Teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing.

Before students can focus attention on developing and communicating ideas in writing, they’ll need to master practical skills such as handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing. Students are more likely to use words they are comfortable spelling. Therefore, building strong spelling skills will give students a greater flexibility with word choice, improving their ability to express their ideas. Students who understand sentence construction can create strong, interesting, and varied-length phrasing that conveys their intended meaning. When they have skills in handwriting, typing, and using word processor software, students can create strong content. Acquiring and strengthening these skills in early grades helps students avoid obstacles later.