*Jordan

=//**This page is from 2013-2014... Resolved: Children should learn to write in cursive handwriting.**//= //**(Jordan's work is a great example of keeping everything together - scroll down for the whole picture.)**//

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 * ........TITLE or HEADLINE........ || ........AUTHOR and DATE........ || ........WEBSITE or publisher........ || ........LINK copy/pasted........ || ........added by ........
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 * Should schools still be teaching cursive? || By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin

found on 10-23-13 ||  || [] || Jordan ||
 * Should cursive writing still be taught in school? || By Staff Report

August 19th, 2013 ||  || [] || Jordan ||
 * Is cursive's day in classroom done? || By Denise Smith Amos, The Cincinnati Enquirer

August 12, 2013 ||  || [] || Jordan ||
 * Should Cursive Writing Be Taught in School? || By [|Amy McVay Abbott]

July 31, 2013 ||  || [] || Jordan ||
 * Is cursive writing dead? || Livescience.com

June 28, 2013 || Livescience.com || [] || Jordan ||
 * Does Cursive Need to Be Taught in the Digital Age? || By twalker

July 22, 2013 ||  || [] || Jordan || First draft of First affirmative speech

Jordan Haytaia Hello, my name is Jordan Haytaian and I am part of the Mansfield Elementary affirmative debate team. The saying is that a single spark is all you need to start a fire, and I am here to talk to you about how one sentence in the trial of George Zimmerman sparked this world-wide debate. My partner and I support the resolution: Resolved- Children should learn to write in cursive handwriting. I shall now state my case:

1) In the George Zimmerman trial, a man accused of killing a Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, a witness Rachel Jeantel was called to the stand and handed a document from a lawyer. She claimed that the document was illegible to her because it was written in cursive. Though, as said by Amy McVay Abbott on July 31, 2013 “ But with schools cutting programs to teach cursive writing skills because of the supposed cost-savings, how could we judge Jeantel?” 2) Recently the Common Core standards have been put into place. The Common Core standards place a necessity on keyboarding skills for all standardized testing will be done online in the next couple of years yet they say nothing about the requirement of cursive handwriting. 41 states have already dropped this skill and something needs to be done before the whole country is out of practice. 3) As a test debate trial, we had the resolution of Resolved: sugary cereals should be outlawed and that helped us to learn about how technology is causing people to get less and less exercise every day. “If technology prevents us from honing skills that are intrinsically human, I wonder if that can be called progress” says Sherry Posnick- Goodwin, the author of the article __Should Schools Still be Teaching Cursive?__, which I found on October 23, 2013. 4) Historical documents are obviously important towards the history of our country and many of them are written in cursive. Sure, we can always type them on a word document and still have the same words and letters, but how can children experience the thrill of actually seeing the same paper used to write the Declaration of Independence or some other important piece of work. The ink actually used to write with the feather quill is not at all the same as the ink used in our printers. 5) I remember first learning cursive when I was 5 years old. My grandmother had written down words and I would copy them until I could write pretty fluently. “It's a rite of passage to be able to write like grown-ups.” States Staff report on August 19, 2013 and I agree. Almost every child knows that once you learn cursive you are finally growing up and who are we to take that wonderful experience out of their lives? 6) Our signature is something that brings independence and unique characteristics into our lives. No one forms the letters the same and that’s one of the things that makes everyone special. Take cursive away and children won’t have signatures to sign. Most people are looking at the surface and saying why what’s that harm in just taking away a form of writing, but look deeper than that. Taking away originality can crush someone’s spirit and suddenly take away their special shine. The world would be very boring if we were all the same and that’s what’s going to happen if cursive if removed from our daily lives. 7) Finally, how does cursive benefit our learning and understanding of subjects other than writing? “Experts have said handwriting training helps small children develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and other brain and memory functions” is said by Denise Smith Amos from The Cincinnati Enquirer on August 12, 2013. Every year children are required to take standardized tests and studies show that children who wrote in cursive scored a slightly better score than those who printed. Taking away cursive will take away the benefits that it provides and slowly decrease test scores. All parents would probably agree that they want their children to do their very best in school and cursive will help them achieve that goal. My partner will later explain our plan, but now I want to leave you with the final impression that there is no need to take away cursive from both the lives of children and adults. Not only will our own special way of forming letters and writing our names be lost, but the history of our country will soon become a lost ancient treasure. Technology cannot take over our lives unless we are looking to become robots without any unique characteristics. “ Closing the book on cursive could limit some children's futures” says Jeffrey Mims Jr., a longtime educator who represents several other counties on the state school board, and I think that we would all agree that nobody wants that to happen.

