The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smart phone, writing by hand has become something of old skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful--both in school and in life.
Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology(心理学) at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children learn the skill of writing by hand.
Berninger and her workmates carried out a study that looked at the ability of students to complete different writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, people wrote longer articles and more complete sentences.
In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us get our vocabulary, word meaning and ideas. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.
Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind into written symbols(标志) on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to notice spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct them over time.
“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the choices given by the computer.”
【小题1】Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?

1.We should practice ______________(speak) English as much as we can.

2.It’s easy for Kitty ___________(cut) out the eyes ,the nose and the sharp teeth.

3.– Where’s Millie?

   --Oh, she ____________(wait) for Amy at the school gate.

4.All of us can get lots of presents on                (child) Day.

5.Look at your clothes. How __________(colour) you are today!

6.Why not ____________(take) your dog for a walk after supper?

7.My best friend             (not write) e- mails on Monday .

8.Miss Xi often buys a lot of _______________(mango) on her way home.

9.I think the new shopping mall is a good place ___________(meet) friends.

10.Sandy goes to school without ____________(have) breakfast today.

11.Mum asks me to clean my own bedroom ___________(two) a week.

12.The new coat makes Simon           (look) cool.

13.It's six o'clock now. Millie and Sandy             (not run) in the playground.

14.Do you have enough time            (help) us finish the work?

15.My little sister wants to be a            (dance) when she grows up.

1. Do you practice speak English in the morning?                  (   )       

  A        B    C         D

2. We had a two-weeks visit to Australia last month.                     (   )       

      A     B         C          D

3. I don’t think you’ll finish the work in half a hour.                     (   )       

A                  B       C     D

4. We find that necessary to protect the environment.                    (   )       

          A    B     C      D

5. If you don’t want to go there, I won’t too.                            (   )       

  A     B                   C   D  

6. All the students in our class are over 15 besides Li Lei. He’s the youngest.  (   )       

        A                B          C             D

7. A number of the students in our school is over 4000.                   (   )       

        A                     B    C  D

8. It’s cold outside. Put on more clothes, and you may catch a cold.          (   )       

           A     B    C         D

9. The boy standing out of the classroom was found smoke yesterday.        (   )       

            A       B                 C    D 

10. Tom hardly hurt himself in the accident, didn’t he?                    (   )       

             A    B   C               D