WHAT IT IS:

Especially for K-1 classrooms, Finger Spaces is a self-regulation handwriting strategy to grow spacing skills.

HOW IT WORKS:

Either as they write or after they have written a sentence, instruct students to place a finger at the end of each word and check to see if the next word is still visible. If the finger covers any of the next word, then they are too close and should be revised.

The Finger Spaces approach is intended to be a self-regulation strategy taught to students for individual use as they write. However, it is also an effective editing strategy, specifically to edit for clarity. Have students trade papers with a partner and test a partner’s page with Finger Spaces and share with each other whether the spacing is appropriate.