lumosity knows exactly what I am talking about.

It was with these images in mind that I tackled a recent request from a parent to help with her son’s printing. Rather than approach the task with basic printing worksheets and cursive writing traceable handouts, I decided to use the principle of Neuroplasticity to get back to the root of the problem: fine motor coordination.

The steps are simple:

1. Start with a challenge. Ask your student to complete two worksheets. The first asks the student to copy the images onto a dot grid, the second onto a 1 square inch grid. They may find that one is easier than the other. For example, my student struggled with the 1inch grid. When I asked him why, he told me that it was a lot easier to count the dots than the squares. This told me something significant: he struggled with hand-eye coordination.

I asked the student what would have made each worksheet easier. He suggested things like practicing, filling in the squares and so forth. It is really important to ask this question, because we are coming back to it in a minute.

2. Turn it into a game. I asked the student if he wanted to play a game on my iPad while I got the next part of the lesson ready. (I was, truthfully, ready but I find that saying this gives the kids a feeling of having a “break”). The game is a language learning tool, but mimics the drills from EatonArrowsmith (something I only realized in hindsight!). The App is called Arsaniil and teaches students the langauge spoken in Nanuvut: Inuktitut. For those without technology, an Inuktitut language handout will work well.  Similar languages are Russian and Arabic, both of which have natural flow and loops as well.

Once the student completes the game or plays for about 5 minutes, ask them what they liked about the letters. Ask them if it would be hard to learn that language. What does the letters they have just been studying have in common with English letters and words?

3. Reinforce the skills. Go back to the question “what would have made this easier.” Explain that you are going to give your student the “cheat sheet” to the symmetry game you first played, but that he/she is going to have to pass some basic training. There are some great worksheets if you google Fine Motor Skills. The good ones are designed to be worked though over a course of time. Try not to overdo it, even though the task seems easy. I recommend putting these sheets into a plastic binder pocket and using erasable markers.

Ask the student to say the direction out loud as they trace the page. As the student works through each page, be sure to erase tracings that go off the line significantly or seem like they can be more exact. Practice using the necessarily vocabulary with the student, but have them come up with the phrases themselves, using the language on the worksheet as a clue. For example “up to the left on a diagonal”, “curving line up to the right”

4. Let’s play again. Bring back the original worksheet and ask your student to listen to your directions. Provide them with a piece of blank grid paper inside the plastic sleeve. Provide instructions to complete one of the images on the page.

For example: “Start in the middle of the page and move two squares to the right. Now move a diagonal up to the left two squares…”

You are sure to get a good laugh the first time you do this because it is hard! Have your student switch. Now they give the instructions. They will be relieved that your picture is strange too!

Talk about the challenges. What was harder, listening or giving instructions? They will want to play again and again until they are perfect!

Finally, incorporate another app or worksheet. I really like the App Symmetry Exercise for Kids. Once they “copy the drawings” they will be able to play on their own, learning to give directions, as well as follow them.

Weren’t we talking about writing and penmanship? This seems more like math!

One of the beautiful thing about true remedial strategies in the classroom is that they don’t take an obvious form. Essentially what these activities are doing is re-training the brain to think about the connection between shapes and language.

The next steps are to continue using the motor skills worksheet until the students have a strong grasp of the language of the shapes. Next come the cursive writing worksheets. I am using these exercises with middle school students. This is really quite different than teaching letters and writing for the first time.

There are some great reads on the subject of neuroplasticity and brain re-wiring. I highly recommend starting with Medina “Brain Rules” or Diodge. “The Brain that Changes Itself”.

Be sure to post comments about your own suggestions, lessons and exercises for improving printing, penmanship and writing.

Differentiated Intruction (the skinny)

There are many forms of Differentiated Instruction, and even more terms to define it. On one hand it encompasses different learning styles and approaches (ie. the Multiple Intelligences being one of them…), on the other is qualifies the need for alternative approaches for Learning Differences (LD). The spectrum of definitions suggest a learning environment catered to each child, and this is the bottom line.

How, then, does a classroom teacher go about implementing Differentiated Instruction? If you Google this term, the possibilities will range from folders with worksheets that challenge each “level” of learning (ex. Intro, Progressive, Advanced, Mastery). Other models suggest a self-paced learning style; students work at their own pace. Indeed, one site quotes: “Differentiated instruction is effective instruction that is responsive to students’ readiness, interests and learning preferences.” An emphasis on readiness is, I think, what  separates the term “Differentiated Instruction” from Multiple Intelligences. In other words, while MI provides students with multiple entry points, DI provides increasing degrees of difficulty.

Take, for instance, a novel study. Typical novel studies provide students with either a class set (one novel) or small group sets (five or so novels). Students work through the book, chapter by chapter, meeting to discuss key points as a class or in small groups. They complete worksheets designed to draw out key points. A Differentiated approach, conversely, provides texts ranging from graphic novels and picture books to scripts and novels; these books are all related to the same topic, but allow students to choose their comfort level. For example, when teaching a unit on ancient Egypt, I allowed students to choose from some of the following books:

Nonfiction: EyeWitness

Fiction (in order of difficulty):  Penguin Young Reader, “Secrets of the the Jackel”Chrstine Kidney, Cleopatra Royal Diaries, Graphic Novel Red Pyramid, novel “Red Pyramid by rick Riordan.

                

One of the purposes of providing such a wide range of choice was to avoid singling out advanced or lower readers. Students with LD, such as dyslexia, chose books that were in their comfort range. One thing I discovered, which surprised me, was that a student with dyslexia struggled with the graphic novel. Previously, I had provided students with only these two choices: graphic novel and regular novel. However, the students with LD’s said that the font was too small. So while the pictures were great, the story was impossible to follow.

Another method of Differentiation is to provide varying degrees of difficulty on a worksheet.  In this example, students are provided with one of three spelling words worksheets. The first asks students to fill in two columns, the second provides fill in the blank, and the third provides all the necessary information, with the “draw a mnemonic” box left blank.

This type of tiered option is simple to create, because the third sheet is simply the closest thing to the teacher’s answer key. The question is: do these worksheets provide equitable learning opportunities? The goal of Differentiated Learning is to provide steps towards a common goal. While one student may start off with a fill in the blank spelling worksheet, they should be encouraged, and given guidance towards reading autonomous work.

Differentiated Instruction provides scaffolding for students. Perhaps the most important point is that students are given the same task, but given a leg up, in some instances. This picture describes it beautifully:

The bar is equal amongst students, the goals are the same. But how each student get there, the amount of time it may take, is different for each child. Is a child disadvantaged for “standing on a box” to reach the goal. My answer would be “no.” Learning starts first with knowledge and understanding.  This is the first stages of achievement; once these cornerstones are in place, it is only a hop, skip and a jump to the final challenges: to apply, analyze and create. Differentiated instruction is not for students who struggle; like the multiple intelligences, it is an effective tool to keep all students engaged and challenged, to focus on continuous improvement and personal excellence.