Is cursive worth teaching and learning today? - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T06:20:32Zhttps://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/is-cursive-worth-teaching-and-learning-today?commentId=649749%3AComment%3A849611&feed=yes&xn_auth=noIs cursive handwriting in Com…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8534772012-07-23T13:26:32.892ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
Is cursive handwriting in Common Core? Where?<br></br>
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Also, do the standards (in Maryland, Common Core, or anywhere else) _define_ what cursive is (and isn't)? If not,then no standards/adoption committee/school board/etc. can reject any book which claims that what it's teaching is cursive,<br></br>
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For example: there are at least two published textbooks whose cursive is semi-joined (omitting all but the easy joins) and uses print-like shapes of letters whose cursive shapes disagree with…
Is cursive handwriting in Common Core? Where?<br/>
<br/>
Also, do the standards (in Maryland, Common Core, or anywhere else) _define_ what cursive is (and isn't)? If not,then no standards/adoption committee/school board/etc. can reject any book which claims that what it's teaching is cursive,<br/>
<br/>
For example: there are at least two published textbooks whose cursive is semi-joined (omitting all but the easy joins) and uses print-like shapes of letters whose cursive shapes disagree with the print shapes. This, as stated above, has the support of research (it also has, for me, the support of experience), and it is in fact the way that cursive used to be — almost 500 years ago, when the first books in our alphabet on this subject were published — but, even today, the dictionaries would disagree on whether these books have cursive or not. (Some dictionaries define cursive as anything that connects letters; others — even from the same dictionary-publisher — define cursive as connecting _all_ letters ... So, what one teacher or administrator calls "cursive," the teacher or administrator next door may call "not cursive" ... )<br/>
To see the textbooks I'm talking about: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.BFHhandwriting.com" target="_blank">http://www.BFHhandwriting.com</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.handwritingsuccess.com" target="_blank">http://www.handwritingsuccess.com</a> ... What do you think? (By the way, both programs include highly effective material for teaching kids — or anyone — to _read_ conventional<br />
cursive in about a half hour.) An easy, quick way to teach c…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8535782012-07-23T13:11:26.626ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
<p>An easy, quick way to teach cursive reading is to show the students how cursive letters (d)devolved from more familiar and legible forms. (My attachment didn't go through, but this link has one of the resources that I use ... <a href="http://www.exodusbooks.com/Samples/CEP/readloop_compare.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.exodusbooks.com/Samples/CEP/readloop_compare.pdf</a> )</p>
<p>An easy, quick way to teach cursive reading is to show the students how cursive letters (d)devolved from more familiar and legible forms. (My attachment didn't go through, but this link has one of the resources that I use ... <a href="http://www.exodusbooks.com/Samples/CEP/readloop_compare.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.exodusbooks.com/Samples/CEP/readloop_compare.pdf</a> )</p> Reading cursive matters as lo…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8533352012-07-23T13:09:26.079ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
<p>Reading cursive matters as long as anyone is likely to run into some cursive eventually ... My favorite way to teach cursive reading is to show them how each cursive letter (d)evolved from something more familiar and legible; I'll try to attach an example. About half an hour with this, and then giving the kid (or adult) some cursive to read for practice, works well enough that I do it with anyone aged six or older who can read non-cursive writing well. (Why wait for learning to write in…</p>
<p>Reading cursive matters as long as anyone is likely to run into some cursive eventually ... My favorite way to teach cursive reading is to show them how each cursive letter (d)evolved from something more familiar and legible; I'll try to attach an example. About half an hour with this, and then giving the kid (or adult) some cursive to read for practice, works well enough that I do it with anyone aged six or older who can read non-cursive writing well. (Why wait for learning to write in cursive before you get to learn to read it?)</p> From what I've seen, handwrit…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8534062012-07-23T13:02:20.978ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
<p>From what I've seen, handwriting analysts get things wrong at least as often as they get them right. Back when the Unabomber was in the news, I showed one of his letters to some handwriting analysts & asked them to tell me about this person (I had removed his name from the letter). They each said he was a nonviolent, loving individual — one said he would be an ideal kindergarten teacher ...</p>
<p>From what I've seen, handwriting analysts get things wrong at least as often as they get them right. Back when the Unabomber was in the news, I showed one of his letters to some handwriting analysts & asked them to tell me about this person (I had removed his name from the letter). They each said he was a nonviolent, loving individual — one said he would be an ideal kindergarten teacher ...</p> As stated above, signatures a…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8535752012-07-23T12:56:44.983ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
<p>As stated above, signatures are legal in _any_ style ... Ask your attorney! (If someone abitually signs in a given way, _that_ is his/her signature even if it's in Morse Code, let alone printing.) For that matter, it turns out that the simplest signatures are the hardest to forge ... Forgers LOVE to have cursive to copy!</p>
<p>As stated above, signatures are legal in _any_ style ... Ask your attorney! (If someone abitually signs in a given way, _that_ is his/her signature even if it's in Morse Code, let alone printing.) For that matter, it turns out that the simplest signatures are the hardest to forge ... Forgers LOVE to have cursive to copy!</p> I'm a pre-service teacher and…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-23:649749:Comment:8533922012-07-23T06:16:18.185ZJing Chenhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/JingChen
