Are you looking for strategies to help students who cannot use correct spacing between words or sentences while reading? If so, keep reading.
1. Get the student’s vision reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.
2. Get the student to sit in a properly sized chair with feet touching the floor, their back pressed against the back of the chair, shoulders slightly inclined, arms resting on the desk, and elbows just off the lower edge of the desk.
3. Inspect the student’s paper position. A right-handed person writing in cursive should tilt the paper to the left, so the lower left-hand comer points toward the person’s midsection, and as the writing progresses, the paper should shift, not the writing arm.
4. Put dots between letters and have the student use fingers as a spacer between words.
5. Make sure the student is shifting their paper when writing.
6. Using appropriate spacing, print or write words or sentences. Get the student to trace what was written.
7. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may cause the student to hurry and fail to use correct spacing when writing words and sentences.
8. Give the student samples of handwritten words and sentences they can use as a reference for correct spacing.
9. Get the student to leave a finger space between each word they write.
10. Draw vertical lines for the student to use to space letters and words.
11. Give the student the appropriate learning materials to finish the task (e.g., pencil with eraser, paper, dictionary, handwriting sample, etc.). Make sure that the student has only appropriate learning materials on their desk.
12. Teach the student to always look at the next word to ascertain if there is enough space before the margin.
13. Give the student graph paper, instructing them to write letters in each block, while skipping a block between words and sentences.
14. Acknowledge quality work (e.g., display student’s work, congratulate the student, etc.).
15. Inspect the student’s work at several points throughout a task to make sure the student is using appropriate spacing.
16. Provide the student with one handwriting task to finish at a time. Present the next task only when the student has successfully finished the prior task.
17. Designate the student with fewer tasks. As the student shows success, slowly increase the number of tasks over time.
18. Get the student to practice writing letters, words, and sentences by tracing over a sequence of dots.
19. Utilize vertical lines or graph paper to help the student space letters correctly.
20. Get the student to take part in writing learning activities designed to cause the student to want to be successful in writing (e.g., writing a letter to a friend, rock star, famous athlete, etc.).
21. Get the student to look at correctly spaced written content to serve as a model.
22. Praise the student for each word and/or sentence that is properly spaced: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., classroom privileges, line leading, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).
23. Get the student to perform a “practice page” before turning in the actual task.
24. Consider using one of the apps on one of our best writing apps lists:
The Tech Edvocate’s List of 31 Grammar & Writing Apps, Tools & Resources
Ten Apps to Help Learners Develop Writing Skills
10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Elementary School Learners
11 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for High School Learners
10 of the Best Grammar and Writing Apps for Middle School Learners
