{"id":286,"date":"2018-03-05T14:02:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T20:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/match-inc.org\/samplenewsletter\/?p=286"},"modified":"2018-03-11T20:59:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T01:59:14","slug":"the-power-of-penmanship-by-jeffrey-pflaum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/match-inc.org\/samplenewsletter\/2018\/03\/05\/the-power-of-penmanship-by-jeffrey-pflaum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Penmanship By Jeffrey Pflaum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Penmanship can be seen as a follow-the-bouncing-ball mindless activity where children learn the basic strokes of the alphabet. You demonstrate how to make the <\/span><\/span>smalls <\/i><\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>caps <\/i><\/span><\/span>of the letter \u201ca,\u201d for example. Show kids the method to write the letters and give practice drills so they will get it right. Penmanship, in this manner, becomes a copying and busywork lesson. But as an inner-city elementary school teacher, I created something a little different.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I began each day with a 20-minute handwriting lesson. New letters were presented from Monday through Thursday, and on Friday, I gave a penmanship \u201ctest.\u201d For the exam, children wrote, repetitiously, the letters of the week, including words, sentences, and short paragraphs with those letters. Sounds pretty boring, yes? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I introduced a fresh perspective for kids to view cursive writing by saying: \u201cPenmanship is art.\u201d Why? When you write the letters, you\u2019re really <\/span><\/span>drawing <\/i><\/span><\/span>them, making sure you\u2019re getting the strokes and the final <\/span><\/span>picture <\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201ccorrect\u201d or as good as you can get it. I was really prompting them to concentrate carefully when doing penmanship. My approach and the handwriting process got their attention, tapping early morning energy to complete the task. It woke them up, <\/span><\/span>and<\/i><\/span><\/span> calmed them down, without too much thinking. Penmanship immediately after lunch also helped to focus hyper children with similar results as morning lessons. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a typical lesson, I modeled the \u201cletters of the day\u201d on the board, showing each individual movement slowly, and, just for the fun of it, exaggerated the size so the class could see it clearly and have a good laugh at my drawing ability. I said, \u201cIf you think this is funny, why don\u2019t you come up and draw the letter?\u201d Hands went up quickly. Volunteers tried their best to write the letter while classmates watched intently. We critiqued the <\/span><\/span>drawings <\/i><\/span><\/span>in a lighthearted way. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To the class: \u201cYour handwriting doesn\u2019t have to be perfect like letters in penmanship books. But you want it to be easy-to-read and have control over the letters\u2019 strokes. This is not a race to the finish. Practice the letters to create a <\/span><\/span>muscle memory<\/i><\/span><\/span> for each so you can improve and write faster and more clearly in future assignments.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Link penmanship to creative writing: \u201cWhen you write a story, the mind and imagination are activated: thoughts, feelings, images, ideas, and experiences travel from the brain to your hand where narratives are created. You don\u2019t want these events from your head interrupted because you can\u2019t \u2018write\u2019 your experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n