Which manuscript letters do primary grade children write legibly?

Abstract

The authors examined the manuscript letter writing skills of 300 students in Grades 1-3. The participating children were asked to write the lowercase manuscript alphabet from memory. A relatively small number of letters (4-8) accounted for slightly more than half of all illegibilities at each grade level. Three letter characteristics (i.e., all parts, correction formation, and no rotations or reversals), grade, and alphabet fluency each made a significant contribution to the prediction of letter legibility after the effects of the other predictors were controlled. Letter legibility in turn made a significant contribution to the prediction of text legibility after all other predictors were controlled. Implications for instruction and evaluation are discussed.

The Effect of Two Handwriting Approaches, D’Nealian and Sunform, on Kindergartners’ Letter Formations

“…This finding is consistent with previous research that letters vary in their difficulty (Graham, et al, 2001). No other study has evaluated kindergartners" letter formations.…”

“…In order to evaluate a letter"s legibility, the assessor should make sure all parts of the letter are present, judge if any letter parts are rotated or reversed, and evaluate that each part is correctly formed (Graham, Weintraub, & Berninger, 2001). Starting in the correct place and moving in the correct direction are two important criteria for letter formation (Nelson & Trafford, 2007).…”

“…A trained and qualified tester provided a lined sheet of paper for each child and asked the child to write the lower case alphabet in the aforementioned order based on motor plan, not traditional alphabetical order. All children were asked to write the letters from memory as recommended by Graham, Weintraub, and Berninger (2001) for ecological validity. When finished with each letter the tester marked any errors such as incorrect starting place or writing in the wrong direction (i.e.…”

Ideation, Representation, Handwriting Realization

“…The survey confirmed that teachers usually dedicate 30 min every day to teaching handwriting. The rest of the hour, typically about 30 minutes, they dedicate to teaching a variety of writing strategies and techniques [13]. On the other hand, teachers declared that they spend less time using computers in order to develop writing (they said they use computers less than 60% of the time each month).…”

“…Analysis of handwriting performance in young writers shows that girls perform better than boys [12]. In a study conducted by Weintraub, Graham and Berninger [13], sex was the third indicator of regression after finger function and visual motor integration skills in fifth-grade children. Working on handwriting could mean focusing attention on a single subject, especially if we work with boys.…”