<p>I'm a pre-service teacher and an English non-native speaker. I remember when I started to learn English in 1990s, we were required to practice handwriting and my English teachers (non-native too) used cursive. Most of us were attracted to the beautiful handwriting and practiced it although we were not forced to. It was not until a couple of years ago that I realised that cursive writing is not being used by native speakers. I was also a bit surprised at some posts in this thread saying most…</p>
<p>I'm a pre-service teacher and an English non-native speaker. I remember when I started to learn English in 1990s, we were required to practice handwriting and my English teachers (non-native too) used cursive. Most of us were attracted to the beautiful handwriting and practiced it although we were not forced to. It was not until a couple of years ago that I realised that cursive writing is not being used by native speakers. I was also a bit surprised at some posts in this thread saying most kids cannot even read cursive nowadays. I can understand that in this technological age, keyboarding is replacing handwriting and cursive reading and writing is of little use. But it is a pity if cursive would a lost art, which is part of cultural heritage and I can't imagine if nobody in the future could read the historical documents in libraries without technological assistance. </p>
<p>In my opinion, cursive can be taught as an elective to those students who are interested in and kids should be encouraged but not forced to learn it in schools. </p> I agree with Stacey wholehear…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-05:649749:Comment:8496112012-07-05T16:06:50.047ZMichelle Mhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/MichelleM
<p>I agree with Stacey wholeheartedly. I think it is important for students to continue to learn cursive but also practice it throughout their education.</p>
<p>I agree with Stacey wholeheartedly. I think it is important for students to continue to learn cursive but also practice it throughout their education.</p> Handwriting matters ... But d…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-07-05:649749:Comment:8495192012-07-05T01:25:31.665ZKate Gladstonehttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateGladstone
Handwriting matters ... But does cursive matter?<br />
<br />
Research shows: the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. They join only some letters, not all of them: making the easiest joins, skipping the rest, and using print-like shapes for those letters whose cursive and printed shapes disagree. (Citation: Steve Graham, Virginia Berninger, and Naomi Weintraub. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HANDWRITING STYLE AND SPEED AND LEGIBILITY. 2001: on-line at…
Handwriting matters ... But does cursive matter?<br />
<br />
Research shows: the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. They join only some letters, not all of them: making the easiest joins, skipping the rest, and using print-like shapes for those letters whose cursive and printed shapes disagree. (Citation: Steve Graham, Virginia Berninger, and Naomi Weintraub. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HANDWRITING STYLE AND SPEED AND LEGIBILITY. 2001: on-line at <a href="http://www.sbac.edu/~werned/DATA/Brain%20research%20class/handwriting%20speed%20style%20legibility%20berninger.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sbac.edu/~werned/DATA/Brain%20research%20class/handwriting%20speed%20style%20legibility%20berninger.pdf</a> — and there are actually handwriting programs that teach this way.)<br />
Reading cursive still matters -- this takes just 30 to 60 minutes to learn, and can be taught to a five- or six-year-old if the child knows how to read. The value of reading cursive is therefore no justification for writing it.<br />
Remember, too: whatever your elementary school teacher may have been told by her elementary school teacher, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over signatures written in any other way. (Don't take my word for this: talk to any attorney.)<br />
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Yours for better letters,<br />
<br />
Kate Gladstone — CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works<br />
Director, the World Handwriting Contest<br />
Co-Designer, BETTER LETTERS handwriting trainer app for iPhone/iPad<br />
<a href="http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com" target="_blank">http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com</a> Thanks for your input. I als…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-03-24:649749:Comment:8205892012-03-24T22:20:10.177ZKate Millerhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KateMiller
<p>Thanks for your input. I also use a hybrid of printing and cursive when I take notes also. You bring up an interesting point of losing the meaning behind handwriting analysis when we convert handwritten documents to printed text. You can really gain some insight about a person based on their handwriting. </p>
<p>Thanks for your input. I also use a hybrid of printing and cursive when I take notes also. You bring up an interesting point of losing the meaning behind handwriting analysis when we convert handwritten documents to printed text. You can really gain some insight about a person based on their handwriting. </p> On a personal level, my daugh…tag:www.classroom20.com,2012-03-19:649749:Comment:8186432012-03-19T13:24:52.145ZAngus Chanhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/AngusChan
<p>On a personal level, my daughter's school no longer teaches cursive - only printing now (I hope she never is asked to "sign" something as I'm not sure how she'd do it). How I take notes today it's a combination of printing and cursive, I'm assuming my mind is determining how to document what I'm hearing in the quickest way possible.</p>
<p>Understanding how to read cursive is important to some degree as there are still plenty of text that all we have is the original written word; we may…</p>
<p>On a personal level, my daughter's school no longer teaches cursive - only printing now (I hope she never is asked to "sign" something as I'm not sure how she'd do it). How I take notes today it's a combination of printing and cursive, I'm assuming my mind is determining how to document what I'm hearing in the quickest way possible.</p>
<p>Understanding how to read cursive is important to some degree as there are still plenty of text that all we have is the original written word; we may have re-written it into a print form but some of the nuances are lost. i.e. you can tell when someone was frustrated by the way they held their writing instrument, the pressure and slant being used, etc...</p>
<p> </p>