Preventing Writing Difficulties: Providing Additional Handwriting and Spelling Instruction to At-Risk Children in First Grade

The article presents information on a research on preventing writing difficulties by providing additional handwriting and spelling instruction to at-risk children in first grade in the U.S. The difficulties with text transcription skills such as handwriting and spelling can even change the meaning of a message that a writer wants to convey. The difficulties like poor handwriting or spelling can influence the competency of the child. More over it can affect the execution of other composing processes. It also can curb the skill of a child to grow as a writer. Difficulties with spelling can affect the vocabulary of the students and in turn it can affect the writing skill and the total language ability. The article informs that the researchers in the Center on Accelerating Student Learning (CASL) have designed the CASL First Grade Hand writing/Spelling Program to improve the writing skills of students. The design includes the letters of the alphabet, handwriting fluency, knowledge of sound and letter combinations and spelling patterns.