The Importance of Handwriting Instruction
Writing is not an innate skill that humans are born with. Therefore, students require systematic, explicit instruction to develop strong writing skills. Explicit handwriting instruction helps support early reading development by enriching students’ exposure to letter shapes, letter sounds, and other early literacy skills.
Literacy LIFTER (Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading) and CLIFTER, its cursive counterpart, are free resources designed to empower educators and caregivers in supporting students’ handwriting and early reading skills. They provide users with evidence-based materials to teach and assess handwriting and letter knowledge (i.e., letter names and sounds) to pre-kindergarten and elementary-aged students. These include materials for flexible and efficient instruction, such as video models of letter and word formation and letter pronunciation, as well as downloadable student worksheets.
LIFTER (Print)
Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading
LIFTER eLearning Module
The Handwriting: Literacy LIFTER eLearning module teaches educators how to navigate the site and use the materials efficiently and effectively with students, covering handwriting, reading and writing development, and evidence-based instructional and assessment practices.
LIFTER
LIFTER is a collection of print handwriting instruction resources created as a supplement to core literacy instruction in pre-kindergarten and early elementary grades. LIFTER includes modeling videos of the correct formation and pronunciation of each letter and printable handwriting practice sheets and activities.
PD Toolkit for Print Handwriting
This professional development (PD) toolkit is a collection of materials—including a slide deck, facilitator script, activities, and a quiz—designed to support the training of educators in evidence-based handwriting instruction practices.
Print Handwriting Assessments
LIFTER includes handwriting assessments to help you understand your students’ abilities and areas of need. Additionally, educators can take the Assessing Handwriting lesson of the Handwriting: Literacy LIFTER eLearning module to learn why handwriting fluency matters and how to administer handwriting assessments.
LIFTER assessments can be found under the “Additional Resources” tab of LIFTER, or in the Assessing Handwriting lesson of the Handwriting: Literacy LIFTER eLearning module.
Coloring Sheets
Pair letter transcription practice with a fun coloring activity!
CLIFTER (Cursive)
Cursive Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading
CLIFTER eLearning
The CLIFTER eLearning module teachers educators how to use CLIFTER resources to support efficient and effective cursive handwriting instruction.
CLIFTER
CLIFTER is a collection of cursive handwriting instruction resources designed to support core literacy instruction in the early elementary grades. It includes modeling videos of correct letter formation and pronunciation—both in isolation and in the context of words. Users can also download printable handwriting practice sheets and activities.
PD Toolkit for Cursive Handwriting
This professional development (PD) toolkit is a collection of materials—including a slide deck, facilitator script, activities, and a quiz—designed to support the training of educators in evidence-based handwriting instruction practices.
Related Blog Posts
Explore the blog posts below to learn how handwriting instruction can support your early readers’ literacy development.
Handwriting: Beneficial to Reading and Often Misunderstood
Handwriting can support early reading skills. This post explains why and describes several techniques teachers can use to help their students acquire handwriting.
Research Article of the Month: June 2024
Through this breakdown of Ray et al. (2021), we explore the benefits of handwriting intervention on foundational reading skills.
Looping Back to Cursive Handwriting
While more research is needed on cursive handwriting instruction, here is what we know about when to teach cursive and what components can make cursive instruction particularly effective.
How to Make Handwriting a Part of Early Literacy Instruction
This white paper explains how handwriting assessments can be used to analyze a students’ handwriting and then offers instructional techniques to improve the handwriting of elementary-aged students.
Cursive Handwriting: Reduce the Learning Curve With CLIFTER
Learn effective strategies for teaching cursive and implementing CLIFTER in your classroom.
The ABCs of Alphabet Instruction
This post presents things students should know about letters and why this knowledge is important for reading development.