Request of affirmative side

Jordan Haytaian Why I would like to be on the Affirmative Team

Although I feel that my printing is nicer, neater, and faster than cursive handwriting I understand the need for it to be taught. When we were assigned to make our web of ideas I found that I had many more ideas for the affirmative side rather than the negative. I can easily relate to why cursive is necessary, though I am always up for a challenge. Being put on the negative side wouldn’t be the end of the world for me, but I would rather be part of the affirmative team. Ms. Baker has told us that from her previous experiences, she has noticed that 7th graders are better at expressing their feelings. If I was to go to the tournament and was put up against 7th graders I feel that my feelings would be better expressed if I felt more confident and convinced that my side was the right way to go.

Famous Quotes [|I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.] [|Thomas Jefferson]

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.*
 * [|Confucius] **


 * [|Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.] **
 * [|Ralph Waldo Emerson] **


 * [|Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.] **
 * [|Benjamin Franklin] **


 * [|He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.] **
 * [|Friedrich Nietzsche] **


 * [|I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.] **


 * [|Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.***] **
 * [|Bill Gates] **


 * [|The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.] **
 * [|John F. Kennedy] **


 * [|Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.] **
 * [|Mitchell Kapor] **


 * A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life****.**
 * [| Charles Darwin]**
 * [|Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.***] **
 * [|Confucius] **


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Cursive connects us to our past and our future
 * Should fancy loops and flowing letters of cursive still be taught to students? Is cursive writing an obsolete skill no longer relevant in today’s technological society? **
 * The new Common Core State Standards for English do not require cursive. However, under the new standards,states are allowed to teach cursive if they choose, and California still does. Some states, like Georgia, are considering abandoning longhand lessons altogether, since cursive is not on standardized tests. **
 * This issue is being hotly debated in teacher lunchrooms around the state. We asked two CTA members to weigh in. Here’s what they have to say. **
 * By Eldra Avery **
 * We create our own culture. If we deem a skill irrelevant, than we eliminate that skill. If we believe that a skill is worthy, then we will work to reinforce that skill. Legible penmanship is a worthy skill, not only as a communication tool, but as a portion of our individual identity. **
 * As opposed to keyboarding, handwriting is a reflection of our humanity and connects us to our past and to our future. If students can’t write cursive, they can’t read cursive. And if they can’t read cursive, how can they read historical documents, like the Declaration of Independence? **
 * We dream of a future with technology and less labor as our savior, but truthfully, if technology prevents us from honing skills that are intrinsically human, I wonder if that can be called “progress.” **
 * I failed a handwriting assignment in eighth grade, and my teacher told me that I was way too smart to have that type of penmanship. So I improved my handwriting and now have beautiful handwriting. I teach AP English, and at times I have forced all of my students to do assignments in cursive. Since students will be taking timed writing exams throughout their educational career, it is imperative that they practice writing at a speed that will enable them to finish their task. When you have three letters connected in a word, it flows, and when you lift the pen only at the end of a word, it is faster than printing, which lifts the pen at the completion of each letter. **
 * Legible penmanship is not a skill that can be purchased; therefore, it is one more way to create equity in the classroom. Through practice comes improvement, and with improvement comes self-esteem and pride in a task successfully accomplished. In a society that equates status with wealth, it is refreshing to see status awarded for practice and accomplishment. **
 * Penmanship develops fine motor skills, and most students find that when they practice, they can radically improve their handwriting. With Internet plagiarism a concern, many teachers have increased in-class writing assignments, and these essays must be legible. **
 * Copying text is a process that promotes “internalizing language.” Because students are continually distracted by technology, they spend fewer hours reading, which translates to inadequate “internalizing of language.” Copying by hand can help many students. My students complete a poetry explication paper each year. Many of them tell me that they couldn’t begin to understand their poem until they copied it by hand. **
 * Penmanship is an art form, and in truth, if you want to get someone’s attention, handwrite your note. An e-mail can get deleted in a millisecond; not so with a handwritten communication. Communication through handwriting will always be a necessity. To imagine that the entire world will communicate via keyboard access is a rather narrow view. **
 * // Eldra Avery is an English teacher at San Luis Obispo High School and a San Luis Coastal Teachers Association member. //**

