Classroom Activity: Leonardo Right to Left

Main Idea: Students will experiment with writing backwards as Leonardo did.

Learning Objectives:

• Experience writing in reverse.
• Communicate observations.
• Generate hypotheses about Leonardo's reasons for writing this way.

Time: 45 to 60 minutes

Materials:

• paper
• pencils
• pens and markers
• mirrors
• a printed copy of the Leonardo Right to Left web page for easy reference.

Procedure:

1. Be sure students have visited the Leonardo Right to Left web page, and encourage them to discuss what they learned from it. Make sure they understand what we mean by writing backwards. Refer to the sample of Leonardo's signature if there is confusion.
   
2. Distribute paper and pencils and encourage students to try writing their signatures in cursive from right to left. This is challenging! If students have trouble forming letters in reverse, they should try the following exercise:
   
   
   
   
   • Hold a pencil in each hand.
   • Simultaneously, write backwards with the usual writing hand while writing forwards with the opposite hand.
   • Having the one hand mirror the other hand's action seems to help the brain coordinate the movements.

   
   
   

3. Have the students experiment with writing backwards alphabets and backwards sentences.
4. Have them write backwards with pens and markers to make comparisons. Is one kind of writing tool easier to use this way than another?
5. Distribute mirrors and show students how to position them to one side of their backwards writing to read it normally. A mirror also lets them check to see if they actually reversed all letters properly.
6. Suggest that they try writing backwards messages to a partner who can then decipher them with a mirror.

Discussion:

• After everyone has begun to feel more comfortable writing backwards, gather the students and encourage them to discuss their thoughts and observations about the experience of writing backwards. When it's appropriate, introduce the following questions for discussion:
  • Did left-handed or right-handed students have an easier time writing backwards?
  • Which medium, pencil, pen, or marker seemed best for writing backwards? (Leonardo would have written mostly with pen and ink.)
  • For someone who learns to write backwards as easily as they write forwards, what advantages might there be to backwards writing?

Generating Hypotheses:

• From the evidence they have gathered so far, ask each student to write down why they think Leonardo wrote backwards. Post these hypotheses where they are visible to everyone. Suggest that students refer back to these hypotheses as they explore this web site and others and examine published materials to learn more about Leonardo.
  
  Remind them that different authors will state different opinions about this question but no one knows the truth. Some of your students may come up with ideas for experiments to test some of their hypotheses. If so, encourage and support them!

For Further Thought:

• Point out to students that not all languages are normally written from left to right. Hebrew is normally written from right to left. Traditional Japanese and Chinese are written from top to bottom starting at the right side of the page. Ask if any of your students know of other languages that are not written left to right.
  
  If you were given the task of inventing an entirely new written language, which direction would you want it to be written in? Why?