Building the Foundational Strength of Writers

Why This Matters:

Over the last several months, I have been working on a book about the foundational skills of writing. While I have appreciated the complexity of writing for as long as I can remember, I’m not sure I’ve considered and the importance of motor skills enough, nurturing a practice of assessing both small and large motor strength development of emerging writers.

Take a moment and draw a line from one dot to another on a piece of paper. Your brain had a lot to do! The connection, pressure, grip, and coordination all had to happen. For new writers, these interactions might not yet be automated, and these writers might benefit from some isolated and purposeful practice.

Some Activities to Try:

Writing involves core muscles since finger dexterity requires shoulder dexterity which requires core strength. Intentional large motor strength exercise is worth some instructional minutes. Therefore, consider challenging students to:

• Hold planks
• Have wheelbarrow races
• Do bear walks
• Take on challenges to draw with their feel

Small motor skills play a critical role in written expression. Some fun ways to add to their development into the writing diet of students include:

• Any work with clay or putty– have students roll, twist, and shape material into letters.
• Cutting with scissors.
• Tearing tissue paper and increasingly tough-to-tear materials. Combining tearing with letter formation builds multiple foundational components of written expression.

Final Thoughts

Students can show us a lot of about the cognitive energy they are using to write! The brain has work to do before any letters show up on pages, so the more automated that work can be, the more brain energy can head in the direction of words, sentences, and composition.