When a child learns their first few letters, usually some that are in their name, they make each stroke laboriously.  They copy the model that you give them and practice recreating it until the finished product meets your approval.  Are they writing? Well, as easily as I could say “yes”, more than likely “no”, they are still drawing the letters in much the same way as they draw a face or a picture of a house.  They are practicing fine motor control and copying the shapes that you give them and that you call letters.  They are just beginning to understand that each of these shapes has a name, just like the face and the house did.  For some children, ones with strong visual discrimination, this may be the only instruction that they need to successfully learn to write the alphabet.  What if that's not enough?

In order to help children who are not strong in visual discrimination become more proficient in learning how to write the alphabet, we need to give them more pieces of the puzzle.  The second component in the writing process is kinesthetic or body movement.  There are several ways to add movement.  Each letter is created by a series of movements or motions.  Since large motor skills develop first in a child, it is much easier to learn to write letters using large motor skills.  This means that students need to learn how to form the letter first with a large motion of the arm before they learn to write it with a small motion of the hand holding a pencil on paper. 

A great way to learn to write each letter is by using a technique called Sky Writing.  Sky Writing is when the teacher demonstrates the letter in the air and the students use their entire arm to write the letter in their sky space.  Letter size is approximately 1 1/2 feet high.  If you face the children you will need to create the letter backwards so that it looks correct to them.  If that’s too tricky, you will need to turn around and write facing the same direction as the students.  Writing large letters in chalk on the sidewalk or chalkboard is the next step in this process.  Again, you would demonstrate letters that are large and use large motions.  Only when the correct shapes can be reproduced with large motor movements, should a child be expected to perfect the letter using fine motor movements. 

When teaching Sky Writing, it is best to coordinate it with the auditory modality to support auditory learners.  So while you are showing how to make the letter, you are also telling the hand HOW to create it.  First, decide how to describe the creation of the letter out loud.  This is the auditory component.  An example would be the lowercase letter “a” – first you start at the top right side and circle around until it touches back together then make a straight line down to the bottom.  Once they know exactly how to make the letter you shorten the directions and speak out loud as you demonstrate:  “Circle around, down”.  You must choose your directions carefully and say exactly the same thing every time.  The students will repeat aloud how to write the letter as they write it.  In other words, when they say “circle around” they will be drawing a circle.  It will not be as beneficial if the actions and words are not synchronized. 

Some children may need a little more support then Sky Writing.  They may need the tactile component of touch or feel.  Shadow Writing adds the sense of touch to Sky Writing.  It adds one more modality to help a child that still can’t quite get Sky Writing correct or just hasn’t put the skill into long term memory yet.  The child stands at the chalkboard/whiteboard and you stand behind them.  As you tell them how to create the letter you also draw it on their back.  They make the “shadow” of the letter either in the Sky or on the board at the same time you create it on their back.  By tracing on their back, they are not distracted by watching you and the letter is not backwards to them.  They can feel how the letter should go.  If need be, you can also create tactile letters out of sandpaper or glue covered with sand, for the child to feel.  They can also write the letters in a sand tray.  Each of these methods helps develop the memory trace for how a letter should look and feel. 

It’s the combination of using all modalities of learning that accelerates the learning process.  When you meet the needs of all learning styles, then each child has an equal opportunity to succeed in every task.   

Shana Whitlock - HelpMeRead.com