Occupational Therapy - Handwriting

Occupational Therapy -> Handwriting -> Letter Formation

Letter Formation

Letter formation refers to the way in which a letter is printed or written. Letters are meant to be formed from top to bottom and left to right. Letters are formed using prewriting strokes such as horizontal and vertical lines, diagonal lines, and curved lines. An individual should be able to form prewriting stokes prior to being taught how to write letters.

Reference links

The Impact of An Occupational Therapy–Based Handwriting Program For a Preschool Student 0
watermark.silverchair.com
Author: Breanna Taylor, Hailey Speight, Margaret McKinney, Elizabeth Carter, Lesly James, Denise Donica - Population: Pre K Results: Improvements in letter formation and posture. Learning the structure of each letter and how to increase fine motor abilities. Implication: A structured, occupational therapy led handwriting program with ongoing collaboration and coaching maximizes student performance Citation: Breanna Taylor, Hailey Speight, Margaret McKinney, Elizabeth Carter, Lesly James, Denise Donica; The Impact of an Occupational Therapy–Based Handwriting Program for a Preschool Student. Am J Occup Ther August 2020, Vol. 74(4_Supplement_1), 7411515453p1. doi: https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S1-PO9130
Handwriting: A Matter of Affairs 2
files.eric.ed.gov
Author: Iman M. M. Muwafaq Al-Ghabra, English Department, College of Education For Women, Baghdad University, Baghdad - Mangen and Velay (2010) state that in handwriting, visual attention strongly focuses on the movement of the hand, while in typing, the visual attention scatters between hitting the keyboard and watching the screen. Thus, tracing letters is important for children to improve their writing because they can focus only on drawing letters. Hence, handwriting is better for students than typing to gain more information; Alleyene confirms this (2011). In his article, Alleyne states that handwriting lets the information stick in the brain rather than typing; writing the piece of information is like imprinting it in the brain. In addition, FYI Health Writer (2011) states that since handwriting requires using motor skills which take some time to copy letters, this process helps children to develop their learning and cognition.
Handwriting Development, Competency, and Intervention 0
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Author: Feder, & Majnemer - Handwriting difficulties may be the result of intrinsic factors such as poor component skills, extrinsic considerations such as academic environment and biomechanics. Developmental Stages of Handwriting: Scribbling Imitating vertical strokes (age 2y) Imitating horizontal strokes (age 2y 6mo) Imitating circles (age 3y). Imitating and copying a cross (age 4y) Copying square (5) Copying triangle (5y 6mo) Quality Development: Quickly (grade 1 6–7y) and plateau (grade 2 7–8y). Automatic, organized, tool for idea development (grade 3 8-9y) Speed of writing is somewhat linear Handwriting measures: Letter formation, spacing, size, slant, and/or alignment, speed, Citation: Feder, & Majnemer, A. (2007). Handwriting development, competency, and intervention. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49(4), 312–317. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00312.x
The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting For Learning In the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults 1
www.frontiersin.org
Author: Eva Ose Askvik, F. R. (Ruud) Van Der Weel and Audrey L. H. Van Der Meer* - In a recent EEG study, Van der Meer and Van der Weel (2017) found that drawing by hand activated larger networks in the brain compared to typewriting and concluded that the involvement of fine hand movements in note-taking, as opposed to simply pressing a key on a keyboard, may be more beneficial for learning, especially when encoding new information.

Activity List(s)

Visual Schedule Cards

Goal Bank

Chauncey will identify 8/10 upper case letters with minimal prompting as seen in 4 consecutive therapy sessions as a foundational skill for handwriting. 2
Given near point model and moderate tactile prompts, Reginald will legibly copy her first name 4 out of 4 trials as measured by work samples and data collection to promote academic success. 2
Given adaptive paper, Arnoldo will write her first name with 6/7 legible letter formations with letter within 1/8" from writing line on 3 out of 4 attempts as measured by work samples and data collection to improve handwriting and fine motor skills in 4 consecutive therapy sessions. 3
Annika will write 3 phonemes with minimal assistance with at least 90% accuracy for line placement, sizing, and spacing over a 3 week therapy period. 2

Resources

Top 20 (View all)

Find the Star Worthy Letters- Lower Case

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resources. Fine Motor Resources. Pre-writing Resource. Visual discrimination. Visual Processing Resources. Occupational Therapy Resources. OT. Directions: circle the letter(s) in each r...

