Beginning Steps to Develop Tool Usage in
Writing Skills
Many of our students initially have
little interest in pre-writing activities. Structuring tasks to clarify for
them what to do and when they will be finished encourages their participation
in these learning tasks.
Think
about how you can organize a task to enable a student to complete it
independently. In this example, we have separated crayons into these openings
so students, who do not yet know to pick up only one crayon at a time when
scribbling, can easily do so. The rimmed border helps them scribble within the
designated space. After students scribble with a crayon, they place it in the
square opening. Its disappearance is a
sign that marking with that crayon is finished. Clarifying the finish point
helps some students attend a task that is not of their choosing.
The pre-writing task below addresses
many different skills. Several fine motor movements are used – palmar grasp to
pull the marker from the opening; finger grasp to remove top; wrist rotation to
place marker into slot, etc. Additionally, after matching the number on the
marker to the number on the coloring page, children need to focus on where they
place the dot to stay within the lines as much as possible.
For these and other ideas for
beginning steps to learning please visit www.tasksgalore.com. Our products
have hundreds of teaching activities along with invaluable information about
the why’s and how’s to create these learning activities. Happy Tasking!
