1. Take The Challenge!
Have students answer the question, "Why is handwriting important to you," and mail responses to our office. Select responses will be published on our website! This challenge helps students explore how handwriting helps them to communicate and gives them a voice. Click here to view "Take the Challenge" details.
2. Communicate:
Write a letter by hand to a friend or family member. Discuss how writing a letter by hand is different than typing or emailing a letter.
3. Discuss & Draw:
Discuss other ways history has been recorded in the past (cave drawings, hieroglyphics, etc.) and ask students to draw a message using one of these other forms of communication.
4. Talk About It:
Ask students to think about important documents in history that were written by hand. Discuss who wrote these documents, how they were written (quill & ink, etc.), why they were written, and their historical significance.
5. Activity:
Discuss how quills and ink were once the most commonly used writing instrument. Provide each student with a feather to tape to his or her pencil. As they write throughout the day, ask the students to think about what it would have been like to do all of their writing with a quill and ink.

About National Handwriting Day
 
Established in 1977, National Handwriting Day is a reminder of the importance of handwriting and is appropriately celebrated on the birthday of the first person to sign our nation's Declaration of Independence. John Hancock and his famously large signature symbolize the past, present, and future of handwriting.
 
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