Cursive is unnecessary Cursive helps coordination, motor skills, backers say
 * By Dustin Ellis **
 * Cursive is unnecessary, as was calligraphy before it. Writing is a means to communicate, and we are past the world of the physical art of writing. Whatever could be created by the pen can now be recreated by the computer. This is the world our students live in. If they can print, they can communicate in the written word. If they need it to be beautiful, computers have many font options to do just that. **
 * According to state standards, kids must learn cursive in third grade. When they come to me in fourth grade, they are out of practice and their cursive is a train wreck. Half of what they write is unreadable. Writing needs to be a functional thing, and students should be able to do that any way they can. **
 * I’ve heard colleagues say students write faster in cursive, but I have timed my students, and they take longer to write in cursive than if they are printing. I have noticed this on test prep for STAR exams. **
 * When it comes to the argument that cursive helps fine motor skills, I disagree. Cursive is not all that different from printing. Students can still learn to make curves in printing as well as straight lines, which is not possible with cursive, since it is all circular. **
 * One hundred years ago, every student learned calligraphy. Some people had to pay an artist to do calligraphy for them. But calligraphy is now dead, for all intents and purposes, and you don’t need it to be a successful writer. The same is now true of cursive. **
 * I want my students to be compatible and competitive with what the world is going to look like in 20 years. Cursive is not going to be a part of that world. In the next 10 years, every piece of historical source documents will be digitalized and translated into standard font. Students who will go on to become historians can learn cursive, but most of them are not going to be spending a lot of time looking at source documents. **
 * There is so much information that teachers have to cover nowadays for state tests, plus there is character education and much more. At the beginning of school, I send home a packet and ask students to practice cursive and turn it in to me in a month. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the trade-offs I have to make. **
 * I teach in a high-performing school, and many parents say they want more “challenges” for their child, and they put cursive in this context. But I am not going to spend a lot of time on this because this is the age of iPads, cell phones and computers. When a kid can text 70 words per minute, does he really need to learn cursive? **
 * // Dustin Ellis is a fourth-grade teacher at Big Springs Elementary School in Simi Valley and a Simi Education Association member. //**
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 * We’ve received a number of letters to Forum in recent weeks outlining the possible benefits of the new Common Core, as well as listing the likely hazards of the new education standards. We are sure more comments will be coming as Common Core is put into place.A new talking point in the Common Core debate has surfaced, however, one that has captured the attention readers of this page several times before. USA Today reported last week the new standards could mean cursive writing will no longer be taught in public schools.The paper noted that while Common Core standards are “silent” on cursive instruction, many public schools might decide to stop teaching it. As many as 41 states no longer require local schools to teach cursive writing.Common Core places a priority on computer use and keyboarding skills, which makes sense because the new tests are to be taken on computers. In this age of texting, many educators say cursive writing has become as antiquated as quill pens and inkwells.When the College Board introduced a written essay section on the SAT for the class of 2006, 15 percent of the approximately 1.5 million students who took the test wrote in cursive. The other 85 percent printed.Still, it may be too early to write an obituary for a handwriting style that has frustrated students, teachers and parents for decades. While computers have replaced pencil and paper in terms of communication, some teachers say they are not ready to junk their cursive writing exercise books.State lawmakers and pencil and paper suppliers are also weighing into the debate. Several bills have been introduced into the state legislatures of North Carolina, Indiana and Idaho mandating cursive instruction. USA Today reports some of those bills were supported by companies that sell writing materials.We’d like to hear from you on this subject. Is cursive writing still a necessary skill that should be taught in public schools?Send your comments to Mailbag, P.O. Box 1717 Johnson City, TN 37605-1717, or mailbag@johnsoncitypress.com. Please include your name, telephone number and address for verification.We will print your responses on the Opinion pages in the coming weeks - See more at: [|http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/110343/should-cursive-writing-still-be-taught-in-school#sthash.FSTerQ4M.dpuf]**
