Occupational Therapy Approach to Handwriting Without Tears

By: Maia Richardson, OTR/L& Nancy Shepherd, COTA

The role of Occupational Therapy in Schools• Occupational therapy (OT) in the school setting is very different than

in the clinical setting. OT is concerned with a student's ability to perform in 3 areas (1) Self-care (2) Play/leisure (3) Work productivity as they occur in the school environments. Examples include, but are not limited to, donning a coat and zipping it up, accessing the cafeteria line, feeding oneself, participating in classroom games, playground, and gym activities, and legibly writing, using the computer, manipulating classroom materials, and completing an art project. OT can help a student who has difficulty performing in any of these areas by analyzing and breaking down tasks, developing a new way of doing the task, adapting or modifying the task or environment, and/or practicing elements of the skill with the student.

• As you can see, HWT/handwriting is only one aspect of OT• OTs also consult and collaborate with general education teachers to

develop approaches to improve motor development within their classroom.

Occupational Therapy approach to Handwriting Without Tears• Developed by Occupational Therapist Jan Z. Olsen• Handwriting is learned best 15 minutes/day for 5 days/week• Multisensory approach to learning to write

• Songs & words • Manipulatives• Posture • Grip• Hand dominance too

• Developmental sequence• Build it first• Write it later• Work on pencil grip separately• Easiest way to learn letters is not ABC order• sequence of similar movements• capitals to lower case to cursive

3 Levels of Instruction• Imitation (Demonstration)• Ex: Teacher prints letter while student watches, then

student tries

• Copying• Ex: Student copies letters from a model without

demonstration

• Independent Work• Ex: Student prints letter without model

Fine Motor Developmental Milestones

• 9-12 month• Grabs crayons in fist • Uses both hands and begins to show preference for one• 12-18 months• Builds tower of 2 or more blocks• Marks with crayon or pencil• Marks a piece of paper with a crayon and scribbles imitatively• 18-24 months• Starts using fingers and thumb to grasp crayons• Imitates vertical, horizontal, and circular scribbles• Copy vertical line• 3-4 years• Copy horizontal line• Draws or copies a complete circle• 4-5 years• Copying cross, diagonal lines, square, and X• Prints first name (four letters)• 5 and above• Draws a person that has at least 3 parts- head, eyes, nose, etc.• Copy triangle and complex shapes• Draws recognizable pictures

Prewriting and Beginning Writing Skills

Focus for students not developmentally ready to write letters• Coloring big to small spaces (big spaces use larger

muscle groups, small uses smaller muscles)• Fine motor activities • Hand dominance (watch for what hand they use to

grasp objects/food when placed at midline)• Copying simple shapes• Build letters with wood pieces• Focus writing their name in all capitals (use grey

block paper)

Multi-sensory ways to practice letters.

• Finger paint or shaving cream building lines, people or letters.• Write letters on the sidewalk with chalk.• Trace letters in the snow or in the sand.• Forms letters out of dough or clay.• Make cookie letters. Having your child form the letters by rolling the dough and putting the pieces together.• Form letters out of French fries.• Make letters with pipe cleaners.• Draw letters on the carpet with your fingers.• Decorate a letter collage using glitter, puffy paint, and markers.• Use different types of pencils for writing practice (gel pens, colored pencils, scented markers, crayons, etc.).• Use a flashlight and make letters on the wall. You or your child has to guess the letter that was made.You can also cut out letter templates to place in front of the flashlight.• Put letters on a die. Have your child roll the die and write a word that starts with the letter.• Fish for words. Place cut-out fish in a shoebox. Write words or letters on the fish. Attach paper clipsto the fish and adapt a small pole with a magnet. Ask your child to come up with a word or sentenceusing the letter or word on the fish that is caught.• Have your child write with icing tubes.

Roll-A-Dough Letters

• This activity helps children build strength in their fingers and hands while learning capital letter recognition.

• Directions: • Teacher shows how to rolls dough (like making a rope or snake.)

• Children imitate.

• Teachers shows how to cut and place pieces of dough to form a letter (use the tray card or just the tray.)

• Children imitate.

• You can use the Roll-A-Dough tray for a more sensory experience with letters. Put shaving cream, sane, pudding, or finger paint in the tray. Then have the child “write” the capital letter with a finger.

How to Teach Capital Letters

• Use songs for big ideas – “Where do you start your letters?”

• Build it then make it• Basic shapes for ‘building’ and writing capital

letters are…• Big line• Little line• Big curve and• Little curve

• Say phrases during initial pencil/paper writing (next slide)

Capitals with Letter Cards• Place the F card in front of the child.

• Point to the Letter Card. Say, “ this is F. F starts at the . This word is FISH. FISH begins with F.”

• Describe each step as you place the Wood Pieces on the F. “I/m getting a big line to start he F. I’m putting the big line right here, under the . Now, I’m getting a little line to put at the top. There it is. Now I’m getting another little line to put at the middle. I made F.”

• Remove the pieces.

• Children Imitate.

