USING HANDWRITING LINES AND CLEVER CAT TO IMPROVE

Collection of Action Research Articles (TESL) 2017

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USING HANDWRITING LINES AND CLEVER CAT TO IMPROVE HANDWRITING AMONG YEAR FOUR REMEDIAL PUPILS

YEAN YAN TONG

AIDAH BINTI ABDUL GHANI PISMP TESL SJKC JANUARY 2014 INTAKE

[email protected]

ABSTRACT This action research examines the usage of handwriting lines and Clever Cat to improve the Year Four pupils‟ handwriting. Difficulties with spatial organisation were a big contributing factor to my pupils‟ bad handwriting. Thus, the position of letters, spacing between words and letters, slant of letters and orientation of letters to line were the focus of the investigation. The research questions are: 1) How can I improve the Year Four pupils‟ handwriting problem? and 2) How can handwriting lines and Clever Cat help to improve handwriting among the Year Four pupils? The chosen model that permeated the research was McNiff & Whitehead‟s Action Research Model (2011). Two cycles were done with ten Year Four research participants. The first cycle was done using four-lined space while the second cycle investigated the effect of two-lined space on the pupils‟ handwriting. Data was collected using document analysis, observation and interview and then analysed using coding and tabulation. Firstly, by using handwriting lines, the pupils developed awareness of the various aspects of good handwriting. Visual spatial-intelligence was nurtured to assist pupils in assessing their handwriting. Later, the Clever Cat was used as guidance to write on the base line and it was also used as a tool for the pupils‟ self-evaluation. When handwriting ability became automated, pupils were able to produce neat, legible handwriting confidently. Further research on this issue can look into the use of handwriting lines and Clever Cat among the lower primary pupils and study the effect of peer evaluation in improving handwriting competency. Keywords: handwriting, spatial organisation, visual-spatial intelligence, self-evaluation

INTRODUCTION Handwriting is an important life skill that if impaired, can lead to academic challenges or failure and diminished self-esteem (Maeland, 1992). Explicit teaching of handwriting is supported by various researches from around the world. Datchuk, Kubina and Mason (2013) believe that handwriting plays a foundation role in writing along with other sentence-level writing skills. Illegible handwriting is found to have secondary effects on pupils‟ achievement and attitude in language learning (Graham, 2010). In my research, my pupils were very weak and unmotivated to learn English. I found that most of my pupils‟ handwriting was illegible. From my preliminary study, I understood that pupils‟ weakness in spatial organisation was the primary contributing factor to their poor handwriting. FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION Significance of Study „Good foundation in penmanship will help pupils acquire good handwriting‟ (MoE, 2016). Teachers should invalidate the myth that good penmanship is irrelevant, especially in primary education (Graham, 2010), because the effects of poor handwriting are typically more pronounced for those who just learned on how to write


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and it has a profound secondary effect on pupils‟ achievement and attitude in language learning (Keller, 2001; Heffron, 2016). Therefore, the use of handwriting lines and Clever Cat to improve handwriting is significant. Workability of Study Difficulty on spatial organisation was the primary contributing factor to my pupils‟ poor handwriting. Hence, I implemented the handwriting lines and Clever Cat. The features of the handwriting lines, including lines, colours and weight of lines, are visual cues to help improve handwriting. The Clever Cat can be used as guidance to write on the base line. Pupils can also use the Clever Cat as a tool for self-evaluation. In short, handwriting lines and Clever Cat provide excellent opportunities to improve handwriting as it is a set of excellent visual spatial learning tools. Relevance of Study Handwriting is a problem often discussed in school. Teachers complained about Year 6 pupils‟ works which are hard to decipher. I looked closely into the problem and found out the same situation happening amongst other weaker pupils. Linking all the evidence, I found that my study on handwriting problem is very relevant to the decline in UPSR result in my school. Handwriting might be one of the contributing reasons to

pupils‟ bad academic achievement in my school. OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS Objectives This action research aims to explore ways to help Year Four remedial pupils to improve handwriting using handwriting lines and Clever Cat. This action research also examined the usage of handwriting lines and Clever Cat to improve the Year Four remedial pupils‟ handwriting. Research Questions 1. How can I improve on Year Four remedial pupils‟ handwriting? 2. How can handwriting lines and Clever Cat help to improve handwriting among the

Year Four remedial pupils? RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS The research comprised of ten Year Four remedial pupils from a sub-urban national primary school in Tuaran, Sabah. Six of them are male and four are female. All participants speak Bajau language as their first language and Malay language as their second language. English language is the third language for the participants. They rarely use the language in their daily life except during English language lessons in school. All the participants were LINUS remedial pupils in Level One. They are all right-handed writers. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Plan of Action I adapted Mcniff and Whitehead‟s Action Research Model (2011) in my study as I found that it was suitable for my research.