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 * As schools swap out old state standards for [| new Common Core academics], educators are warning about an overlooked casualty of progress – cursive handwriting.**
 * They say that, because Common Core standards don't call for cursive instruction, public schools are more likely to drop or, at least, de-emphasize it. Their fears are not unfounded.**
 * -- At least 41 states do not require public schools to teach cursive reading or writing.**
 * -- Common Core is silent on cursive, but it prioritizes computer use and keyboarding skills because its tests are taken on computers. Even before Common Core, many schools, in response to No Child Left Behind laws, had already narrowed their curricula mostly to the subjects being tested by their states. Even in the 1990s, cursive writing got less and less instructional time, teachers said.**
 * Earlier this year, bills were introduced in state legislatures in North and South Carolina, Indiana and Idaho mandating cursive instruction. In some cases, the bills were supported by companies that sell writing materials.**
 * Jeffrey Mims Jr., a longtime educator who represents Butler and several other counties on the state school board, said closing the book on cursive could limit some children's futures. "I don't understand the need to eliminate it," he said.**
 * "I think it's a basic element of students' control and peace of mind. You pay attention to what you're doing when you're writing in that format."**
 * The cursive question has become a national one recently.**
 * In the murder trial of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, Trayvon's 19-year-old friend, Rachel Jeantel, testified to being on a cellphone talking with him just before his death. Many in the courtroom were shocked, though, when Jeantel admitted on the stand that she could not read a document a lawyer handed to her -- because it was written in cursive.**
 * Experts have said handwriting training helps small children develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and other brain and memory functions. Mims said cursive writing could be important for children who grow to be a surgeon, a painter or some other professional requiring laser-like precision with their hands.**
 * Even educators who like cursive admit they are of two minds about whether it should remain a classroom staple.**
 * When Lockland Elementary's third-grade teacher Cheryl Adams saw that Common Core lacked a cursive requirement, she quietly celebrated, believing she'd have more time to teach other essentials, such as reading. But her principal at the time informed her she'll still be teaching cursive, mandatory or not.**
 * Adams doesn't mind, she said, because her students like cursive writing. "It's not art, but it is artistic," she said. "I think it's just a time when they can sit and copy this letter over and over and practice it. I think it's restful for them."**
 * Catholic schools, long known for emphasizing penmanship, are still teaching it but are using less class time, said Kathy Mears, the National Catholic Education Association's executive director of elementary schools. Instead of getting it a half hour or so a day, she said, students may get 15 minutes' practice three times a week.**
 * "I would not drop it, because I do think it's important for the development of children, but … I realize we've given teachers more to teach but not more time," Mears said.**
 * An online poll by Harris Interactive in June showed 79 percent of adult respondents and 68 percent of kids, ages 8-18, think cursive should still be taught. Nearly 49 percent of adults and 35 percent of youth say practicing reading and writing in cursive improves literacy.**
 * The poll, paid for by pencil maker Mega Brands America, is neither random nor representative of the entire country. It does bear out some biases against those who can't read cursive, however.**
 * When asked what they assume about people who can't read or write cursive, 30 percent of adults polled and 25 percent of children judged the person as less literate, and 7 percent of adults and 11 percent of children assumed they are "just not smart."**
 * Steve Moore, a retired chemical engineer who consults with businesses, said cursive was not essential in his 30-plus years at Proctor & Gamble. "You have to be able to express yourself in writing," he said. "But in today's world all the critical writing is being done on a keyboard."**
 * Many of today's teens are more comfortable texting on cellphones, touch-typing on iPads or tapping on laptop keys.**
 * "A lot of children … can't really read cursive right now," Mears said. "I don't think it's life-altering, that you won't survive in the world if you can't read cursive."**
 * But they may be missing out on some intangible benefits, said Cincinnati Country Day's Shanna Morarity, a second-grade teacher who teaches cursive. For some kids, she said, it's a rite of passage to be able to write like grown-ups.**
 * "Children like it, and it promotes perseverance," she said. "Because they enjoy it, they are determined to write full words and they love writing their names."**


