Grade 2 | CURSIVE
WEEK 3 • TEACHER GUIDE • DAYS 1–5
Use this guide with the Week 3 Copybook. Each lesson takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Model each letter or stroke first, say the cue while the child writes, and keep the practice short and careful. Day 5 is an independent check.
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This week
Week: Cursive Week 3 of 10 (C3): Undercurve Letters i, t, u, w. Suggested alongside Academic Week 19.
Standards (Alabama Course of Study, English Language Arts 2021):
- 2.LF.37.b: Demonstrate cursive writing strokes, including undercurve, overcurve, downcurve and slant.
- 2.LF.37.c: Form uppercase and lowercase letters in cursive.
Materials: A sharpened pencil, the printed Week 3 sheets (print at 100%, actual size, on letter paper), and a table and chair that let the child sit with feet flat.
Models: Cursive letter models are drawn from Playwrite US Trad, a school handwriting font by TypeTogether released under the SIL Open Font License. Start dots and arrows were placed by hand on each letter and checked against the letter’s path. Print models in Week 1 are simple ball-and-stick letters drawn for this copybook.
Day 1: The Letter i
Goal: The child forms i correctly and joins it in the letter combinations ii, iii.
Cue for i: “Midline start, slant down, curve up. Lift, dot.”
Watch for: Starting on the baseline instead of the midline; a dot placed far to the side.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Teaching note: In this letter model, i and t begin on the midline with no lead-in stroke when they start a word. Inside a word, the end of the letter before supplies the upstroke.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 2: The Letter t
Goal: The child forms t correctly and joins it in the words it, ti.
Cue for t: “Start high, slant down, curve up. Lift, cross on the midline.”
Watch for: Making the t as tall as l; crossing above or below the midline.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 3: The Letter u
Goal: The child forms u correctly and joins it in the words tu, tutu.
Cue for u: “Slant, curve up; slant, curve up.”
Watch for: A pointed bottom instead of a curve; the second slant drifting away from the first instead of tracing back down.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 4: The Letter w
Goal: The child forms w correctly and joins it in the words wi, wit.
Cue for w: “Slant, curve up; slant, curve up; bridge.”
Watch for: Dropping the final bridge to the baseline, which makes the next letter start too low.
Left-handed note: Left-handed writer: slant the paper the other way (top turned to the right), hold the pencil a little higher, and keep the wrist below the writing line so the hand does not cover or smudge the letters. Pull strokes toward the elbow.
Teaching note: The w ends with a bridge along the midline, so the next letter starts from the midline, not the baseline. Point this out in “wit”.
Routine checklist. Check each step as the child finishes it.
- ☐ Warm up: the child writes the letter large in the air with a straight arm while saying the cue.
- ☐ The child traces the model with a finger, starting on the green dot and following the arrows.
- ☐ The child traces the gray letters on the sheet, then writes on the empty rows.
- ☐ The child joins the letters in the practice words.
- ☐ The child circles his or her best letter, and the adult names one thing to fix next time.
Day 5: Handwriting Check
Check: The child writes the letters i, t, u, w and the words it, tutu, wit in cursive without models. The child may look at the printed letters and words; do not show the cursive models.
Rubric: Score each area 1 (not yet), 2 (sometimes) or 3 (consistent).
| Area | What to look for | Score (1, 2 or 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Letter formation | Starts on the dot’s spot and follows the strokes in order. | |
| Size | Short letters reach the midline; tall letters reach the top line; tails go below the baseline. | |
| Slant | Letters lean the same way, a little to the right. | |
| Spacing | Even space between letters; a clear space between words. | |
| Joins | Each letter flows into the next without a lift, except where a dot or cross needs one. | |
| Legibility | Another reader can read every letter and word. |
Next step: If any area scores 1, repeat this week’s hardest lesson before moving on. Scores of 2 can be practiced alongside next week’s lessons.
Sources
- Alabama State Department of Education, ALEX, English Language Arts 2021, Grade 2, standard 37 and parts a to c: https://alex.alsde.edu/node/8723, https://alex.alsde.edu/node/8724 and https://alex.alsde.edu/stds/COS/8725/printer_friendly
- Alabama State Department of Education, Alabama Reading Initiative, Handwriting Guide K-3 (posture, grip, paper position and the scoring rubric adapted for Day 5): https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ARI_20221019_Handwriting-Guide-K-3_V1.0.pdf
- TypeTogether, Playwrite US Trad (SIL Open Font License 1.1), via Google Fonts: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Playwrite+US+Trad
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