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Figure 1. Adapted action-reflection cycle

Stages Action(s)

Cycle One Cycle Two

Observe

I observed problems faced by

pupils, collected preliminary data

and selected research participants.

-

Reflect

I reflected on the handwriting

problem and decided on the

learning tools and the strategy to be

used.

I reflected on participants‟

progress of improvements and

decided on the learning tools and

the strategy to be used.

Act

I implemented my action plan

(4-lined handwriting lines and

Clever Cat) during the production

stage or as enrichment activity to

not affect the subject content.

I implemented my action plan

(2-lined handwriting lines and

Clever Cat) during the production

stage or as enrichment activity to

not affect the subject content.

Evaluate I evaluated whether the learning tools helped improve participants‟

handwriting.

Modify I looked for ways to adapt and refine my action plan.

Data Collection and Analysis Method In the action research, to ensure the validity and reliability, I had applied three data gathering methods namely observation, interview and document analysis. During observation, I observed a specific research field to collect related data (Creswell, 2014). I have used the observation checklists with three-point scale to collect data. I also included reflective notes, as suggested by Mcniff and Whitehead (2011), to jot down my insights and ideas for improvements. To analyse, I tabulated the data to see the progress of improvements of each item evaluated. Semi-structure interviews were also conducted to probe and expand participants‟ responses according to the sample questions that I have set. I guided the participants to select suitable expressions to reveal the unobservable incidents (Burns, 2010). I theme-coded and tabulated the data after I highlighted the investigated aspects using different colours. Pupils‟ work, as suggested by Goh (2012), could act as the most useful evidence to reflect participants‟ development and understanding in the skill learnt. I scored pupils‟ work according to the rubrics, tabulated them and made them into


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graphs for analysis purposes. In order to confirm the scores, participants‟ worksheets were used in monitoring the progress of participants. Data Interpretation Method In my research, I adapted methods triangulation where more than one research methods or data collection methods will be used in data collection (Kennedy, 2009). Firstly, observation allowed me to see the progress of participants‟ performance and behaviour during the implementation of my action plan. Next, participants‟ works were strong evidence to support my point of views and observations. Interview, on the other hand, validated my rational assumptions on participants‟ progress and participants‟ preference and their view on the effectiveness of action plan. Through triangulation, the data collected were cross-referenced and the validity of the research was increased. FINDINGS Research Question 1: How can I improve the Year Four remedial pupils‟ handwriting problem? 1. Use handwriting lines and Clever Cat to improve handwriting I found that my action plan was able to help my participants in producing neat legible handwriting. From the observation checklist, I noticed that pupils were using the learning tools effectively. Table 1 Excerpt from Observation Checklist Item 1

Next, data from document analysis below shows positive development in participants‟ handwriting.

Figure 2. Participants‟ score before and after the implementation of action plan

38 30 34

48

24

40 38 36 46

30

70 76

86 80

72 78 76 78 82

74

0

20

40

60

80

100

A B C D E F G H I J

Pa

rtic

ipan

ts' S

core

Research Participants

Participants’ Score Before and After the Implementation of Action Plan

Before

After

Observation Checklist; 1) Effective usage of learning tools

Lesson Participants Frequency (%)

A B C D E F G H I J 1 40 60 0

2 10 40 50

3 0 40 60

4 0 0 100

Notes: Pupils used the learning tools when writing. They also reminded each other

about the use of learning tools.


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Figure 3. Participant‟s work before the implementation of action plan

Figure 4. Participant‟s work after the implementation of action plan

Subsequently, excerpts from interview showed that all participants‟ expressed positive perception on their improvements on handwriting.

Teacher : Do handwriting lines and Clever Cat help you in writing neatly? How?

RP B : Iyaa miss. Saya guna Clever Cat dan handwriting lines dengan bagus.

Fikir-fikir dulu posisi perkataan baru tulis. Letters sit on line like Clever

Cat. Letters mesti tegak. Cut words, no lekat lekat together.

Yes, miss. I used Handwriting lines and Clever Cat effectively. I think of

the position of letters before writing. Letters should sit on line like Clever

Cat. Letters should be straight. Letters do not stand too close together.

(Excerpt from ITP_Q1)

Research Question 2: How can Handwriting lines and Clever Cat help to improve

handwriting among the Year Four remedial pupils?

1. Improving Visual-Spatial Intelligence

Finding showed that the participants had undergone improvements in aspects of

handwriting after the implementation of action plan. Pupils‟ score in each aspect of

handwriting showed improvements.