1
Letter Box Matching - Earth Day

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Letter Recognition Worksheet. Visual Processing Resources. Occupational Therapy Resources. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the ...

2
Thankful Handwriting Activity

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Letter formation Worksheet. Fine Motor Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT. Use this thankful acrostic poem with 1/2" writing lines to practice handwriting skills.

2
Two Lined Handwriting Paper

Laura Lawson, OTR/L

Reduce visual distractions by using only two lines - baseline and middle line.

4
Story Dice For Language Building and Writing Prompts, Wh- Question Dice

Jessica Lenden-Holt

Story dice are a fun way to elicit speech, language and writing samples and to target goals in therapy or in centers! Dice include engaging images for writing prompts and conversational starters. T...

6
Scavenger Hunt

Krystan Inman

A scavenger hunt is fun and can be rewarding. It can boost in self-confidence and offer a sense of accomplishment our children often need. It can build self-esteem and encourage children to mingle ...

1
Halloween Handwriting

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Letter Formation resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT. This worksheet features 1" writing lines for handwriting practice.
Includes activity list

3
Letter Box Matching - Summer

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Letter Formation Resource. Visual Perception Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the corre...
Includes activity list

2
Half Inch Writing Lines

Glenna Nave

Writing Resource. Fine Motor Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. Half inch wide writing lines.

1
Film Movie Review Writing Prompts and Discussion

Jessica Lenden-Holt CCC-SLP

Film Review Template Includes: Title, Genre, Actors, Setting, Star Rating, Review with lined spaced, Opinion Column (favorite character, quote, costume, scene, "What I didn't like", What I would ch...

3
Camping: Handwriting

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Worksheet. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT Resource. Have students select 6 of the items pictured that they would take on a camping trip and write them in the blanks.
Includes activity list

2
Letter Box Matching - Pets

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Letter recognition Resources. Visual Processing Resources. Occupational Therapy Resources. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the word to the correct letter...
Includes activity list

3
Letter Box Matching - Easter

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Visual Perception Worksheet. Occupational Therapy Resource. OT. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the correct size letter boxes o...

2
SMHP Letter Size Worksheets

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Worksheet. Letter Formation Worksheet. Fine Motor resource. Occupational Therapy Resources. OT. Activity printables to work on identifying letter size of lower case letters a-z and oppo...

1
Homerun Handwriting

Glenna Nave

Writing Resource. Fine Motor Resource. Game Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. This is a blank game board where you can add letters or words the child is working on into the blanks. The child...

1
Movie Film Review Writing Prompt

Jessica Lenden-Holt MA CCC-SLP

PDF format. Includes: Name, Date, Movie Title, Star Ranking, Writing Prompt (Write a one paragraph review for the last movie you saw), Lined spacing for paragraph

3
Movie Film Review Template

Jessica Lenden-Holt MA CCC-SLP

One page, PDF. Includes: Title, Genre, Rate the Movie, What is your favorite scene in the movie, draw your favorite character and describe him or her in 1-2 sentences

3
Thanksgiving Game Board

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Board Game Resource. Fine Motor Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. A Thanksgiving theme board game to improve motivation for handwriting practice.
Includes activity list

1
Letter Box Matching - Farm Animals

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resources. Fine Motor Worksheet. Visual processing Resources. Occupational Therapy Resources. Following the Size Matters Handwriting Program, match the words on the right to the correct...

2
Halloween Handwriting - Title Case

Glenna Nave

Handwriting Resource. Fine Motor resource. Letter Formation Resource. Occupational Therapy Resource. This worksheet features 1" writing lines.
Includes activity list

4