[senco-forum] Handwriting

Re Handwriting : extra time and assessments: 

        PATOSS website has handwriting speed assessment http://www.patoss-dyslexia.org/Handwriting_speedtest.html

        I have recently heard of a newly product:  DASH:  Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting, Anna Barnett, Sheila E Henderson and Beverley Scheib, 2007 Age Range: 9 years to 16 years 11 months  (These authors are from the National Handwriting Association) DASH is ( or will shortly be)  available from http://www.harcourt-uk.com/product.aspx?n=1315&skey=3762 

Re what to do to teach teenage boys handwriting:

I am currently writing a book on handwriting for teachers (due for publication autumn 07) www.teacherspocketbooks.co.uk

In the mean time I can recommend ‘Teaching Handwriting A guide for teachers and Parents’ by Jean Alston and Jane Taylor QEd Publications Alston and Taylor’s book offers good sound advice for the teaching of handwriting. 

I recommend using collections of a variety of different student and adult handwriting (including students own) and highlighter pens – Taking the key elements of handwriting ( see Alston and Taylor’s book)  the students mark up the samples ie if you are looking at ‘making ascenders and descenders parallel’: use the highlighter pens to draw over and extend the ascenders and descenders. The aim is to assess how the writing meets, or fails to meet the particular criteria and then transfer that learning to their own writing. Then the students do this with their own writing and re do a piece of writing focusing on improving that one aspect. Just focusing on one aspect at a time makes the task of improving writing easier. It also focuses the mind on exactly what they need to do to improve their own writing.

You might be interested in the National Handwriting Association website http://www.nha-handwriting.org.uk/ 

Kind regards

Julie Bennett

www.key4u.co.uk  

01234 781698

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