A.

Attention Getter : (slide 1) According to the National Center for learning Disabilities,​ “1

in 5 children in the U.S. have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and

ADHD” (2017). ​Calculating that out, it is about 15 million children in the United States

alone​. Going even further, that is about 4 or 5 of the people in this room.

B. Establish Need: (Slide 2) This is William, my little brother. I have had to watch him

struggle in school because of his learning disabilities, like dyslexia and dysgraphia. ​He

has to be taken out of classes to get extra help with his tests and assignments. (slide 3) I

have watched him come home day after day frustrated and hating that he has to be taken

out of class making him fall behind. ​I discovered that he never had to learn cursive

writing because it wasn’t required during his younger years like it was in mine. (slide 4)

Technology has started to take priority over learning cursive. Therefore, cursive writing

has faded out of the classrooms because of the Common Core requirements, and at the

same time the number of children with learning disabilities has increased. (slide 5)

According to Salem from the US news, ​“The number of students ​receiving special

education in public schools is rising, with about 13 percent of all students receiving

such instruction, according to a recent study”​ ​(Salem 2018).​ ​However, cursive has

many benefits that would help the lives of students with learning disabilities.

C. Satisfy Need: (slide 6) Cursive writing helps students to spell better, have improved

reading skills, and make less errors when writing. Children with learning disabilities

struggle with writing their letters and words correctly. Instead of writing the word like,

they would spell it ‘liek’. From District Administration, De La Rosa explains, (slide 7)

“But it’s not just about forming the letters, it is also about linking letters into word
units, and that helps a student learn to spell words” (De La Rosa 2017).​ (Slide 8)

Being able to put the letters together when they are writing helps the students visualize

the word. The flow of the word in one continuous stroke prevents them from flipping the

word around. Unlike in print writing where the letters are spaced out from one another

and easier to mix up. (Slide 9) In an experiment done by PLoS ONE, Semeraro explains,

“Achievements in spelling and word reading was higher in the experimental group

[cursive writing only group]” (Semeraro 2019).​ These results show that between

cursive writing and print writing, learning cursive benefitted the students more in both

reading and spelling. Semeraro goes on to explain more results on the same experiment,

(Slide 10) ​“In addition, we observed that children who only learned the cursive type

made faster improvement in reading” (Semeraro 2019). ​Cursive writing has helped

children to read, whether the writing is in print or cursive. Another big problem that

children with dyslexia face is the switching of letters when writing, however Meadows

and Roberto from the European Journal explain with cursive the (Slide 11) ​“long d,b,p,q

letters look entirely different and cannot be confused with each other” (Meadows

and Roberto, 2016).​ Therefore, it will be a lot easier for children to write down their

thoughts without having to erase letters from a mix up. (Slide 12) Printed letters are

blocky, which is an unnatural movement for our hands to make, and most of the letters

look similar to each other, which causes a lot of mix ups. Cursive writing is written using

the same natural movement for each letter, Schachter from Scholastic describes, (Slide

13) ​“Even the mechanics of writing can bedevil a dyslexic learner, and many

elementary teachers have had success with cursive writing, since each letter can
 begin on the same baseline” (Schachter). ​Cursive writing has been used before in some

classrooms to help children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, so why isn’t it

being used now?

D. Visualize Consequences: (Slide 14) Without cursive writing, the number of students that

are receiving special education will continue to increase. Children will have a hard time

reading and writing, and will continue to mix up their letters. (Slide 15)They might

continue to struggle throughout their lives, having low self esteem because they were

always behind in class, having low grades because they don’t read their assignments and

tests correctly, and possibly being seen as the odd one out. (Slide 16) These unfavorable

possibilities might bleed into their adult life, causing them to not get a decent job because

the employers don’t understand that they are struggling. However, cursive writing won’t

stop children from developing learning disabilities, but it is a way to combat the effects

the disabilities cause.

E. Call to Action: (slide 17)Teaching cursive writing needs to be required in schools, so that

children can spell better, have improved reading skills, and make less errors when

writing. The only way for change to happen is to take action now. Get on your local

school board and make a difference. (Slide 18)To do this you must contact Joyce Coil,

the President of the School Board, at joyce.coil@cfschools.org. With permission from

Joyce, you can attend their meetings and state your case that you want cursive writing to

be required and taught in the school district. (slide 19) You can also campaign to become

a member of the school board. This way you have more influence on what is required for

the students. You can find more information at ​http://www.cfschools.org/school-board

(slide 20) Let’s work together to change schools for the better, by requiring cursive

writing to be taught. Then, my brother will be able to go to school knowing that he is

making improvements in reading and writing which will better his future.
 References

De La Rosa, S. (2017, April). ​Cursive Writing Gains Renewed Momentum.​ Retrieved March 4,

2019 from

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Meadows, F. and Roberto, C. (2016, June). ​If You Teach Them to Write They Will Read.

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​ etrieved April 25, 2019, from

Schachter, R. (n.d.) ​Dyslexia: What Teachers Need to Know. R

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/dyslexia-what-teachers-ne

ed-know/
Semeraro, C. (2019, February 7). ​Teaching of Cursive Writing in the First Year in the First Year

of Primary School: Effect on Reading and Writing Skills​.​ ​Retrieved March 4, 2019, from

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The State of LD: Understanding the 1 in 5. ​(2017, May 2). Retrieved April 24, 2019, from

https://www.ncld.org/archives/blog/the-state-of-ld-understanding-the-1-in-5