The very basics of legible penmanship are divided into five categories:
1. Letters sit on the baseline.
2. Tall letters are formed from the top line to the baseline: b, d, f, h, l, t, k
3. Tail letters have a tail that goes below the baseline: g, j, p, q, y
4. Small letters fit from the mid-line to the baseline: a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z
5. Letters in a word almost touch.

Give plenty of time for students to become aware of these expectations. Frequent modeling is very important in teaching the expectations. Using writing resources with a mid-line helps many students estimate the size of small letters. Some dry-erase boards and teaching easel paper pads come pre-printed with a mid-line. I have observed some teachers who leave out letters on purpose with sight words or spelling words for students to come up and fill in during teaching or review demonstrations.

To isolate the skill of printing, penmanship olympics can be done with spelling or sight words spelled aloud by the teacher. Each expectation is worth two points. Each word can be worth up to ten points if it contains all three types of letters. For example the sight word “the” has two types of letters (eight points total). If all three letters sit on the baseline, two points. If two sit, one point. If the “t” is too far from the “he”, one point. You will need to determine, based on the grade level of students and background they have in printing instruction and time to practice formations, how subjective you award points. If students have no trouble counting up to one hundred, seventy to eighty is a pick from bronze; eighty one to ninety is a pick from silver, and ninety-one to one hundred is a pick from gold. Be flexible and have fun with the activity!

Here are the six steps:
1. Cross the laces to make an “X”.
2. Put one lace under the bottom of the “X”.
3. Pull the two laces which makes the “X” disappear.
4. Fold each lace in half. You will have two bunny loops. Pinch them close to the bottom.
5. Cross the two bunny loops and pinch the place they cross with one hand. You should be able to see a new “X” that is formed.
6. Put one bunny loop under the “X” and pull both loops to make the “X” disappear.

I have observed a kindergarten teacher who routinely has her students take clipboards, paper and markers after a circle time discussion and find a place in the room to lay on their tummies to draw and write. It’s consistently a quiet and focused atmosphere during that tummy time.
A third grade teacher has discovered that allowing flexibility for some students in her class, who are known to have difficulty focusing, instead of writing at their desks are able to lay on the floor on their stomachs with clipboards. The amount of work accomplished is amazing.

Engaging in an activity while on the stomach with the elbows aligned under the shoulders supporting the upper body promotes attention, calming and core muscles. This position has students working against gravity which can have a calming effect. The back muscles and the shoulders are getting a workout which helps in flexibility of the spine and promotes good posture. The distractions presented when sitting at a desk are decreased. The endurace for this position may vary among students. Poor muscle tone and strength may be observed if you see heads down or support provided more on forearms and elbows not below the shoulders after a few minutes. It may be a good idea to try an enjoyable activity such as coloring for tummy time to promote good engagement. The following activities may be considered for tummy time. If you routinely observe some students having difficulty in this position, seek the consult of an occupational therapist.

Tummy Golf
Have students in pairs or in a large enough circle being at least four feet away from each other’s faces when laying on their stomachs. Use a foam or light weight ball about the size of a softball. As a “golf club”, use paper towel tubes or plastic paddles. For the hole, use a plastic 6 inch ring from a ring toss game, or something the ball can easily roll into, and place it in the middle or between students. Students hold their tubes or paddles with both hands and gently push/putt the ball into the ring. This game increases the challenge to keep the upper body extended when both hands are holding the “golf club”. If four feet is too easy, lengthen the distance between students if you have the room.

More Tummy Time Ideas
*Building a puzzle
*Popping bubble pack
*Using Lite Brite
*Playing Connect 4
*Reading a book
*Using Tricky Fingers
*Building with small blocks

Creating multi-sensory novel experiences in the process of learning letters can stimulate more brain areas for recall. When students can do more than draw lines on a worksheet to match letters or color the picture that begins with a letter, they can increase opportunities for success.

Here are some ideas I’ve tried with students who are stronger “hands on” learners. It may be more practical to do these activities in small groups:

*Use small cubes or blocks in which some have letters and others have an animal or bug. For example, to learn the letter “L”, I placed L stickers from the craft store on five blocks and ladybug stickers on another five blocks. Building a tower with a pattern of L’s and ladybugs can be a novel way to learn. Add a challenge by using tongs to pick up the cubes! (See photo)

*Use dominoes and heavy card stock with half inch lines drawn in a sequential placement that represents the letter. The student holds the end of each domino and carefully places it on a line in a pattern that forms the letter. The fun part is knocking them down and trying again.

*Hide letter beads from the craft store in clay or playdough. Students can match their “buried treasure” beads to labed cups.

*If your school has a die cut machine, letters can be cut on heavy card stock. Then, hole punch the letters and let students sew them like sewing cards.

*Take wood or foam letters matched to small objects whose name begins with that letter, for example a wood letter “T” and a small toy turtle, a tiger and a train. Show the student the letter and the objects, then hide one in some way (behind your back) and present the letters and objects again, asking the student to remember what’s missing.

• Consider using creative drama for older students-this strategy can be integrated into curriculum which provides movement through understanding literacy, current events; remember kinesthetic learners like to move and can show their knowledge by pantomime, skit, or charade

• Chair push-ups: sit and hold on to sides of chair, push down on hands and try to lift hips off chair-can students do as many repetitions as their age?