Table 2

Participants‟ scores on various aspects of handwriting before and after


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RP OV (5pts) PS (10pts) SP (10pts) SL (10 pts) OL (10pts)

B4 AF D B4 AF D B4 AF D B4 AF D B4 AF D

A 2 4 2 1 5 4 3 6 3 4 8 4 6 8 2

B 2 4 2 2 7 5 3 7 4 3 8 5 5 8 3

C 2 5 3 3 8 5 1 8 7 4 9 5 5 9 4

D 2 5 3 4 8 4 5 8 3 5 7 2 4 8 4

E 1 4 3 1 5 4 2 8 6 2 8 6 5 8 3

F 2 5 3 3 7 4 4 7 3 5 8 3 5 9 4

G 2 4 2 4 7 3 4 7 3 2 8 6 5 8 3

H 3 4 1 2 8 5 4 8 4 2 7 5 5 8 3

I 2 5 3 3 8 5 5 7 2 5 8 3 5 9 4

J 1 4 3 1 6 5 1 8 7 4 8 4 7 8 1

Average 1.9 4.4 2.5 2.4 6.9 4.5 3.2 7.4 4.2 3.6 7.9 4.3 5.2 8.3 3.1

% 38 88 50 24 69 45 32 74 42 36 79 43 52 83 31

Note: B4 (before), AF (after), D (difference), OV (overall readability), PS (position of letter), SP (spacing between words and letters), SL(slant of letters), OL(orientation of letters to line)

To support my finding, I had interviewed the participants regarding how they use the learning tools to improve on their handwriting. Table 3 Frequency of aspects of good handwriting mentioned by participants

Aspects of good handwriting mentioned by participants

Aspects Frequency (%)

PS 90

SP 30

SL 40

OL 90

(ITP, Q1) 2. Promoting Self-evaluation

The second theme examined how promoting self-evaluation using Clever Cat can help

to improve handwriting among Year 4 remedial pupils. From the observation checklist, I

noticed that pupils were improving in self-evaluation although we did not reach a 100%

success.

Table 4 Excerpt from Observation Checklist Item 5

Observation Checklist; 5) Self-evaluation


A B C D E F G H I J

1 90 10 0

2 0 100 0

3 0 50 50

4 0 30 70

Notes: Not all pupils are mature enough to evaluate own work.


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Interviews with participants confirmed my findings. Below shows one response

from participant.

Teacher : By checking your work using Clever Cat, do you think you can produce

a better work? Why?

RP B : Boleh la miss. Kan teacher suruh padam dan tulis semula mula-mula.

Lepas tu saya check sendiri supaya tidak ditegur. Cantik juga tulisan.

Siok tengok.

Yes. Initially Miss always asked me to rub off and write again. Then, I

started checking on my own. I see my handwriting become pretty and I

feel happy.


3. Building Confidence, Motivation and Attentiveness in Writing

After investigating the cognitive domain of handwriting lines and Clever Cat, we shall look into the affective domain of the action plan. In my research, items 2) Motivation to Write, 3) Confidence in Writing, and 4) Attentiveness in Work were observed using observation checklist. Table 5 Excerpt from Observation Checklist Item 2


Observation Checklist; 2) Motivation to Write


A B C D E F G H I J

1 20 40 40

2 0 40 60

3 0 50 50

4 0 0 100

Notes: The motivation of writing can be seen in the conversation between

pupils and the conversation between teacher and pupil.

Observation Checklist; 3) Confidence in Writing


A B C D E F G H I J

1 10 70 20

2 0 70 30

3 0 40 60

4 0 0 100

Notes: The confidence of writing can be seen in pupils writing posture and

pencil grip.


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To validate my observation, I have asked participants‟ perspectives if they like to use handwriting lines and Clever Cat when writing. The participants‟ responses were all positive, yet the reasons given varied.

Teacher : Do you like writing using Handwriting lines and Clever Cat? Why?

RP D : Suka. Sangat memberi motivasi kepada saya semasa menulis. Saya

ingin buat yang terbaik supaya mendapat star. Saya lebih focus semasa

menulis. Yakin sekarang boleh tulis kemas.

I like it. (The learning process) gives me a lot of motivation when I write.

I wanted to do my best to get reward. I become more focused when

writing. I am sure that I can write neatly now.


To sum up pupils‟ responses on the interview questions, I tabulated the data

into a pictorial chart as below.

Table 12 Frequency of reasons to why participants like writing using handwriting lines and Clever Cat

Reasons for using handwriting lines and Clever Cat

Aspects Frequency (%)

AT 40

MT 60

CF 30

(ITP, Q3)

DISCUSSION Research Question 1: How can I improve the Year Four remedial pupils‟ handwriting problem? My findings show that the Year Four remedial pupils improved in their handwriting after using handwriting lines and Clever Cat when writing. Handwriting lines and Clever Cat are visual cues used to improve handwriting. Pupils can improve on their visual-spatial

Observation Checklist; 4) Attentiveness in Work


A B C D E F G H I J

1 30 30 40

2 0 50 50

3 0 30 70

4 0 0 100

Notes: The attentiveness of pupils in work can be observed from their interaction

with peers and their speed in completing work.