• After the letter card, could try to blue mat.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cioBT3DbWTI&feature=player_embedded

Wet-Dry-Try• Children learn best when engaging in fun, repetitive activities.

Repetition builds memory. With the Slate and Blackboard, you can get several repetitions of correct letter formation using the Wet-Dry-Try process.

• Teacher’s Part: demonstrates the correct letter formation.• https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuFWD-Rddyk&feature=player_embedded

• WET• Wet little sponge cube• Squeeze it out.• Trace the letter with the sponge.• Wet your finger and trace again.

• DRY• Crumple a little paper towel.• Dry the letter a few times.• Gently blow for final drying.

• TRY• Take a Little Chalk Bit. • Use it to write the letter.

Seating and Posture for Handwriting• Make sure the child is sitting with feet flat on the

floor. Knees and hips flexed at 90 degrees. Writing surface should be 2” above students bent elbow.

• Look for the child’s hands to be positioned below the writing line where they are writing on.

• Student should be using “helper hand” to stabilize the paper. The paper should be angled approximately 45 degrees to right if right handed or the left if left handed.

• Adaptations could include slant board, small pencil or pencil grip, foot rest or block so feet don’t ‘dangle.’

Pencil Grip• To promote dynamic tripod grasp, encourage child to

flex ring and little finger in toward palm. May cue by saying “tuck your fingers into bed” before writing. Or give child a small piece of paper, cotton ball, sponge or other item to hold in those fingers as he or she writes.

• Name the fingers: “thumb,” “pointer,” “tall man.” The thumb is bent, pointer points to the tip, tall man uses his side. I tuck my last two fingers in, and take them for a ride.

• Mark the child’s pencil with a dot or sticker on each side for placement or rubberband. Thumb goes on one dot and index finger on the other. Cue by saying “pinch the pencil” “make an O shape”.

• Small writing instruments encourage the correct grasp. Try golf pencils, broken pieces of chalk or crayons, or pip squeak markers.

Developmental Grip Pictures

HWT Teaching Order for Letters

• The Handwriting Without Tears® developmental teaching order is planned to help children learn handwriting skills in the easiest, most efficient way. As a result, children can transition quickly from learning the mechanics of handwriting to focusing on content and meaning—in all subjects. We teach printing first. After printing is mastered, we add the cursive connections.

• Capitals to Lowercase• Developmentally, capitals are easier so we teach them first.

The capital teaching order helps teach correct formation and orientation while eliminating reversals.

• We teach lowercase c o s v w first because they are exactly the same as their capital partners, only smaller.

Phrases/words to use to cue studentsHWT

Gray-block with starting dots Capital page

How to Teach Lowercase Letters

• Placement & size on double lined paper• Use phrases

• Magic c• Slide down• Bump the line• Up like a helicopter

• Teach in Groups:• Same as the capital: c o s v w t• Magic c : a d g• Transition Group: u i e l k y j• Diver Letters: p r n m h b• Final Group: f q x z

• Letter Stories for tricky letters

Teaching Lowercase a

Placement & Size of Lowercase letters

Magic C Group

Diver Letters• Dive down• Swim up and over

Tracing Secrets• Use a highlighter or grey crayon to make letters.

• Stay away from dots! Dots are visually confusion and some children will even take the time to connect one dot to the next.

• Clearly indicate where the child should start the stroke. (star, arrow, dot)

• Provide tracing tips and activities for children to use at home.

Cursive• Simplified cursive: no slant, fewer loops• Start with high frequency letters that look like

print letters• Use phrases• Magic C• bump the line• travel away• up like a helicopter • slide up and over

• practice connections, especially “tow truck” connections

• Capitals last

Handwriting Without Tears Website• Online Tools http://www.hwtears.com/hwt• A+ worksheet Maker • Sign up for free account• Make sight word worksheets

• A Click Away • Sign up with code in Teacher’s Guide• Teaching tips, song lyrics• Parent handouts

• Screener of Handwriting proficiency

Questions?

• If you ever have any questions don’t hesitate to ask! • The Occupational Therapist at your school

should be able to give guidance for your classroom.

• Maia Richardson, OTR/L mrichardson@issaquah.wednet.edu• Nancy Shepherd, COTA nshepherd@issaquah.wednet.edu

• Give a introduction on how to hold the mouse. Show them what it looks like and how it is to be handled carefully.

• Practice holding the mouse and clicking with index finger.

• I put a star sticker on the left for younger students to remind them where to left-click. Also introduce the terms click, double click and drag.

• Starfall has great theme related activities where students can practice click and drag. They can make a jack-o-lantern or snowman, for example.

• ABCmouse.com is a free program to help students learn to use the mouse. It may be too basic for some, depending on their computer experience. This is great resource for students to get mouse practice and practice in the concepts they are learning in class.

Introduction to using a mouse on the computer.

• To start, teach them to know where the letters are on a keyboard. Show them a poster size keyboard that is enlarged on a poster maker (or this can be done at an office store) and laminate it. Show them where the letters, numbers, backspace and enter keys are on the poster.