• Popcorn in a chair-have students sit with hands on sides of chair, demonstrate slow bounce and gradually fast bounce on chair pretending to be a kernel of popcorn heating up and popping-then slow down and stop-ready to learn after a quick movement break

• Animal walks: crab walk, bear walk, lizard walk (army crawl)

• Seat walking on floor forwards and backwards-can students move from desk or table to circle area by seat walking?

• Create a stress basket filled with acceptable quiet fidgets-you may need to remind students that eyes and ears are on you

• Moveable seating such as sit-n-move cushion, camping cushion, partially inflated beach ball, ball chair with stabilizer dish

• Have a rocking chair in the room

• Create workstations that allow students alternative positions to do work: stand, kneel, lying on floor or carpet

• Plan to send students who need lots of movement on errands, possibly with a reliable buddy

• Locate supplies or resources within the classroom so student may need to get up and move when needing these items

• Incorporate voting (agree/disagree) with movement: standing, stomp feet, clap hands, etc.

• Create foot fidgets with bungee cords or thera-tubing on the legs of desks

• Animal toss-use beanie baby to throw from teacher to student, whoever catches much answer or participate (can also use a koosh ball)

• Practice muscle tensing and relaxing isolated parts of body

• Do a stretch break

• Musical movement CDs for a quick whole class move to the music break

POSTURE TIPS
*Classroom furniture should allow students to have feet flat on the floor
*During writing tasks, encourage students to sit with straight backs, feet flat. Check to see your students have a 90 degree angle at hips and knees. Desk height should be 2 inches above resting student elbow position. If you notice “chicken elbows” the desk is too high and this may impact printing quality

FUNCTIONAL GRASP TIPS
*Students in early grades can use short crayon pieces. This encourages a good pinch grasp between the thumb, index and middle finger.
*Students can use a paperclip, tissue wad or cotton ball to hold against the palm with the ring and pinky fingers, leaving the other three available for proper placement

PENMANSHIP TIPS
*Games such as Simon Says and Hokey Pokey encourages understanding of right/left sides of the body which impacts good formation of letters
*Vertical and horizontal mazes help top-to-bottom and left-to-right concepts
*Build in hand warm up exercises before any writing activity such as finger tug of war using a popsicle stick or rubber tubing, tight fists with alternating shake out of the hands, and Itsy Bitsy Spider finger play

Early Intervention Services and Supports
Services can promote a variety of experiences that can benefit all students, not just those with disabilities, and which may assist in early identification and prevention of difficulties.
Some topics may include:
* Proper pencil grasp
* Handwriting techniques and strategies
* Organization of desk materials for easy accessibilitiy
* Adapting activities for all learners
* Healthy lifestyle choices
* Proper seat positioning
* Social skills/problem solving/coping skills

Assistance with Classroom Modifications
Services to adapt environments and materials for maximum student achievement may include:
* Helping teachers organize their classrooms for optimal student participation
* Designing classroom environments that promote attention and decrease sensory distractions
* Arranging student computer workstations according to ergonomic principles
* Assisting administrators in purchasing of appropriate student furniture
* Designing a playground that will facilitate participation and promote a variety of movement and sensory experiences
* Adapting areas of the school such as the cafeteria and rest rooms to increase independence in self-help skills
* Assisting teachers in choosing age-appropriate materials and adapting them to increase accessibility
* Providing suggestions for appropriate instructional and testing accomodations

Consultation
Services to the educational team to prevent difficulties or assist in creating, modifying and maintaining a student’s skills through collaboration may include:
* Establishing a behavior modification program
* Identify age-appropriate activities to improve student learning and behavior
* Assist teachers to establish routines and class schedules that fit students’ needs
* Identify effective prompts and cues to reduce inappropriate behaviors
* Suggest effective handwriting programs and techniques
* Educate school staff about the effects of disabilty on learning
* Assist in creating transition plans
* Educate teams on assitive technology

To summarize, school-based occupational therapy promotes student skills for the job of learning. As I like to promote my unique style of services, it’s taking a child from frustration to fun!!!

Occupational Therapy in School

Learning Through Play

Handwriting Support

Kids and Computing

Support for Developmental Problems

Support for Psychosocial Issues

Supporting Students with ADHD

Supporting Students with Autism

Graphic organizers can be used to help students with ideas on a topic. There is a free site from Houghton Mifflin containing printable organizers that are in English and Spanish. A popular purchased software called Kidspiration uses a talking library of pictures and graphics for students to design their own organizer. A free 30 day trial version can be downloaded from the site.

An excellent resource for teachers is the website Read, Write, Think. Their Essay Map is interactive and printable. The web resources section contains a wealth of linked sites for language arts and reading. I have a student who really likes dogs. To help him be more motivated in making sentences, I’ve used this site and found a story starter with a picture of a dog doing a trick, a beginning sentence and lines for his own writing.

Sometimes no matter what is tried, a student may not develop a skill for writing but be more successful with pictures. Picture It is software that is similar to Kidspiration but in a word processing format using pictures to tell a story. This website has a demonstration of picture sentences. It is designed for students with significant skill delays in writing.

There are many more devices, software and interactive free sites that address language arts but this is a start. If you need more information, please contact me and I’m happy to help.

I was recently introduced to websites that have varying reading levels. They are worth exploring with your students. This process is a bit like detective work. You never know what will turn the key in a child’s mind that fits their learning needs and gets them excited to keep trying.
This list is meant as a springboard to go look and come back to search the others. Future articles will contain more lists that address writing and math. Happy surfing!!

1. Windows to the Universe

2. StarChild

3. Ben’s Guide to US Government

4. The Brain