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skills including knowledge on where to place each letter, creating each letter with the correct dimensions, and adequately spacing each word (Citravelu, Sithamparam and Teh, 2005; Heffron, 2016). I found that handwriting lines alone was not effective to my pupils. Therefore, I created the Clever Cat. It is a motivating learning tool created based on the theory of multiple intelligences, placing focus on visual-spatial intelligence. By using pupils‟ favourite pet and deriving handwriting-related conversation (The Anonymous OT, 2017), the Clever Cat became a handy tool to remind of my pupils regarding the good aspects of handwriting.

Research Question 2: How can Handwriting lines and Clever Cat help to improve

handwriting among the Year Four remedial pupils?

Improving Visual-spatial Intelligence Visual-spatial intelligence is the capacity to perceive the visual world accurately (Thomlinson, 2014). In the context of handwriting, pupils with high visual-spatial intelligence can perceive the shape of the letters and the position of words on handwriting lines accurately. Firstly, to improve pupils‟ visual spatial intelligence, I adopted Kinsinger and Rapid‟s (2013) invention of a plurality of rectangular boxes to ensure that pupils easily know where to start after finishing one line. Secondly, the ascender line, the midpoint line, the baseline and the descender line are used to set boundaries to pupils‟ handwriting (Heffron, 2016). In Cycle One, pupils used the lines to familiarise themselves with the proportion of letters. In Cycle Two, the removal of ascender and descender lines helped pupils to get familiar with proportion of letters. Thirdly, I made the baseline dark-red because Olurino and Tayo (2015) suggest that elementary school pupils prefer the warmer side of the palette such as red, orange and yellow. It served as a good placement cue for orientation of letters to line. Fourthly, in terms of line weight, the baseline, coloured dark-red and made heaviest in term of line weight, was different from the other lines and most striking to the eyes (Julie, 2012). The bolded and coloured baseline successfully reminded pupils to have their letters sit on the line. A side from that, by positioning the Clever Cat ice-cream stick next to the handwriting lines, pupils were encouraged to extend imaginary lines from the Clever Cat when they write. They are also constantly reminded about the aspects of good handwriting. Findings had proven that the attempts made to improve visual-spatial intelligence using handwriting lines and Clever Cat was successful. Promoting Self-evaluation Self-evaluation improves pupils‟ performance, especially on written work, and motivates them to improve their learning (Dyer, 2015). The development of effective self-evaluation takes considerable time and effort. When it is smoothly implemented, the evaluation process will be evident, particularly in pupils‟ written work. It helps to create a classroom culture where errors are valued as learning opportunities which is a very relevant issue to my classroom. Based on my finding, the self-evaluation process was not a complete success because some pupils might not be mature enough to evaluate their own work. I have reflected and made suggestions for improvements on this aspect.


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Building Attentiveness, Motivation and Confidence in Writing The action plan involving handwriting lines and Clever Cat has a secondary aim, which is to build up pupils‟ attentiveness, motivation and confidence in handwriting. In developing attentiveness in work, the learning tools provide multisensory experiences to pupils by tapping into their learning strengths by making connections and forming memories (Morin, 2014). Motivation was built through the fun handwriting conversation stimulated from the learning tools. These handwriting conversations encourage young writers to willingly engage in writing activities (The Anonymous OT, 2017). When pupils were become more attentive and motivated, their confidence in handwriting heightened. As Hadley (2001) said, confidence is the key to improvements. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Firstly, I would like to propose the use of handwriting lines and Clever Cat among the lower primary pupils to rectify their handwriting problem because a strong foundation should be built starting from the early school years (Marr, Windsor and Cermad, 2001). Secondly, I would like to suggest a study regarding the effect of peer evaluation in improving handwriting. According to Farrar and Cornin (2017), it might be able to help pupils to understand the importance of readability in a piece of work and therefore raise pupils‟ awareness on the importance of producing legible handwriting. CONCLUSION In conclusion, handwriting lines and Clever Cat are useful learning tools to improve my Year Four remedial pupils‟ handwriting. Handwriting lines and Clever Cat are excellent visual cues to improve visual-spatial intelligence, to promote self-evaluation and to develop attentiveness, motivation and confidence in writing. REFERENCES Burns, A. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners. New York: Routeledge.

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USING HANDWRITING LINES AND CLEVER CAT TO IMPROVE