• Warm up by saying the ABC's and touching each letter on the keyboard.

• Next laminate a photocopy of a small version of the keyboard.

• Write each students' user name at the bottom of the small version and practice typing user name on the paper (laminated) keyboard. If desired, scaffold the learning by providing them with a copy that has the keys highlighted of their user name, then give them a blank copy once they have learned it.

• After several practices, put the laminated keyboards into a pocket folder next to the computers. Students find their user name and login.

• Let them practice keyboarding skills at this website: Literacy Education I love the computer activities for beginners on this web site. It teaches students to use capital letters, lowercase letters and numbers on the keyboard. First they have to click on the letter, and then find it on the keyboard.

• Play typing games. Lots of free typing games online.

Introduction to using a keyboard

Fine Motor Activities for classroom or home• Use play dough for pinching and rolling small pieces to strengthen the thumb and index fingers. Use the

thumb pad and the pad of the index finger. You an also make letters out of it.• Squeeze eye dropper or medicine dropper (with thumb and pad of index finger) filled with colored water or

paint to make a picture on paper of coffee filters.• Practice making and “O” shape with the thumb and index finger. Practice picking up small items with our “O”

keeping the finger and little fingers tucked into palm. If child is unable to do this give them something small to hold with their ring and little finger to remind them. Make a game by timing them as they pick up items and place in container.

• Clothespin activities. Try to keep all finger joints rounded or flexed when using clothespins.• Tear pieces of construction paper into small piece to glue onto a picture of shape. • Use tweezers to pick up items. (try to use only thump and index and/or middle finger with ring and little finger

tucked in) Games like operation, bedbugs, feed the dog, and zoo sticks are great.• Light Brite.• Use an elevated surface to encourage wrist extension. Writing, drawing, or painting on an easel of taping

paper to a wall or window. • Cut a slit in the middle of a tennis ball, and have the child feed the tennis ball. You can add eyes, hair, etc.

The child paces the thumb on one end of the mouth, and middle finger on the other end to squeeze open the mouth. Then the other hand can feed the hungry tennis ball things like dried beans, coins, marbles, cotton balls, etc.

• Make things with beads: necklaces, key chains, bookmarks. • Draw on Magnadoodle boards.• Make things out of pop beads• Play with bubbles, and let the child hold the want themselves.• Play with wind up toys, have the child wind up themselves.• Play card games like go fish, the smaller the better. • Use finger paints, have each finger be a different color. • Use squirt bottles to water plants, or fill with food coloring for art project.• Use thumb and index finger to pop bubble wrap. • Have the child help seal zip lock bags. Use the pads of thumb and fingers.• Have the child build something with Legos.• Lacing board activities.

Activities to Promote Bilateral Integration• Shifting weight between two hands, such as when swinging between monkey bars or trapezes, or wheelbarrow walking, crab-walking,

bear-walking, doing the "inchworm" (walk hands forward, then hands stay still and feet walk up to hands, repeat), etc.

• Positioning-plus-activity to elicit crossing midline. For example: have the child sit backwards on a chair, straddle a bench or bolster, or sit on a hippity-hop. Or just tell them that their feet have to stay "glued in place" to the floor while standing. Now have them throw beanbags at targets located far to the sides. Or bat at balloons hung to each side, roll balls in bowling game with pins located to the side, etc. You are looking for rotation through the body and needing to switch objects between hands.

• In a group, have children sit in a circle cross-legged or on chairs. Pass a ball around with two hands by twisting the body to the right and left to take the ball and then pass it. This can be elicited through positioning the players just right. Make it more interesting by speeding up the pace or pairing it with having to count down by 3's as you take the ball, or spelling words out loud one letter per person as you pass the ball, etc.

• Make circles and shapes in front of body with streamers

• Anything hand-over-hand to pull a rope (pull something to self, or pull self along a rope while on scooterboard, or while on a swing, or climb rope, etc)

• Wear a catcher's mitt or velcro mitt while playing catch; child has to catch with mitted hand, then transfer to other hand to throw or roll it back

• Fishing games where the child needs to pull the "fish" off the "line" with one hand while holding the line with the other hand.

• Drumming with both hands. Try to listen and copy each others' rhythm patterns.

• Pull-apart and push-together building materials and toys (Duplos, zoob/accordion tubes, toy accordion, zoom ball)

• Stringing beads - match the size of beads and string to ability level of child: easiest is pipe cleaners and large square wooden beads, hardest is thread and tiny beads.

• Penny flipping! Line up a row of pennies from left to right so that the row reaches from in front of left shoulder to in front of right shoulder. Cross midline by using one hand to flip them all over in line without leaning to right or left. Try using both hands at once by starting simultaneously at left and right ends of row and flipping pennies until hands meet at the middle. Or make an oval race track and race around it by flipping pennies in turn.

• Any toy that has to be held in one hand while the other manipulates! Just arrange the situation so that the toy can't be stabilized by leaning against it or some such, but that other hand is really actively holding it.