Handwriting: The Effectiveness of Copying from Moving versus Still Models

A group of 56 first-grade students copied from traditional still models while another group of 60 first-graders copied from models of manu script letters that depicted motion as well as the tradi tional still models.

Abstract

Copying is a common handwriting procedure used to foster letter formation, an important aspect of legibility. A group of 56 first-grade students copied from traditional still models while another group of 60 first-grade students copied from models of manuscript letters that depicted motion as well as the traditional still models. Flipbooks, designed especially for the study, depicted motion. Tests measuring handwriting performance were administered to both groups before and after 11 weeks of practice. Analyses of the test scores indicated that the group using the flipbooks improved their writing significantly more than the group using the traditional still models.