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 * Are you old enough to remember learning to do [|cursive writing] each school day, with a fat pencil on lined, horizontal notebooks? My recent brush with what some consider to be an outdated mode of writing has convinced me that those who want to eliminate cursive handwriting from public schools are in the wrong.**


 * In June, my brother researched our family history at a genealogy center in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Our family hails from Ulster Scots, Protestants who sailed across the Irish Sea to Ireland for a better life.**


 * Our ancestors came to America shortly after the Irish potato blight in mid-century. My brother sought information about family in Ulster.**


 * An archivist handed him a delicate, handwritten diary from 1840, that belonged to an Elizabeth with the same surname. What made it so remarkable was that Elizabeth had beautiful, legible cursive handwriting, and there were a few clues about our shared history. Her handwriting tells us that she was literate; that alone is a significant clue. What a treasure!**


 * But it started me thinking — is cursive writing, like the delicate remembrances of my ancestor Elizabeth, dead? The issue recently came into national focus when [|George Zimmerman trial] witness Rachel Jeantel admitted she couldn’t read cursive writing. But with schools cutting programs to teach cursive writing skills because of the supposed cost-savings, how could we judge Jeantel?**


 * In many school districts, students are weeks or even days away from a new school year. Today, children don’t receive the penmanship training that some of us, and our parents and grandparents received. The [|//Boston Globe//] recently weighed in on the disappearing penmanship classes:**


 * //“To previous generations, clear and speedy handwriting was essential to everything from public documents to personal letters to generals’ orders in battle. As literacy became more widespread, various handwriting methods arose. There was italic, starting in the 15th century, and then in the 17th century came roundhand – called copperplate in the United States – seen in the Declaration of Independence and the script of Benjamin Franklin. In the 1820s, Platt Rogers Spencer developed the Spencerian script, which became the American standard in schools (it survives in the Coca-Cola logo).”//**


 * The premiere method of penmanship–that simple, flared work of art that graced our great-aunt Zoe’s flowered notes–is a gift of [|A.N. Palmer], whose method of writing lacked the ornamentation and serifs of the Spencer method. Palmer’s approach caught on, and millions of early 20th century Americans were taught with the Palmer Method.**


 * Some may remember writing each day in the early grades, first with a fat pencil on lined horizontal notebooks.**

As Archaic as the Land Line Phone and Manual Typewriters. **Morgan Polikoff, a University of Southern California education professor, set out the case for letting the skill of cursive writing ride off into the sunset. His thesis is that today’s common curriculum programs focus on the correct skill sets to move students into an educated adulthood. In May, Polikoff published a brief article in the [|//New York Times//], entitled “Let It Die. It’s Already Dying,” and noted:**


 * //“The// [|//Common Core//] //standards are well constructed and full of the essential skills students need to succeed in reading and writing////. The architects of the standards certainly weighed the inclusion of cursive and believed there was no need to include it. Thus, educators and policymakers should resist the urge to add more skills. Doing so would simply result in a crowded, less-focused curriculum, undermining the strength of the standards.”//**


 * I understand his point, though I’m a hold-out and still send cards and letters. As a purist, I also use a fountain pen and fine ink on quality paper. Many state education departments agree with Polikoff’s stance that cursive writing should be retired, along with the “abacus and slide rule.” My state of Indiana made penmanship optional in 2011 .**


 * One argument the anti-cursive folks throw out is that a signature is no longer needed in many cases. While I delighted in signing my marriage certificate at the same courthouse where my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents also signed their names, many situations today use “e-signatures.” [|//PCWorld//] reports that the electronic signature carries the same weight as the written signature.**

On the Other Hand, Why Keep Penmanship? **Rep. Linden Bateman, an Idaho state legislature, started a national discussion when he pushed legislation to keep penmanship in the curriculum in Idaho. He caught the attention of several pro-penmanship organizations, including the National Association of Handwriting Analysis foundation. Sheila Lowe, the Foundation’s President, is also behind the national “Campaign for Cursive” program.**


 * From the //__Idaho Reporter__// article: “[Lowe] says that recent research at the University of Washington reveals that areas of the brain having to do with learning, language and working memory “light up” during cursive writing in ways that they do not with keyboarding or printed writing:**


 * //“We do so much with keyboarding these days, but we can’t afford to lose the development that a child sustains with cursive writing,” she said.//**


