Further to my last post, please see another more recent article of June 2, 2014 printed in the Science Section of The New York Times asking the question, "Does handwriting matter?" Please note the interesting points raised here as well as the further coverage of psychologist Karin Harmin-James's 2012 Study on children's brain scans and their handwriting...

Although this article was printed on April 12, 2012, it raises some amazingly valid research points in favor of the necessity of Cursive Handwriting Instruction in schools in spite of the increase in key-boarding. I feel the most impressive points are Indiana Univ. Karin Harmin-James's MRI brain-scans of children and Neuroscientist Norman Doidge's book which discusses how the brain changes and develops neuropathways in relation to habit changes and repeated actions. Further, Doidge's research describes how handwriting and keyboarding require different actions and affect the brain in different ways.

Today I attended a Zaner-Bloser sponsored workshop on Spelling and Word Study for Literacy with research presented by J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D., who is key to Zaner's Spelling Program. Please look at the link and be sure to read his replies to questions on pages 10-14 - interesting material...

I found this to be an interesting offer by SCHOLASTIC.COM and am considering whether it will fit in with our Summer Reading Assignment - check it out...

Penny Kittle and First Book joined ILA on Thursday, April 9th to discuss ways to keep students reading and learning during summer vacation in order to avoid student "slide" in their reading skills. I found this interesting reading for different viewpoints and ideas- let me know what you think!

I have found these wonderful reading lists with Children's Choices, Teacher's Choices, and Young Adult Choices. Check out these lists for some ideas for some additions to the 2015 Summer Reading Lists!