Action Research: Reinforcing Fine Motor Skills Through Writing

I. Content and Rationale

The advantages of modern technologies such as PCs, navigation

systems in vehicles and electronic organizers can be seen in everyday life.
During a thousand of years, handwriting has been the universal mode of
writing. Only recently, however, has it been suggested that the increasing use
of personal computers to produce written texts can contribute significantly to
the loss of handwriting skills. Such a fundamental change in human habits is
likely to have far-reaching consequences for other basic fine motor skills.

Variety of methods to improve handwriting skills have been practicing

in schools. Handwriting is still very important in modern world. As a matter of
fact, frequent writing in courses has been shown to improve content
retention, critical analysis, literacy, and writing outcomes. Aside from those
aspects aforementioned that can be improve, fine motor skills is the focus of
this study wherein it has a significant connection that directly affects the
handwriting skills. This refers to the skill of picking up an item and being able
to move it around in your hand, or manipulate it. In some studies, it appeared
that in-hand manipulation skills had a significant effect on letter formation,
which in turn had an effect on writing tests.

According to a study into student-centered approaches to teaching

grammar and writing, students learn to read and write by reading and
writing.
It is where they discover the thrill of a great sentence. In her 2014 blog post,
Patricia Dunn concluded, “Grammar, it goes without saying, is important. We
use it every time we speak or write. However, for students’ writing to
improve, they need to write, not fill in blanks or fixate on error. They need to
be engaged in authentic writing in real genres, for real audiences, and for real
purposes.” which simply put that practicing handwriting will impact student’s
learning development and fine motor skills to improve.

Although some of the students ignoring the fact that their writing
would not effect their academic grades, being a critical skill as well as a
potential tool for learning (Arnold, et al., 2017), writing is definitely not an
easy task (Galbraith & Baaijen, 2018) and is an essential ability for academic
achievements.

The goal of practicing the handwriting skills is not only to seek legibly
and fluency. Instead, it is to reinforce the fine motor skills through writing. It
will also help the students to think critically to be creative to their activity that
implicates to writing. When students initially learn to use writing strategies,
teachers frequently should discuss when and how to use the strategies
throughout the writing process, as well as why the strategies are helpful.
Once students learn to use a variety of strategies independently, through the
gradual release process, teachers should help them understand how to select
appropriate strategies and use them across a range of writing tasks.
(Graham, et al., 2012)

II. Action Research Question

1. What are the activities that includes writing that helps in reinforcing the
fine motor skills?
2. What are the potential factors that hinder students in improving their
handwriting?
3. What are the benefits of practicing handwriting skills?

References:

https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=2172&context=lajm

Arnold, K. M., Umanath, S., Thio, K., Reilly, W. B., McDaniel, M. A., & Marsh,
E. J. (2017). Understanding the cognitive process involved in writing to learn.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 23(2), 115-127.
doi:10.1037/xap0000119

Galbraith, D., & Baaijen, V. M. (2018) The work of writing: Raiding the
inarticulate. Educational Psychologist, 53(4), 238-257
doi:10.1080/00461520.2018.1505515

Graham S., Bollinger A., Booth Olson C., D’Aoust C., MacArthur C., McCutchen
D., Olinghouse N. (2012). Teaching elementary school students to be
effective writers: A practice guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED533112.pdf