 * While 40 states have eliminated formal penmanship training from their curriculum, some parents are finding ways to get their children up to speed with cursive writing and reading. Some elementary schools even have penmanship clubs after school.**

“Grandma, I found this ancient external drive with your blog on it!” **Will our children find USB drives hidden in some far-away museum with our family blogs on them?**


 * While my own child is out of grammar school, I still fall on the side that cursive writing has a place. I understand that today’s global economy demands a curriculum that is world-class, but ‘ll still dip my Italian crystal quill into a bottle of sepia-toned platinum ink and enjoy the almost sensual pleasure of signing my name on crisp vellum.**


 * //Amy McVay Abbott is an independent journalist from the Midwest, who focuses on health and rehabilitation issues. She is also the author of two books, both available on Amazon.com,// //A Piece of Her Mind// //(2013) and// //The Luxury of Daydreams// //(2011). These books are collections from her popular newspaper column, The Raven Lunatic. Follow her on Twitter// //@ravenonhealth// //or visit her website at// //amyabbottwrites// //.//**

Carrying the cursive torch Higher test scores? ** Anderson points critics to a recent study by the College Board, which found that SAT test essays written in cursive received a slightly higher score than those written in printed letters. But Polikoff and others aren't impressed. The College Board study "is not evidence of anything," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It doesn't indicate that the knowledge of cursive causes higher scores." "As we have done with the abacus and the slide rule, it is time to retire the teaching of cursive," Polikoff told The New York Times. "The writing is on the wall." Follow Marc Lallanilla on [|Twitter]and [|Google+]. Follow us [|@livescience], [|Facebook]& [|Google+]. Original article on [|LiveScience.com]. [|8 Weird Statistics About Daily Life] [|Image Gallery: Ancient Texts Go Online] [|10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp] Livescience.com. All rights reserved.
 * //Image courtesy Amy McVay Abbott//**
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 * //#5//**
 * A single sentence, uttered in the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin, has catapulted an issue into the national spotlight. **
 * When asked if she could read a letter in court, witness Rachel Jeantel, her head bowed, murmured with embarrassment, "I don't read cursive," according to court testimony. **
 * Is it any surprise that cursive -- the looped, curvaceous style of handwriting that's been a mainstay of education for generations -- is all but dead? [[|15 Weird Things We Do Everyday, and Why]] **
 * "Cursive should be allowed to die. In fact, it's already dying, despite having been taught for decades," Morgan Polikoff, assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, told [|The New York Times.] **
 * "Very small proportions of adults use cursive for their day-to-day writing," Polikoff said. "Much of our communication is done on a keyboard, and the rest is done with print." **
 * The recently established Common Core State Standards, the standardized educational benchmarks for U.S. public schools, omit cursive as a requirement. Some states, including Indiana and Hawaii, had dropped cursive from their curricula in favor of keyboard proficiency as early as 2011. **
 * "I think it's important to have nice handwriting, but the importance of having to learn two kinds of handwriting seems unnecessary given the vast method of communication is on a keyboard," Polikoff told the [|Los Angeles Times]. **
 * Nonetheless, cursive has its aficionados, who note that many historical documents will be illegible if people can't read or write in cursive. **
 * "Cursive writing is a long-held cultural tradition in this country and should continue to be taught; not just for the sake of tradition, but also to preserve the history of our nation," Jimmy Bryant, director of archives and special collections at the University of Central Arkansas, told The New York Times. **
 * Others claim cursive is important because it's faster andmore efficient than printed writing. **
 * "It's not calligraphy. It's functional," Suzanne Asherson of Handwriting Without Tears, a handwriting program for teachers, told the Los Angeles Times. "When a childknows the mechanics of forming letters in cursive, they can better focus on their content." **
 * Handwriting Without Tears advocates a simpler method of cursive writing, minus all the curls, loops and other decorative flourishes. **
 * Writing in general, regardless of whether it's cursive, may also [|boost brain activity], according to a 2010 studyfinding that preschool students who wrote out letters rather than just viewing them showed changes in brain activity when they later viewed those letters. "Coupled with other work from our lab, we interpret this as the motor system augmenting visual processing," said study researcher Karin Harman James of Indiana University in a statement. "In the case of learning letters, printing helps children recognize letters." **

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Just like summertime temperatures, the cursive debate is heating up — especially now that the newly established [|Common Core standards] don’t include the curly, looped handwriting style children have learned in penmanship classes for generations.

