Handwriting & Keyboarding

Books about Handwriting

• • Handwriting in America: A Cultural History. Tamara Thornton. Yale University Press, 1998

  • The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting. Anne Trubek. Bloomsburg USA, 2016

  • Born to Please: The Art of Handwriting Instruction, University of South Carolina 

Keyboarding Resources

Articles

• • Why Is Cursive Back in the Classroom? NEA Today, March 9, 2026.

    • • 27 states have passed legislation mandating instruction in cursive.

  • Fact or Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard, Smithsonian, May 3, 2013

    • • Early typewriters were developed in partnership with the gun manufacturer, Remington

      • QWERTY keyboard was favored by typists familiar with Morse Code who found a system based on the alphabet confusing

  • KALQ - This is the New Non-QWERTY Keyboard You Will Use to Compose Your Thumb-Powered Opus Smithsonian (April 24, 2013)

  • KALQ is a New Split Screen Keyboard Layout Designed to Speed Up Thumb Typing on Tablets and Big Phones

  • KALQ vs. QWERTY: The Search for a Better Keyboard, WBUR (May 24, 2013)

Apps and Websites

• • Keyboard Zoo, ABCya

  • Dance Mat Typing - a popular free online program that some technology teachers use to introduce elementary students to typing

  • You can also download for free older versions of Mavis Beacon, a well-established typing software.

  • Another commonly used program by elementary educators is Typing Club.

More "Learning Conventions" pages: Alphabets | Spelling | Punctuation | Parts of Speech