Hinges Are a Part of You

Summary

These activities are designed to promote writing readiness addressing dominate hand use, small muscle development, eye-hand coordination, ability to copy, and an orientation to reading readiness.

Materials

• Eight 6" pipe cleaners per child
• Eight 10" pipe cleaners per child
• 2 large pieces of paper per child
• Crayons
• Motor Skills Cue Cards
• Writing paper
• Pencil
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Hinges
• Movement CD's
• Real door hinges
• Small motor skills checklist
• CD Player
• Model of a human joint

Additional Resources

• CD & Book, Music Movement, Steven Traugh, ISBN 2554444, Teacher's Discount www.tdbestprice.com
• CD Action, & Fun, Teachers Discount, ISBN 277942, www.tdbestprice.com
• 2003-2004 Utah Core Academy Kindergarten
• CD Dr. Jean, Friends and Letters

Background for Teachers

Handwriting is used in every aspect of education and daily activities. These activities are designed to promote writing readiness addressing dominate hand use, small muscle development, eye-hand coordination, ability to copy, and an orientation to reading readiness. A child's ability to scribble, hold a writing tool correctly, and draw an object from memory results in their reading readiness, formal handwriting and remembering details. Good modeling is important for writing readiness.

Intended Learning Outcomes

4. Develop physical skill and personal hygiene.

Instructional Procedures

Invitation to Learn
Raise both hands in the air. Pick up the crayon and write your name on the paper on your desk. Raise your hands again. This time put the hand you used behind your back and use the other hand to write your name. This is a good way to start your small motor activities. Discuss how hard it is to write with the hand that has not been developed for writing skills.

Instructional Procedures

1. Give each child four pieces of pipe cleaners. Tell the students to experiment with them and try to make one or two different figures. Watch the children as they work with the pipe cleaners. Observe how they use their hands to form different objects.
2. Talk to the students about the joints in your body and how they are like hinges. Show them how a real hinge works. Compare this movement to a body joint model. You may want to bring several different sizes of hinges.
3. Have the students look at their hands. Ask them to find the different hinges in their hands and fingers. Ask them to bend their hands and fingers as you demonstrate to them how their hands and fingers work like hinges. Talk about what hinges you have to use to hold a pencil, open and close their hands.
4. Teach them the song "Hinges."
5. Show several motor skill cards and ask them to identify the position.
6. Give them four additional pieces of pipe cleaners. Demonstrate how to make a stick figure, one piece for the head, one piece for the body, one piece for the arms, and one piece for the legs.
7. Use the Motor Skills Cue Cards to discuss other hinges in the body. Display the cards.
8. Let them practice making the different positions with their stick figure. Give them time to experiment.
9. Let them make their favorite position and have them set the stick figure down on their table. This will remind students of the different large motor positions and it gives them an opportunity to work with their small motor muscles. Using the large pieces of paper have the students draw the position of their stick figure. Also have them copy the words on the card that describes their position.
10. Let the children use their stick figures as a model as they draw different positions on a large piece of paper. This indicates eye hand coordination and the transfer of information.
11. Use the children's drawings to help compose a story about what we do at school. Display the pictures around the room. Using large chart paper write the ideas that the children bring up. You can direct a story with their ideas.
12. After a few sentences have been written have the students act out the story using the motor skills positions in the story. Each child will copy the story on their own writing papers.

Extensions

Curriculum Extension/Adaptations/ Integration

• Advanced students could start to write their own stories using pictures and some words they are familiar with.
• Students could also share their own versions of their stories with the class.
• Clay could also be used to make stick figures.

Family Connections
The child can take home their pipe cleaner stick figures. Provide a home note explaining your class activity and ways parents can encourage small and large motor skills such as holding a pencil correctly, copying letters, figures, and numbers.

Assessment Plan

Assessment Suggestions

• Observe the children as they participate in the activity. Watch for understanding following directions and meaning of activity cards and positions.

• Observe the use of their small motor skills.

• Use the pre- and post- check list to account for the understanding and mastery of the small motor skills.

Clay could also be used to make stick figures.

Writing Extensions (2003-2004 Kindergarten Core Academy Activity: Aluminum Stick Figures)

Bibliography

Research Basis Concepts

Deborah Marr, (2001) Handwriting readiness: Locatives and Visuomotor skills in the Kindergarten year, ECRP, Spring Volume #3, 1-17

This study visits the idea that handwriting is an integral part of every child's school experience, promoting knowledge of spatial and temporal concepts along with the development of graphomotor tasks.

John Cabin ,MD (2004) Handwriting without tears, Readiness Research Carither, B. & Farquharson,F. (2004). Learning Styles, Orlando, FL: Valerncia Community College, Retrieved March 2004 from the World Wide Web.

Hood, K. (1995). Exploring Learning Styles and Instruction. Athens, GA: University of Georgia. Retrieved from the World Wide Web, March 2004.

This group of studies indicates that student achievement is significantly increased with multi-sensory instruction. Awareness of this finding will immensely help teachers in both the design and the implementation of teaching that enhances learning.

Dr. Wayne D. Lance,(2005) Teaching writing: Preschool, kindergarten, and First grade, international children's education,1,2,3, Retrieved, February 1992 Issue of Parents Teaching Overseas.

This article indicates that the preparation for writing should begin at home in the preschool years. These steps are important to help a child have success in Kindergarten and First Grade writing experiences.