How to Have Great Handwriting for Fourth Grade
In many ways, your handwriting is like a handshake. It reveals a great deal about your personality and self esteem. In an increasingly computer-centric society, having good handwriting might not seem all that important, but good handwriting is a necessity for a professional appearance and a greater sense of maturity. Developing good handwriting in elementary students, like fourth graders, helps them to further use their fine motor skills and prepares them for middle school in a few years. Improving and perfecting students' handwriting at this level need not feel like a chore.
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Instructions
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Review the proper way for students to hold a pen or pencil. Give each student a tissue and ask them to crumple it up, holding it in the hand they write with.
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Tell students to press the tissue against their palm with their ring and pinky finger. Tell students to hold the pencil between their remaining three fingers. Demonstrate the proper form.
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Show students how to tilt their paper slightly so their writing with have a natural slant to it.
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Give students cursive worksheets before you let them write in script freehand. Have them trace each upper and lower-case letter of the alphabet in script each day for about a month so that their hands and fingers are completely familiar with repeating those shapes.
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Spend extra time with kids showing them how to write some of the more difficult cursive letters such as F, Q, S and W. Don't pressure fourth graders to get it right. With time they'll be able to naturally do it.
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Practice writing six to 12 letters from the alphabet each day in freehand on worksheets that have a double line guide for students to write between. Collect their worksheets.
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Examine their worksheets and go over common mistakes that students are making together as a class.
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