In response, some state legislatures are seeking to make it compulsory, like North Carolina where the senate passed a bill to make cursive a requirement in public schools. Supporters of the “Back to Basics” legislation, which passed 37-8 and also requires North Carolina students to memorize multiplication tables, said that cursive is important to know even in the age of keyboards and digital devices.

“[Students] have the right to know the same types of things we knew when we were coming along,” Republican Sen. Austin Allran, the bill’s sponsor, told the //Charlotte Observer//.

Those who argue for cursive insist that it teaches fine motor skills, is faster and more efficient than printed handwriting, and that it enhances the creative process and has other cognitive benefits. In addition, many historical documents will be illegible if people can’t read in cursive.

“Cursive writing is a long-held cultural tradition in this country and should continue to be taught; not just for the sake of tradition, but also to preserve the history of our nation,” Jimmy Bryant, director of archives and special collections at the University of Central Arkansas, told //The New York Times//.

Opponents say it’s time to let cursive be written into the pages of history.

“As we have done with the abacus and the slide rule, it is time to retire the teaching of cursive. The writing is on the wall,” Morgan Polikoff, an assistant education professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, argued in a //New York Times// opinion piece.

While the topic is polarizing, there are some people who fall into the middle, like Kate Gladstone, a handwriting expert and educator quoted on the topic of handwriting in publications as diverse as //The New York Times// to the //Journal of the American Medical Association.//

Gladstone believes that cursive //should// be taught in our schools – but only to be read, not written.

“Reading cursive can be taught in just 30 to 60 minutes — even to five- or six-year-olds, once they read ordinary print,” Gladstone says. “Writing cursive, however, takes much, much more time and effort to master, even sketchily.”

Should educators take the time to teach children how to first draw and eventually to write these elaborate letters when there is so much more substantive curriculum? Gladstone says no because it’s not a worthwhile return on the investment of time and energy.

What’s more, most adults abandon cursive writing for a hybrid of mostly print letters joined occasionally in a cursive style. In 2012, handwriting teachers were surveyed at a conference hosted by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of cursive textbooks. Only 37 percent wrote in cursive; another 8 percent printed. The majority, 55 percent, wrote a hybrid: some elements resembling print-writing, others resembling cursive.

“When even most handwriting teachers give up cursive, why would anyone else continue to exalt it?” Gladstone asks.

Handwriting matters, she says, and offers fine motor skills and cognitive benefits whether in cursive or not. But she insists that children should be taught efficient handwriting, [|which research shows is most legible and efficient when it combines print, or manuscript, and cursive letters].

Cursive isn’t required for legal documents, either. In state and federal law, Gladtone says, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over any other kind.

So is the writing on the wall for cursive? Neatoday.org asked its Facebook fans – K-12 educators from all over the country. We got an overwhelming response – almost 800 comments. The verdict? Keep cursive writing in schools. Here’s what some of our fans had to say:


 * Get the high stakes testing out of elementary schools, and we’ll have time to teach cursive writing again!
 * The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that. I make my kids at least learn to read cursive.
 * Not everyone has a computer and printer.
 * Absolutely teach cursive. Teach everything possible, exercise those brains, grow neurons, every little bit of knowledge helps us THINK!
 * Handwriting is much more personal and I still prefer it on cards and in mailed letters. I use it for people I really care about on special occasions and other appropriate times.That being said, mostof my day-to-day communication, including this post, is on a laptop.
 * For most of us, cursive is faster than printing. Speed is often the difference between getting the facts down correctly during note-taking, and trying to figure out or remember what the first part of the note referred to. Since note-taking remains part of the academic experience, and notes are often shared/compared, it’s nice to have consistency for readability–especially for one’s self.
 * I’m glad I learned cursive and know how to teach it. It is much faster for taking notes in a class and you can write really classy thank you notes. Manuscript is important, too, for clarity in filling out forms. Learn both and don’t always rely on a keyboard.

Debate Tournament 2008 https://youtu.be/PwgnM8PrDg0

https://youtu.be/PwgnM8PrDg0